Platte County point guard Haley Barlow brings the ball down the court in the first half of the Lady Pirates’ 51-7 win over Raytown on Feb. 15.
RAYTOWN – Having the opportunity to clinch a share of the Kansas City Suburban Conference White Division, the Platte County girls’ basketball team (19-3) didn’t mess around, obliterating Raytown (3-20) in the process, on Feb. 15.
The year was 2010 the last time the Lady Pirates claimed a conference title, but they showed up all season with a 7-1 mark against White Division opponents. The Lady Pirates’ sole loss came to Grain Valley (16-6) – who they are co-champions with – on Feb. 5.
Platte County entered the night on a remarkable 12-game winning streak and in the second matchup on the season against the conference foe, fell 67-52. The game was tied at 27 at halftime and Grain Valley had a 4-point lead going into the fourth quarter where Platte County was outscored 21-10.
A big part of the rare loss – which was the first occurrence in 63 days at the time – was the 23 turnovers by the Lady Pirates. Grain Valley sophomore Addy Seyfert also had a big impact, scoring 24 points.
Lauren Stone and Lydia Doole made four of the five Platte County 3-pointers as Stone led the way with 12 points. Rylee Carr had 11 points, marking a career-high at the time before dropping 13 points two games later in the 48-43 win over Bishop LeBlond (16-9) on Feb. 10.
The Lady Pirates started off 4-0 in the White Division and picked up two more conference wins prior to the Raytown matchup. Platte County defeated William Chrisman (9-14) and Belton (8-13) on the road, completing the season sweep against both.
For the second time taking on Raytown, Platte County took an early lead, locked in defensively, and dominated in all four quarters en route to the 51-7 triumph. The Lady Pirates scored the opening 14 points and didn’t give up a field goal until there was 1:30 left in the first half.
Doole had 10 first quarter points and three made shots from behind the arc, one of which she was fouled on, and the senior converted on a rare 4-point play opportunity. Platte County’s defense forced eight turnovers in the opening frame, including three steals in the final 1:27.
Raytown’s only two points in the first eight minutes were free throws and they continued to have struggles taking care of the basketball in the second quarter. The Lady Pirates forced seven more turnovers before halftime, entering the locker room with a 33-4 advantage and seven total steals at the time.
Raytown scored three points in the third quarter and went scoreless in the final eight minutes. Doole cooled off after the opening frame, still leading the team with 12 points by the time it was all over.
Platte County extended its bench in the second half and most of its starters were on the sideline cheering on the second and third units. Carr had six of her 11 points in the first half and Addie Ayers ended with nine points.
In the two years under Eric Mitchell, Platte County has posted an impressive 12-5 conference record. Bringing home a conference title is far from the Lady Pirates’ ceiling as they are hoping to keep checking off milestones in the postseason, where they haven’t won a district championship since 2009.
Platte County will close out the regular season with a pair of Class 6 opponents, home versus North Kansas City (19-4) on Feb. 21 and on the road against Oak Park (14-9) on Feb. 23. The Lady Pirates will then compete in the Class 5 District 8 Tournament, where they are the No. 1 seed and will kick the postseason off with a home game against Kansas City’s East (0-12) on Feb. 28.