Grain Valley rallies late, but falls to Pirates

by Michael Smith

​     The 2021-22 Grain Valley boys basketball team has a different look than last season’s squad.
     Last year, the Eagles centered their offense around 6-foot-6 forward Cole Keller, who often dominated the paint and would kick it out to teammates for open looks from the perimeter.
     This season, the Eagles don’t have a dominant big man that can do what Keller did, so head coach Andy Herbert has had to adjust his offense to involve more motion, cuts and screens to get shooters open.
     That formula worked at times against Platte County Friday night on the road. The Eagles’ 3-point shooting helped them make a late comeback against the Pirates, but it wasn’t enough in a 63-60 loss.
     “I am proud of our guys,” Herbert said. “It would have been easy to fold up and go away but we stayed resilient. We were down double digits multiple times, and we found a way to get back in the game.”
     “We had a focal point in the middle last year. Alex (Snyder) and Rhylan (Alcanter) are doing a good job there. We are going to have to make threes. That’s going to have to be part of who we are to win games.”
     The Eagles (1-2) had a chance to tie it in the final 15 seconds when they were down 63-60. Platte County heavily defended the 3-point line, which made it difficult for Grain Valley to get an open look. Senior Nick Hooper then got a sliver of space on the right wing and took a shot from the outside, but it was partially blocked by a Pirate defender as time expired.
     Grain Valley got off to a good start as it led 7-2 early in the first period. However, Pirate senior Jarrett Mueller helped his team tie it 17-all to end the quarter after he exploded for 10 points including two 3-pointers.
     Platte County started to pull away in the second period as it shot 5-for-9 from the 3-point line while swinging the ball around the perimeter using precision passing and off-ball movement to get open shots. Senior Jace Trimble led the Pirates in that quarter with eight points. They led 38-27 at one point but Grain Valley junior Avery Garmon found Alcanter under the basket for a layup to cut the lead to 38-29 at halftime.
     “They were speeding us up and we were playing at their pace,” Garmon said. “We just have to remember to play at our pace and play our style of basketball.”
     The Eagles started to make a comeback in the third quarter after starting on a 12-7 run to cut the Pirate advantage to 45-41 following a Garmon 3-pointer. However, four costly turnovers for the Eagles were created by an aggressive Pirate defense that got into passing lanes for steals helped them push the lead back up to 53-45 by quarter’s end.
     ‘They take calculated risks defensively,” Herbert said of Platte County. “They are smart about when they do that.”
     “We were a little careless with the ball, especially in the first half, but a lot of that had to do with (Platte County’s) defense.”
     In the fourth, Grain Valley slowly chipped away at the lead. Garmon hit a 3-pointer and junior Owen Herbert had two of his own, both of which came late with the last one cutting the Pirate lead to 62-60.  Eli Nelson hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 63-60 and the Eagles were unable to tie it and send the game to overtime.
     Garmon helped keep his team in it with a game-high 22 points, which included five 3-point baskets. Herbert added 11 points, including two clutch 3-pointers and Snyder gave Grain Valley some interior presence by getting some baskets inside and chipping in with 10 points.
     “In warmups, my shot felt like it was the worst out of the three games,” Garmon said. “I got out and made the first one and I was like, ‘Alright. That one felt pretty nice.’ Coach has been talking a lot to me about confidence, and I was confident tonight.” 

Grain Valley senior Nick Hooper looks to inbound the ball.
Photo credit: Michael Smith

Grain Valley junior Keegan Hart goes up for a shot.
Photo credit: Michael Smith

Grain Valley junior Rhylan Alcanter shoots a layup over a Pirate defender.
Photo credit: Michael Smith