North Platte head boys’ basketball coach Braydn Kemper and Mid-Buchanan head coach Bryce Kemper watch the North Platte Invitational Semifinals in similar fashion in the Dragons’ 60-54 win on Jan. 25.
DEARBORN - The North Platte boys’ basketball team (13-5) made a late surge to close out the third quarter, but Mid-Buchanan (11-6) responded to survive 60-54 in the 7th Annual Kemper Crossover on Jan. 25.
The third matchup of the season between KCI Conference foes – and seventh overall meeting between the father and son Coach Kemper tandem – was in the second round of the North Platte Invitational Tournament. The Dragons had control from the get-go, never trailing all night although there were three ties throughout the contest.
Brenden Matt made three shots from behind the arc in the opening quarter to keep the Panthers in it, including a buzzer beater to cut the deficit to 15-11. Mid-Buchanan opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to push the margin to 11, which was the largest of the night.
Westin Snook ended that run when he made his first of three shots from downtown. North Platte once again relied on the 3-ball, making 12 on the game but missed some down the stretch.
“With the press that they were doing, they were giving up open looks from perimeter,” North Platte head boys’ basketball coach Braydn Kemper said. “In hindsight, we probably should have attacked the rim more but it’s hard when you have so many shooters to tell them not to shoot when they’re open. We hit some and didn’t hit some of them, just didn’t get enough of them to drop.”
Mid-Buchanan pushed the margin to 11 once again midway through the third quarter when North Platte junior Coen Rainsbarger came off the bench to spark the offense. The 5’9 guard scored nine points in a 2:23-stint, capped off with a made shot from the right corner with 45 seconds left.
North Platte junior Coen Rainsbarger came off the bench and scored nine points late in the third quarter against Mid-Buchanan
“Coen’s been a kid that’s been working hard in practice, and I’ve been preaching about working hard in practice and still developing there every single day. Every person is competing and he’s the type of kid that had limited minutes, and then comes in tonight, plays well and probably earned more minutes,” Kemper said.
Matt drilled another triple with 14 seconds left in the third quarter on a long offensive rebound, making the score 42-40 with one quarter to play. Creek Johnson tied the game in the opening 30 seconds of the final frame to fulfill a 16-5 run.
The Dragons responded with a 9-0 run of their own, followed by five total 3-pointers by both teams in right over three minutes time ending with another one by Matt with 1:39 left, and the scoreboard read 57-52. The Panthers were unable to get the game any closer than five points down the stretch, losing 60-54.
North Platte big man Creek Johnson shoots a layup in the second half of the Panthers’ 60-54 loss to the Dragons.
“I thought we did a good job late in the third; we were taking advantage of their press, we were getting good looks and defensively, we were making sure we were getting the boards and not giving them second chances. In the fourth quarter, we just didn’t crash the glass – if we missed the shot, it was their ball,” Kemper said.
Matt finished with 24 points and was eventually rewarded for his strong play, being on the all-tournament team. Snook and Rainsbarger both finished with nine points.
North Platte went on to take on West Platte (8-8) for the third time this season and won 64-59 – which was the largest win against the rival since winning by 16 in 2017 – on Jan. 27. From 2009 to 2023, the Blue Jays won 20 of the 24 games in the series but the Panthers have now gone 3-0 against the foe this season.