The Platte County boys’ basketball team (5-8) won consecutive games for the first time this season to reach the championship game in the Kearney Tournament where the Pirates took second place.
Platte County senior Boston Wahlert was on the all-tournament team as the Pirates finished as runners-up in the Kearney Tournament.
The Pirates haven’t made the championship in the Kearney Tournament since 2017 when they also finished as the runner-up that season. Platte County opened the tournament with a dominant 71-29 victory over Kansas City Northeast (3-6) on Jan. 10.
Platte County forced 19 steals in the game and had five different players who had multiple, led by Trevor Redding with five. Chandavian Bradley had an all-around impressive outing when he scored 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked two shots and forced four steals.
Boston Wahlert made two of the Pirates’ four 3-pointers to end with 14 points, along with four steals. Jaden Peterson surpassed double digits in points for only the second time this season when he finished with 12, while Judah Vignery had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In the next round, Platte County matched up with Kearney (5-9) and defeated the rival school for the second time this season and won two games in a row for the first time this winter on Jan. 12. The Pirates scored the opening 11 points of the night and only allowed three made field goals by the Bulldogs in the first half.
Kearney trailed 16-4 at the end of the first quarter and added six straight points – all of which were from the charity stripe – after Redding opened the second quarter with a layup. Wahlert and Vignery responded with back-to-back shots from behind the arc to go up 24-10.
From the 2:25 mark in the first quarter to the 1:07 mark in the second quarter, the Bulldogs didn’t make a single shot. Kearney’s only made shot in the second quarter was a putback layup that was rebounded by the Bulldogs after an airballed 3-pointer.
Platte County led 24-12 at the break and 42-23 after three quarters which resulted in a 58-33 win thanks to Bradley scoring the first six points of the second half as he finished with 20 points on eight-of-10 shooting. Wahlert made four 3-pointers on eight attempts to end with 18 points and Vignery scored 11 points.
Platte County took on St. Joseph’s Lafayette (9-5) in the championship game when the Fighting Irish scored the first 12 points and went up 19-2 after eight minutes to set the tone for the 62-31 victory. The Pirates missed their first five shots from the charity stripe before Vignery sunk a pair with under a minute left in the half and Lafayette was up 37-6 at the break.
The Pirates fought back in the fourth quarter but trailed 53-8 before Peterson made a third quarter buzzer beating 3-pointer. Peterson scored a team-high for the first time in his career as he ended with nine points.
Platte County hosted Grain Valley (9-5) on Jan. 17 for a chance for its first win in the new Pirate Fieldhouse. The Pirates will hit the road next and take on Winnetonka (10-2) on Jan. 19.