The sun had risen and set 1,431 times since the last regular season KCI Conference victory for the North Platte boys’ basketball team when it stepped onto the hardwood floor to take on Hamilton on Jan. 7 – but the long drought has ended.
When the final buzzer sounded on senior night, the scoreboard was in North Platte’s favor as the Panthers defeated the Hornets 59-57. The last time North Platte beat a conference opponent in the regular season was on Feb. 6, 2018, when West Platte fell to the Panthers 52-50.
The North Platte boy’s basketball team, above, celebrates after clinching its first regular season KCI Conference victory in 1,431 days on Jan. 7.
Not only is this the Panthers’ first regular season win against a conference opponent in nearly four years, but it is also the first time North Platte has bested any KCI opponent in 1,051 days – when North Platte defeated West Platte in the second round of districts on Feb. 21, 2019. While North Platte had only played one conference team in the regular season prior to the matchup over Hamilton - a 58-39 loss to Mid-Buchanan on Dec. 17 – this was a program-defining win.
“It was remarkable; the school needed some confidence and needed to get one,” North Platte head coach Braydn Kemper said. “It had been awhile since any boys’ sports had won a conference game and the KCI is one of the toughest small school conferences, so to get a win in any year is good, especially when you are in such a drought like that.”
While numerous Panther basketball losing streaks were snapped by the 2-point victory, it also ended an 805-day drought since any North Platte boys’ sports’ team had won a conference game. The North Platte football team was the last Panther squad to come out on top over a KCI foe when they defeated the same opponent – Hamilton – 27-20 on Oct. 25, 2019.
The 59-57 victory also gave North Platte its fifth win of the season, which is something it has been unable to accomplish since the 2017 season when the Panthers finished 7-18. With three seniors being honored on the night - and stepping up to the occasion- the gym was packed in a back-and-forth affair with neither team gaining much of a lead.
“The atmosphere was electric, Hamilton brought a lot of fans and we had a lot of fans for our senior night. It was just a fun game and a great KCI matchup,” Kemper said.
After North Platte led 31-20 at the break, the third quarter was high scoring with the Panthers and Hornets answering every bucket. Entering the final frame, Hamilton was leading 45-44.
“The end of the third quarter was one of the craziest I’ve seen. (Kruise) Patch hit a three and then they matched it with a three and then Patch hit another three and they matched it again, and it was just so back-and-forth,” Kemper said.
Patch was on fire from behind the arc as the senior knocked down seven of his 12 attempts from downtown to give him a team-high 24 points on the night. His hot shooting wasn’t enough for the Panthers to break away with a lead as the game went down to the wire.
North Platte trailed by one point with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter and called a timeout, drew up a play and then Landon Bartlett scored to take the lead. The Panthers’ defense responded and held the Hornets to ensure that another conference loss would not be tacked on.
Bartlett and Riley Hyde both had strong performances as the senior duo each ended with a double-double. Along with the go-ahead basket, the point guard finished with 13 points and 10 assists, while the big man had 10 points and 18 rebounds.