By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
West Platte boys build big lead, fend off Savannah late in semifinals
West Platte raced out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter against Savannah and led by 12 at halftime.
The Savages made a valiant push, tying the game twice in the fourth quarter, but it was the BlueJays (6-4) holding off Savannah 47-46 in a Bishop LeBlond tournament semifinal at Grace Gymnasium Thursday.
Drake Montez and Miles McHenry did the heavy lifting for West Platte, as Montez scored a game-high 19 points and McHenry was right behind with 17.
Carsyn George led Savannah with 15 points. Aiden Knechtenhofer had 11. Zayden Snapp spent some time on the bench with three early fouls, but still finished with seven points.
Savannah committed 21 turnovers in the loss. The Savages (4-6) will play for 3rd place on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
LeBlond girls lock Savannah down, advance to tournament title again
It was rather an anticlimactic start between Savannah and Bishop LeBlond in a girls' basketball Thursday. The Golden Eagles slogged their way to a 15-9 halftime lead.
LeBlond (9-1) has hung their hat on defense throughout the season and did so again, holding down Savannah in a 37-22 victory Thursday.
The victory puts the Golden Eagles back into the LeBlond tournament girls' championship game for a fourth straight season.
Kyla Conard led the Eagles with 11 points. Kaleigh Ziesel and Rilyn Conard both had eight.
Rhyan Shrick led Savannah (5-4) with eight points. The Savages made only eight total field goals and committed 17 turnovers.
Savannah is the seventh opponent that LeBlond has held to less than 35 points so far this season.
LeBlond will face West Platte (4-5) for the tournament title on Friday night at 7 p.m. The BlueJays breezed past North Andrew Thursday, 49-18.
Savannah will face Nodaway Valley for 3rd at 4 p.m.
Plattsburg boys survive thriller against LB to reach title game
Plattsburg watched a nine-point lead disappear after LeBlond's Cooper Waterman stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points in the third quarter alone, giving the Golden Eagles a 37-34 lead over the Class 2 No. 4 Tigers entering the fourth.
But behind 26 points from Isaia Howard, Plattsburg (9-2) weathered the storm and fended off the Eagles in a 47-44 thriller on Thursday night.
The game featured four ties and four lead changes, but the Tigers' defense came up big late, as they limited LeBlond to just seven fourth quarter points.
Jaiveon Grayson added nine points for Plattsburg. Waterman led LeBlond (8-4) with 13 total points. Trey Icke and Gannon Sowell both had eight.
Both teams had their struggles at the free throw line Thursday. LeBlond missed seven free throws, while Plattsburg missed 10 in all.
Both teams were in the double bonus in the closing seconds. Several missed free throws by Plattsburg late gave LeBlond one last prayer at tying the game and sending it to overtime.
Sowell took a high three-point shot at the buzzer that hit the glass and the rim, but it rattled out, preserving victory for the Tigers.
Plattsburg, last year's LeBlond tournament champion, will face West Platte for the championship on Friday night at 8 p.m.
LeBlond will face Savannah for third at 5:30 p.m.
Other results from Thursday
Girls
Nodaway Valley 58 Plattsburg 45
Boys
Pleasant Hill 57 Nodaway Valley 43
Lawson 48 North Andrew 37
Friday schedule
Girls
Plattsburg vs. North Andrew (consolation) - 1 p.m.
Nodaway Valley vs. Savannah (3rd place) - 4 p.m.
Boys
Nodaway Valley vs. North Andrew (7th place) - 11:30 a.m.
Lawson vs. Pleasant Hill (5th place) - 2:30 p.m.