DEARBORN – All season long, the North Platte girls’ basketball team (13-2) has been a tough team to beat, and it took a Class 5 opponent to snap the 8-game winning streak.
North Platte was set to play in the WildCard Invitational, but it was cancelled so there was a new team put on the schedule to get another game in. Winnetonka (8-6) came to town and took down North Platte 58-49 on Jan. 17.
North Platte fell behind 19-8 in the first quarter but fought back to make the score 23-14 by the time the second quarter started. The Lady Panthers trailed 27-23 at halftime and cut the deficit to three points on more than one occasion in the second half, never any closer.
The Class 5 team prevailed over the Class 2 team, albeit by nine points. Brianna DeBord and Camryn Kersten both scored 11 points.
Lindsay Ramsey added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Allyson Smith finished with seven points, four rebounds and four steals and Kenedie Summers had six points, eight rebounds and five assists.
North Platte bounced back with a 69-32 victory over Penney (2-11) to move to 3-0 in the KCI Conference on Jan. 19. The Lady Panthers forced 35 turnovers – including 26 steals – and had 20 assists.
Smith had a double-double, becoming the first North Platte player to accomplish said feat this season, with 12 points and 10 assists in addition to eight rebounds and six steals. Summers had a game-high 14 points, along with six assists and five steals, while Ramsey finished the night with 10 points and four rebounds.
That was the second time in the last three games that North Platte forced 35 turnovers as that also happened against North Andrew (5-9) on Jan. 16. The Lady Panthers led 19-0 after eight minutes and only allowed one point in the first half en route to the 61-14 bout.
Ramsey led the way with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals. DeBord ended with 10 points and Summers scored nine points.
The North Platte Invitational Tournament is competitive as always and the host school started the tournament off against Mound City with Craig (9-5) on Jan. 23. North Platte hasn’t won the North Platte Invitational Tournament since 2015.