The Pirates’ historical season continues to imprint their names in the history books as the Platte County boys’ basketball team (14-2) won the 24th Annual Grain Valley Sonic Showdown.
Platte County junior Chandavian Bradley, above, scored a fast break slam-dunk after stealing the ball against Grain Valley on Jan. 27.
The Pirates entered the tournament as the top-seed with their most competitive game taking place in the semifinals. Platte County took care of business in the championship game, defeating Saint Thomas Aquinas 72-54 on Jan. 29 and in the opening round, Platte County took down Marshall (1-10) 74-38 on Jan. 25.
Platte County’s second round matchup was a tight, thrilling contest that took four extra minutes to decide on the winner. The Pirates adapted to the tough environment when they took on and defeated the home team in Grain Valley 59-52 in overtime on Jan. 27.
“The kids like playing in this environment,” Platte County head coach Rick Hodge said. “They would rather play in this environment than a quiet gym, so I think this group handles it well.”
Jarett Mueller scored 18 of his game-high 23 points after halftime in a highly competitive semifinal’s matchup between a No. 1 seed and No. 5 seed. Grain Valley – the lower seed – relied on hot shooting early to jump ahead on the scoreboard for a majority of the first two quarters, but Platte County closed the half on a 10 to two run to take a 24-22 halftime lead.
Mueller scored a pull-up jumper with 3:36 left in the second quarter to spark the run, which was followed by six straight points by Chandavian Bradley – a layup from a lob pass from Mueller, a steal and slam dunk, and a pair of free throws – to give the Pirates a 22-20 lead. The Eagles tied the game on the ensuing possession before Jace Trimble scored a fast break layup with less than 10 seconds left.
“They run a funky matchup zone that is very difficult to prepare for, especially in one day, but I feel like we handled it well. Tonight, we weren’t hitting shots as well as we have in the past, which is good for us at this point in the season because we have to find ways to grind out wins,” Hodge said.
Platte County controlled the lead in the third quarter before Grain Valley went up 43-40 with a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, but Mueller immediately answered with a shot from behind the arc on the other end. After a pair of Eagle free throws, Mueller once again delivered from downtown – this time in transition off a pass from Bradley – and the Pirates led by one point with 1:33 left.
Grain Valley drew a foul and went to the free throw line with 43.4 seconds left where it made the first attempt to tie the game at 46 and Coach Hodge called a timeout. The attempt to ice the shooter worked as the next free throw was no good, but both teams turned the ball over on the following two possessions until Bradley missed a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer on a full-court inbound pass from Brody Fulk with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
“The thing I’m most proud about with these guys is that when we do play overtime or double overtime, I don’t think it really phases this group. They continue to compete; there were some turnovers that we shouldn’t have had that we need to learn from, especially on the defensive end and we are making sure that we are valuing every possession,” Hodge said.
The Pirates set the tone in overtime by scoring at least one point on seven of their first eight possessions, including six points in the first 43 seconds. Mueller sank a corner 3-pointer off a baseline drive and pass from Fulk and then Bradley converted on a three-point play on the ensuing possession.
“They were very patient on offense all night and I think we played well defensively all night. Once we got a bit of separation in overtime it helped, especially when we hit shots from the free throw line, but we were just happy to put it away,” Hodge said.
Platte County’s defense held Grain Valley scoreless in the first 2:10 of overtime and only allowed six points after regulation. The Pirates also took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, converting on eight of the 11 attempts down the stretch.