McKenzie Reagan earned her first KCI Conference win as the West Platte girls’ basketball coach with a 61-29 triumph over Penney on the road on Jan. 5.
HAMILTON – The first KCI Conference win of the McKenzie Reagan era came in dominating fashion as the West Platte girls’ basketball team (5-6) got within a game of .500 in a 61-29 bout over Penney (1-10) on Jan. 5.
West Platte was missing a couple of players but that didn’t stop it from taking down Penney for the fourth straight time since 2021. The 32-point triumph was the largest margin of victory this season.
The first quarter was tight as the Lady Blue Jays led 9-6, but they picked it up in the second quarter and outscored the Lady Hornets 20-3 for the rest of the first half. Trailing 29-9 at the halfway mark, Penney scored 10 points in each of the last two quarters, but West Platte scored more in both to end up on top in dominating fashion.
Outside shooting was a factor on the night with the winning team shooting eight-of-20 from behind the arc. Sam Baker – who had a career-night offensively – was responsible for half of those on just seven attempts.
Baker nearly outscored Penney by herself, tallying 24 points in 28 minutes, shooting 10-of-18 from the field. She added five assists, three rebounds and seven steals.
Julia Pattison was the only other Lady Blue Jay to crack double digits – although seven players scored – ending with 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Catelyn Carlson shot three-of-four from downtown to make up for all nine of her points, in addition to dishing out five assists and forcing four steals. West Platte took advantage of the 20 steals and 33 Penney turnovers, scoring 36 points off turnovers and 19 points in transition.
The Lady Blue Jays have now won three of their last four and were set to play in the Lawson Invitational, but that was cancelled due to inclement weather. West Platte will head to Mid-Buchanan (5-6) with a chance to reach .500 and earn another conference win on Jan. 19.