Park Hill South coach Ian Cunliff hoped to put a potentially outstanding tandem on display this week. The inaugural Park Hill Doubles Tournament was scheduled for Wednesday, April 15 at Barry Park with a chance for all four participating schools to send out four doubles teams in round robin competition. The Panthers believe that Josh Robaska and JD Nassab could benefit from more time on the court together to prove their postseason credentials.
“When they are playing well, they have a chance to beat anybody,” Cunliff said of his No. 1 doubles team.
Park Hill South sat at 2-3 entering a dual Tuesday against Liberty North, but results were not available at deadline. The Panthers lost 7-2 to Lee’s Summit West last week before a quick 9-0 victory against Oak Park on a cold, windy afternoon Thursday, April 9 at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo.
The early schedule for Park Hill South included a trip to Columbia, Mo. to play powerhouses Rock Bridge and Hickman, and with Robaska and Nassab’s matches nipped by the Panthers’ state basketball run, decisions on who will play at what spots in the postseason have not been decided.
“Our season overall is really tough,” Cunliff said. “We don’t have many easy duals. We need to build some morale some times.”
Park Hill, Blue Springs and Blue Springs South round out the tournament field. Entering a Tuesday, April 14 dual with Oak Park, Park Hill had won two straight with a 2-4 overall record.
St. Joseph Central Invitational
Park Hill grabbed the second place trophy on Friday, April 10 at Noyes Tennis Complex in St. Joseph, Mo. The Trojans scored 25 team points — five behind champion Liberty.
Jake McFee claimed third place in the A singles bracket for Park Hill while Chandler To grabbed third place in the B singles bracket.
On the doubles side, Park Hill’s Noah Higgins-Dunn and Henry Eckhold were the A Doubles bracket champions with a 10-5 win against Liberty North’s Elliott Wiskirchen and Jacob West. Halim Lee and Ryan Moise finished fourth in the B doubles side to round out the Trojans’ scoring.
North Kansas City 7, Platte County 2
The Hornets won all three doubles matches in a dual played in reverse order Tuesday, April 7 at Macken Park in North Kansas City, Mo.
Spencer Kunz and Zack Regan recorded singles victories for Platte County, which dropped to 2-3 on the season entering a Tuesday, April 14 Suburban League Red Division matchup at Belton. Results were not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
Kunz kept rolling at No. 2 singles with a 10-2 victory against an opponent dealing with cramps, and Regan came back to win 11-9 in a tight No. 6 singles match.
“Zack was the last varsity match on the court,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “The team had already lost the dual overall, and it was hot and humid. It would have been easy for him to not put forth his best effort in that match, but that was the exact opposite of what he did. We’ve been fortunate to have a number of guys in our program over the last few years who have exhibited that type of mentality.”