Five Takeaways: Platte Valley vs. Mound City
Northwest Missouri small-school powers Platte Valley and Mound City met on Friday night in the championship game of the Stanberry Tournament. Defending Class 1 state champion Platte Valley is ranked No. 3 in the state polls while Mound City is…
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Continue ReadingNorthwest Missouri small-school powers Platte Valley and Mound City met on Friday night in the championship game of the Stanberry Tournament. Defending Class 1 state champion Platte Valley is ranked No. 3 in the state polls while Mound City is right behind at No. 4. Mound City built an 11-point lead with two minutes left in the third quarter, but Platte Valley stormed back in the fourth quarter to take a 59-52 victory and the tournament championship.
Here are five takeaways from the Platte Valley-Mound City championship game.
Clayton Merrigan was the star among stars
The game featured plenty of high level Class 1 standouts on both sides, but on this night, it was the 6’3″ Merrigan who emerged as the top dog as he led PV to the championship. He scored a game-high 30 points, but he really took over in the fourth quarter when he scored 14 points and rallied the Broncos back from a 11-point deficit. If he wasn’t knocking down 3-pointers, he was scoring off cuts to the basket and clinching the game with late free throws. He earned Most Valuable Player honors for his efforts and deservedly so.
Platte Valley has a special Dynamic Duo
Platte Valley’s Dynamic duo of 2020’s Clayton Merrigan and Chase Farnan are more of the Mr. Inside-Mr. Outside variety. The 6’3″ Merrigan is the perimeter standout who can score from anywhere on the floor while also taking on the defensive assignment of the top perimeter player on the opposing team. He averaged 23 points in the last two games, including 30 in the championship team. The 6’6″ Farnan is a long and lean post player who is very tough to stop in the paint. He is mobile and has a nice touch around the basket. He had 16 points in both the semifinals and championship games. Farnan had a big coming out party last year in the state championship game when he scored 30 points in a victory over Dora.
Mound City has a special Dynamic Duo as well
Mound City’s potent pair of 2022 Tony Osburn and 2021 Landon Poppa are both athletic, bucket-getters who provide lots of excitement on the offensive end. They combined to score 66 points in the Panthers’ 79-66 victory over North Andrew in the semifinals and 37 in the championship game. Osburn is a 6’1″ guard who can knock-down 3-pointers and create shots off the dribble. He’s athletic and he gets nice elevation on his jumper. He scored a game-high 34 points in the semifinals against North Andrew. The 6’4″ Poppa is an explosive wing player who can attack the basket off the dribble and knock down 3-pointers. He scored 32 points in the semifinals, including the 1,000th point of his career.
Role players play their role
While both teams depend on their two dynamic duos to carry the offense every night, they also have some solid role players who do their jobs well to contribute to the success. Mound City has 2020 guard Gage Salisbury, who is a solid ball handler and passer. He came through with 14 big points in the championship game as he did a nice job of finding the open spots on the floor. Platte Valley got good contributions from their pair of Dalton Luke and Trevor McQueen. They combined to score 11 points while playing good floor games as well.
This was the first of a possible three meetings
The Stanberry championship game was the first of what could be three meetings between these two powerhouse teams. The second meeting will be coming up in February in an I-275 Conference game. The third and final meeting would be the biggest one of them all as it would come in the Class 1 state sectionals. They met in the sectionals last season with Platte Valley (then Conception Junction Jefferson) took the victory en route to winning the state championship.