The Blue Jays swept the Bearcats in dominant fashion as the West Platte basketball teams defeated Orrick in its season opener on Nov. 30.
West Platte’s Madisyn Matlick, above, scored 11 points in the Lady Blue Jays 57-3 home opener victory over Orrick on Nov. 30.
After falling to Bishop LeBlond on Nov. 22, the West Platte boys’ basketball team (1-1) earned its first win in the Tyler Funk era when an 18-point outing by Tanner Rowe gave the Blue Jays a 72-19 victory. After a tight first quarter when West Platte only led 13-6, Ryan Pattison knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, along with a trey from Charlie Kinslow to give the Blue Jays a 36-8 lead at the break.
Rowe knocked down his only 3-pointer of the game in the third quarter with a pair of 2-point buckets and Kinslow scored six more points to give him nine points on the night. West Platte poured out 23 points in the third quarter to take a 59-15 lead entering the final quarter.
Hill converted on two shots from behind the arc to give him 10 points in the home opener and West Platte had six 3-pointers on the night. All 11 Blue Jays scored in their first win of the season, while Reynolds added 10 points.
For the first time in over a decade, the West Platte girls’ basketball team (2-0) has won its first two games of the season. After defeating Kansas City Lutheran 36-25 on Nov. 22, the Blue Jays blew out Orrick 57-3 on Nov. 30.
West Platte shut out its opponent in the first half when it poured out 15 points in the first quarter and 19 points in the second quarter to take a 34-0 lead at the break. Orrick didn’t make a field goal until the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats made one free throw in the third quarter as West Platte took a 52-1 lead entering the final period.
The Blue Jays took advantage of the Bearcats’ mistakes as they scored 36 points off 37 Orrick turnovers, including 25 steals, and 15 points in transition. West Platte also added 22 second chance points off 24 offensive rebounds.
The Blue Jays knocked down nine shots from behind the arc led by Avery Holmes who made four of her eight attempts. Downing sunk both of her 3-point attempts and Madisyn Matlick added three treys.
Holmes led all scorers with 12 points, followed by Julia Pattison and Matlick with 11 points each and Downing scored 10 points. West Platte will head into the KCI Tournament at North Platte High School where the girls’ team is the No. 7 seed and the boys’ team is the No. 2 seed.