RIVERSIDE, Mo. — Park Hill South gutted through one more game before a much-needed holiday break. On Thursday, Dec. 17, Ryan Welty scored 26 points to lift the Panthers to a 59-49 win against Belton at Park Hill South High School. Park Hill South was playing its fifth game in seven days, including four total
overtime periods, going 4-1 overall in that stretch with the lone loss a three-overtime thriller against Liberty North in the Liberty North Invitational.
“It’s just been a long week for the team,” Park Hill South coach Dan Parra said. “It kind of showed. We didn’t have legs. We didn’t execute very well. We were flat, but we still won by 10 so I can’t complain too much.”
Park Hill South missed its first six shots from the floor before Welty, a 6-foot-7 senior forward broke the drought. He scored seven points in the first quarter spread across the final five minutes.
Welty’s first basket started a 14-1 run for the Panthers.
“We just have to power through,” Welty said. “We came out flat-footed in the first half. Their guards were really quick. Our guards did a really good job in the second half of keeping them in front of us. We just need to keep being really good on defense, and the offense will come.”
Belton answered with 10 points in a row to tie the score in the second quarter.
After halftime, Park Hill South expanded its lead from 28-22 to as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Pirates did cut the lead to eight with 1 minute, 5 seconds to play after a transition 3-pointer from Shane Hoth made it 57-49.
Park Hill South ran 35 seconds off the clock before Belton opted to foul, and Panthers junior guard Jacob Kline (11 points) hit both free throws for the final points. Park Hill South hit 11-of-12 freebies in the fourth quarter and 20-of-26 overall.
“We’re not always going to play great offensively,” Parra said. “If we can just stop teams from scoring and rebound the basketball and get easy baskets in transition, we’ll win a lot of games that way.”
Park Hill 84, Winnetonka 43
The Trojans scored 36 points in the second quarter of a blowout Thursday, Dec. 17 at Winnetonka High School.
Park Hill shot 14-for-18 from the floor in the second quarter, turning a 17-12 advantage into an insurmountable 53-23 lead at halftime. The Trojans committed just two turnovers in the second quarter. Tanner Morrison led all scorers with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and junior forward Tanner Zeil added 19 points and three more 3s. Brandon Townsell added 14 points.
Overall, Park Hill hit 33 shots from the field, including nine 3-pointers
Park Hill South 62, Staley 53
Robinson scored a career-high 28 points Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Staley High School.
Park Hill South raced to a 25-10 lead after the first quarter, held to a 30-25 advantage at halftime and survived seven 3-pointers from the Falcons. Desi Williams, another freshman scored 12 points, while Welty had 10. Both hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Overall, Park Hill South hit 19-of-21 free throws.
Park Hill 64, Lee’s Summit North 55
The Trojans led by 11 at halftime and held off the charge Tuesday, Dec. 15 in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Zeil scored a season-high 20 points, including one of Park Hill’s two 3-pointers, and Townsell added 15. Despite making 20-of-25 free throws, the Broncos couldn’t overcome the slow start, but they were within 46-41 entering the fourth quarter.
Park Hill made 14-of-19 free throws.
Smithville 65, Platte County 44
The Pirates trailed from the outset Tuesday, Dec. 15 in Smithville, Mo.
Campbell Lakatos hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the first quarter with Smithville ahead 18-6. Platte County managed just 11 points in the first half and were down double digits for the final two quarters. Lakatos led all scorers with 19 points, all in the first half.
Grant Carver, a junior forward, put up 11 for Platte County, and senior guard Isaiah Ewing added 10. Platte County made only 16 fields goals — two 3-pointers, one each for Kodee Martin and JD Crawford — and Smithville attempted 31 free throws.
St. Joseph Benton 63, Platte County 54, OT
The Pirates forced overtime, but three players ended up fouling out Friday, Dec. 18 at Platte County High School.
Benton scored just 16 points in the first half and trailed 20-16 at the break. The teams ended up tied at 49 at the end of regulation, but starters Nick Kunels and Jerod Thomas fouled out along with key reserve Kobe Cummings. Those three combined to score 27, including a team-high 13 for Cummings and 10 for Kunels.
Martin also added 10 points in the loss, the sixth straight for Platte County (1-7).