Knights fall in Region IX opener to Southeast

Beatrice, Neb. – A balanced offensive scoring attack was not enough to hold off the firepower of the Southeast offense, as the Storm rallied to defeat North Platte 73-69 on Friday night inside the Truman Center Gymnasium.

Samantha Riggles led the Knights with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals against the Storm. Jada Grigsby (15) and Fumnanya Ijeh (14) rounded out the North Platte double-digit scorers, while teammate Reece Halley led the Knights on the glass with 10 rebounds to accompany her nine points.

In a competitive opening twenty minutes, the Knights jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with all those points coming from Grigsby. The Storm responded with a 6-0 run of their own to even the game, before taking their first lead on a three by Matalynn Campbell with 5:15 to play in the opening quarter. North Platte rebounded to trim the deficit to one, but a short burst pushed the Southeast lead to five by the end of the opening ten minutes.

Knights quickly ate into the deficit to open the second quarter, as a Riggles layup narrowed the margin to 19-18 with 7:34 to play. Southeast quickly extended their lead to six, but North Platte once again evened the game up on a mid-range jumper by Ijeh. Over the final three minutes, the Knights went on a 10-2 run to regain the momentum headed into the halftime break.

A Knights eight-point second half lead evaporated as the Storm slowly chipped away at the margin in the third quarter. Southeast opened the quarter with a deep three from Hannah Macke to cut the deficit to five, then slowly stole the momentum and narrowed the margin to one with 1:33 to play. Jaedyn Ratzlaff missed her second free throw, but the offensive rebound earned the Storm another offensive possession. The Storm capitalized on the extra possession, as a Shelby Siebold three put Southeast back on top to close the quarter.

Southeast extended their lead to six in the opening minutes of the final quarter, but a short rally cut the margin to 53-51 with 6:39 to play. The margin stayed under six for the next 3:19, until back-to-back three pointers extended the Storm lead to ten. A Grigsby three pointer capped off a late run by the Knights as they narrowed the margin to three, but Southeast kept the Knights from taking back the momentum and sealed the game out at the free throw line.

North Platte falls to 5-14 on the season and 0-1 in Region IX play. Southeast improves to 12-9 overall on the year and 2-0 in Region IX action.

North Platte will return to the road for a regular season matchup against Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. in Sterling, Colo.