Consolation
trophy
won by Lady Pirates
by Ted
Brewer
Landmark
reporter
The Lady Pirate basketball team was able to bring home
the consolation trophy from the 35th annual Kearney Tournament.
The Lady Pirates suffered a tough break in the first
round of the tournament, when they had to face the second
seeded Ray-Pec Panthers. The Panthers took an early 11-8
lead and the Panthers were able to increase their lead
by outscoring the Lady Pirates 17-7 in the second quarter.
The Lady Pirates made some defensive adjustments during
halftime to try to stop the Panther players who had been
hurting the Lady Pirates the most. The adjustments only
allowed the Panthers to outscore the Lady Pirates by one
total point in the entire second half, but the Panthers
had a big lead entering the second half and won the game
by a final score of 50-36.
Senior Megan Nichols and sophomore Amanda Praiswater
led the team with eight points apiece. Nichols had 10
rebounds and Praiswater added eight of her own.
“Our second half was a great effort and we are continuing
to improve as a young team,” said head coach Kathy
Hatfield.
In the second round of the tournament, the Lady Pirates
faced the Chillicothe Hornets. Less than a week earlier
the Lady Pirates had lost to the Hornets in conference
action, but that would not be the case in this game, as
the Lady Pirates won this low scoring bout by a final
score of 34-29.
“We still are struggling with a good shooting percent,
but Chillicothe was also having a bad shooting night,”
Hatfield said. “We forced some turnovers and hit
some free throws down the stretch to assure us the win.”
Junior Tara Porter led with eight points, followed by
freshman Kathryn McGee who had seven points.
Praiswater led the team with 11 rebounds, followed by
Nichols with 9.
In the third game of the tournament, the Lady Pirates
took an early 11-4 lead over the Benton Cardinals. This
lead was short lived as Benton rallied to a 15-11 lead
after taking advantage of some costly turnovers by the
Lady Pirates.
The Lady Pirates led after the first quarter by a score
of 11-7, only to fall behind 34-27 at halftime.
In the second half, the Lady Pirates were able to shut
down Benton’s inside game, forcing them to rely on
their shooters from the outside. Porter helped to spark
this advantage for the Pirates by keeping control of the
ball while playing point guard, driving the lane for baskets,
and shooting 9 of 13 from the free throw line in the fourth
quarter to cut Benton’s momentum.
McGee assured a Lady Pirate victory when she went to
the line with 3.6 seconds remaining, and was able to extend
the Platte County lead to four points. Benton was able
to make a desperation buzzer-beater from behind half court,
but it was not enough as the Lady Pirates defeated Benton
48-47.
“It was a good win for us especially after losing
our first MEC Conference game to Chillicothe two weeks
earlier,” said Hatfield. “It was nice to get
the lead with just a few minutes left so we could control
points.”
Porter led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Nichols
with 7 points. Porter hit 12 of 15 free throws for 80
percent from behind the line throughout the night. Nichols
was able to pull down 12 rebounds. Freshmen Ashley West
and Jessica Praiswater had a big night off the bench for
the Lady Pirates.
The Lady Pirates improved their overall record to 7-7
and 0-1 in the MEC.
The Platte County Lady Pirates will next play on Tuesday,
Jan. 22, at 4:30 p.m. This action comes in the Smithville
Girls Invitational Tournament. The sixth-seeded Platte
County will play the third seeded Lafayette in their first
game, and will then play either Kearney or Pleasant Hill
on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. if the Lady Pirates win,
or on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m. if they lose.
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