By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
STANBERRY - North Andrew came out and set the tone right away.
A 10-0 lead in the first three minutes, prompting a quick timeout from Platte Valley's Tim Jermain.
Platte Valley then responded with an 11-0 run of their own and took an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
That's about the only lead Platte Valley would enjoy.
The Cardinals (11-3) scored 23 points in the second quarter and had three players finish in double figures in route to a 64-34 win in a Stanberry Invitational semifinal on Thursday night.
"I give Platte Valley a lot of credit," North Andrew head coach Wade Bryson said. "After we started out 10-0, it would have been real easy for them to put their head down and let the game get out of control. They really fought back and took it to us and caught us off guard, but I'm really proud of our guys on how they responded."
At the end of the first, Bryson told his boys to "settle in and relax."
The Cardinals did just that. Senior Tanner McDaniel scored 10 points in the second quarter, including a pair of made threes, to help the Cardinals go ahead 33-21 at halftime.
McDaniel ended up with a team-high 19 points. Fellow senior Clayton Linville had 12, while junior Owen Graham contributed 10.
"It felt like our scoring was a little bit more balanced," Bryson said. "(Platte Valley) did a good job of defending (McDaniel), but he did a good job of playing under control and finding the open guy and doing what he needed to do to get everyone else involved."
The Cardinals now have a huge challenge ahead in Saturday's championship - No. 1 seed Mound City (11-0), who thumped Stanberry on Thursday.
North Andrew played Mound City at the Stanberry Invite in the semifinal round last season, and lost 79-69. But, the two teams have seen each more plenty more times since then.
"(Mound city coach Ryan Osburn) and I are good friends," Bryson said. "When everything was locked down, I gave him a call and we scrimmaged against each other 20 some quarters. It's a team we're very familiar with. We're ready. We're excited, and hopefully we get school canceled (Friday) so I have 24 hours to figure out how to stop them."
Saturday's championship game is set for 2 p.m.
North Andrew - 64 - 10, 23, 19, 12
Platte Valley - 34 - 11, 10, 9, 5
North Andrew scorers - Tanner McDaniel - 19, Clayton Linville - 12, Owen Graham - 10, Hayden Ecker - 8, Brewer Wheeler - 6, Gunner Lawrence - 5, Keaton Hannah - 4.
Platte Valley scorers - Trever McQueen - 8, Matt Jermain - 5, Carter Luke - 5, Gabe Nothstine - 4, Levi Burch - 3, Memphis Bliley - 3, Alex Mattson - 2, Quenton Manship - 1, Wyatt Tobin - 1.
