Fifth-ranked Panthers pull away from Platte Valley

JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Platte Valley junior Mya Wray makes a pass on Saturday against North Platte in St. Joseph’s Civic Arena.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Platte Valley girls basketball is in a different place than it’s ever been in its brief co-op history and that’s not a bad thing.

On Saturday, Platte Valley (4-5) lost its fifth game of the season with a 67-27 loss to Class 2 No. 5 North Platte. The co-op has never lost five games in a season before, but it also never had the challenge of replacing four starters from a state champion.

The schedule that Platte Valley is playing is the same challenging one that the veteran-laden squads of the last few years have had, and it was expected to come with more losses than past seasons. But it has also provided a lot of growth and while there are five non-conference losses, Platte Valley is 2-0 in the 275 Conference with a 41-36 win over East Atchison and a 47-22 win at Union Star.

“Playing these tough teams has really made us improve a lot,” Platte Valley junior Emalee Langford said.

On Saturday, the Holiday Hoops Classic in St. Joseph provided the highest ranked opponent that Platte Valley has seen this season with Class 2 No. 5 North Platte. The Panthers have rolled to a 9-0 record so far this season.

“It is making us better and even if we don’t feel like that now, I think that we are really going to see a difference when we start to play our conference games,” Platte Valley junior Mya Wray said.

Platte Valley hung with the Panthers in the first quarter with Maleeah Bliley and Langford converting baskets to tie the game at 4-4. Mylie Holtman scored to even it at 6-6.

“We came in ready to play,” Langford said. “We were all fired up, but we got a little tired.”

Wray scored early in the second quarter to trim the North Platte advantage to 15-11, but the Panthers made their run from there with a 15-1 spurt to end the half and put them in front 30-12 at the break.

The two sides exchanged baskets early in the third quarter, but a 15-3 close to the third quarter put the game completely out of reach for Platte Valley. A 13-0 run to end the game made the final score end up more lopsided than the margin was throughout most of the day.

“It exposes what you need to get better at and I believe that so far, we’ve had the right mindset where we can still fix things for the long stretch,” Platte Valley coach Aaron Murphy said.

Wray led Platte Valley with 11 points while Bliley had nine, Langford had five and Holtman had two.

“I thought that we shot the ball well when we had good offensive possessions,” Murphy said.

North Platte was led by senior Lindsay Ramsey with 15 points, Allyson Smith with 12 and Brianna DeBord with 11.

Platte Valley dives back into 275 Conference play after Christmas break with Mound City (7-2) on January 3, Stewartsville-Osborn (2-4) on January 7 and South Holt (0-5) on January 10.

“Right now, the key for the girls is to enjoy their families and relax a little bit,” Murphy said. “They need to come back on the 28th when we have practice, and be ready to work and get better for the long stretch.”