Balanced Platte Valley attack powers win in Hopkins
TUCKER MCCOLLOUGH/THE FORUM
Platte Valley sophomore Dylan Klamm makes a pass on Friday in Hopkins.
HOPKINS, Mo. — The Platte Valley boys continued their recent tear of victories with a big 67-44 road victory against North Nodaway on Friday night in Hopkins.
Platte Valley set the tone early in the game and would never trail once. The barrage of early scoring came from Andy Mattson, who had eight points in the first quarter.
“We did a lot of things right and played at a high level,” Platte Valley coach Tyler Pedersen said.
Platte Valley got off to a fast start where North Nodaway couldn’t keep up. A 15-2 run led by Mattson and Justin Miller would set the tone for the game. Platte Valley kept the Mustangs seeking solutions by dominating the glass on the offensive end, which led to second-chance points.
The first quarter would end with Platte Valley out to a 19-5 lead.
“We knew we had to be ready to go,” Pedersen said “(The Mustangs) do a lot of things right, and they’re athletic so we had to really focus.”
North Nodaway would find traction defending Mattson and hold him to two points in the second quarter, and the Mustangs’ shots started falling. Shots also fell on the other end of the floor as Platte Valley led 29-14 in the half.
“He is a big guy,” North Nodaway coach Cody Jenkins said of Mattson. “You can’t move him so you try and take away as many things as you can.”
Miller would continue to get things rolling for Platte Valley with seven points in the third quarter on some nice finishes. North Nodaway slowly figured things out on offense as they ended the quarter with five-straight points and trailed 53-24.
“We just need to loosen up,” Jenkins said “We were playing tight. Once we got settled into our defense it got the whole thing moving.”
North Nodaway would start to get the whole team moving with key defensive plays and an all-around offense that outscored Platte Valley 20-14 in the fourth quarter. Platte Valley still had a substantial lead and went on to win the game 67-44.
“Adjustments are a big thing,” Jenkins said. “They made adjustments then we made adjustments and just did not execute. We have a young team and we just have to figure out how to execute those game plans.”
Platte Valley’s win was led by Tucker Klamm with 14 points, followed by 12 points each from Miller and Landon Wiederholt. Dylan Klamm and Mattson also scored in double figures with 10 points each. Xavier Middleton had seven and Ezra Morriss had two. Platte Valley moved to 13-3 this season and will play in the North Platte Tournament this coming week.
North Nodaway was led by 13 points from Mason Casner and Owen Martin’s 12. Jordan DeLeon added eight and Kaeden Nave had six, while Robbie Forney had three and Trevin Wyllie scored two. North Nodaway falls to 4-10 and will compete in the Gilman City Invitational this week.
