West Platte guard Drake Montez (#13) defends North Platte guard Brenden Matt (#2) as the sophomores led their teams in scoring in the KCI matchup on Dec. 15.
WESTON – Less than a week after meeting in the KCI Boys’ Basketball Tournament, North Platte (6-1) once again defeated West Platte (3-3) on Dec. 15.
Both matchups have been close with the third-place game ending by a score of 49-45 and the regular season matchup being 48-42, both of which were in the Panthers’ favor. This is the first time since the 2016-17 season that North Platte has beaten West Platte twice in the same season.
This meeting was the first game of KCI Conference play, marking the first time the Panthers started off 1-0 in the conference since 2009. On the contrary, this was the first time the Blue Jays lost their opening conference game of the season in the Tyler Funk era with the last time coming in 2019.
It was a tight game for the first three quarters, going back-and-forth throughout. After being tied at 21 at halftime, West Platte clung to a 29-29 margin heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams had some chances down the stretch with the Panthers pulling away late to secure the victory. It was a defensive battle as North Platte shot 30.6 percent from the field and West Platte shot 23.3 percent from the field.
The Panthers relied on Brenden Matt for scoring purposes as per usual. The sophomore guard was the only one who surpassed nine points as he finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Coen Rainsbarger was efficient on the night – shooting 3-of-4 from the field, 1-of-2 from three and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line – to tally nine points. Dylan Armstrong had seven points and the only North Platte steal.
The Blue Jays relied heavily on Drake Montez and Myles McHenry as the duo combined for 29 of the 42 points. The rest of the team shot 5-of-32 from the field.
Montez led the game with 19 points as the sophomore knocked down three triples – his teammates failed to make a single one on 13 tries – and shot 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. McHenry only missed one shot and finished with 10 points in limited time due to foul trouble as he eventually fouled out.
Cohen Kite was the only other Blue Jay who made more than one basket. Kite ended with eight points, six rebounds and three steals.
The last time West Platte lost to North Platte in a non-tournament regular season game was on Feb. 6, 2018. The Panthers will play Tarkio with Fairfax (3-4) at the St. Joseph Civic Arena and the Blue Jays will take on Kingsville (4-4) in the Twelve Courts of Christmas at Hy-Vee Arena on Dec. 21.