KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For much of the year, Park Hill South’s shots have not fallen from the outside.
That changed for the Panthers in the second half of a first-round matchup with Platte County at the Oak Park Invitational on Monday, Dec. 19. Hot outside shooting sparked a 46-40 win for Park Hill South and reversed the result of a regular season matchup between the two in December.
Mackenzie Stout hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, and Platte County managed just five total points in the same span, allowing the Panthers to recapture the lead.
“It was all the girls just coming out and wanting to win the game,” Park Hill South coach Jenny Orlowski said. “Our shots have not typically fallen consistently. I thought this is one of the better games we’ve played all season.”
Despite the big quarter, Platte County clawed its way back in the final 8 minutes. The Pirates pulled the game to a single possession at 43-40 with 44.5 seconds to play.
Eventually, a foul put Stout on the line for a one-and-one opportunity. However, Park Hill South collected an offensive rebound starting a bizarre sequence of second chances.
Sydney Baska grabbed the first offensive board and missed a free throw, and the sequence repeated itself with Ashton Gray, who made 1 of 2 tries with Baska collecting her miss and going back to the line. Baska made both to complete a lengthy three-point possession.
“We just couldn’t box out there at the very end,” Platte County coach Chris Stubbs said. “We lost focus a little bit. We’re still battling.”
The extra chances pushed the lead to 46-40, and after a missed shot with less than 10 seconds remaining, Stubbs instructed his players not to foul, allowing the Panthers to dribble out a win in the back court.
Platte County (3-8) defeated Park Hill South (5-8) on Dec. 11 at Platte County High School.
“We were really happy about that (to get the revenge win),” Baska said. “We really wanted this win in the tournament and to improve our record.”
Stout finished with 14 points, and Baska totaled a game-high 17 with three 3s of her own. In all, Park Hill South hit nine from behind the arc, including two from Erica Timmerman (eight points) and Emily Dinovo (three points).
“Our coaches talked about our defense a lot and to keep the offense moving,” Stout said. “We just looked for the open shots.”
Platte County guard Lindsey Bogart collected a team-high 14 points, while sophomore Korynne Mathews notched a career high with 10 — all in the first half. Forward Rachel Holden added nine — including all five Platte County points in the third quarter.
“If we can not just rely on one or two girls to score the basketball,” Stubbs said. “We had some different girls step up tonight. They had a good game plan. They tried to shut down our two leading scorers, and we had some different girls step up and hit some shots.”
Platte County will play again Wednesday Jan. 21 in the auxiliary gym at Oak Park High School in consolation action, while Park Hill South plays in the semifinals at the same time in the main gym. They play the loser and winner between Winnetonka and North Kansas City, respectively, in those games.
Winnetonka and North Kansas City had not finished their scheduled Tuesday game at The Citizen’s deadline.
Raytown South girls 35, Platte County 31
A third-quarter surge on Thursday, Jan. 15 helped the Cardinals come back from a halftime deficit and extend the Pirates’ losing skid to three.
Platte County led 19-12 at halftime but scored only 12 in the second half. Raytown South totaled 14 points in the third quarter to take control, and Breauna Carter totaled a game-high 17 to lead the charge. Rachel Holden, a senior forward, led Platte County with 14 points, while Madysen Fine added nine on three 3-pointers.
Platte County made only 3-of-8 free throw attempts, while Raytown South made 7 of 8. All 35 of the Cardinals’ points came from three players.
St. Joseph Central girls 63, Park Hill South 35
Jaelyn Haggard hits seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Indians to an easy win.
Central led 32-21 at halftime and outscored Park Hill South 19-4 in the third quarter. Stout (nine points) and Timmerman (six) combined to hit four 3-pointers but couldn’t do enough to help the Panthers’ keep pace.
Overall, Central hit nine treys, and Haggard was the only player in double figures for either team.
Liberty girls 51, Park Hill 37
The Trojans were outscored 14-6 in the final minutes of a key Suburban League Red Division matchup Thursday, Jan. 15.
Amanda Alexander led Park Hill with 10 points, while standout forward Riana Everidge managed just six. The Trojans were 9 of 18 on free throws, while Liberty made 16 of 27 attempts.
Back-to-back baskets from Park Hill cut Liberty’s lead to 37-31 with 5:45 to play before free throws helped the Blue Jays pull away.
Liberty led 22-12 in the first half but led by six at the break after going scoreless for the final 3:24 of the second quarter. Morgan Fleming (16 points), Chiarra Franklin (14) and McKenzie Hull (12) did the majority of the scoring for the Blue Jays, who improved to 9-2 while Park Hill dropped to 1-1 in league play.
Park Hill was scheduled to open play against Ottawa (Kan.) on Tuesday, Jan. 20 in the Bobcat Invitational at Basehor-Linwood (Kan.) High School.