Once upon a time, the Park Hill girls’ basketball team (17-11) wished for a fairy tale ending on its season, but the Cinderella Story came up short when the glass slipper of a district championship didn’t quite have the perfect fit.
A mere 72 hours after bumping off the No. 1 seed Staley (20-7) by 14 points, the Trojans matched up with the second seeded St. Joseph’s Central (20-7) in the Class 6 District 8 Championship on March 3. Park Hill hosted the tournament as the No. 4 seed, but the Indians used a strong first quarter and an impressive road crowd to pull off a 51-39 win in an energetic gymnasium to knock off the Trojans.
Park Hill senior Kennedy Townsend poured out 18 points in the Class 6 District 8 Championship, but the all-time leading scorer in the Lady Trojan basketball program history was unable to lift them past Central on March 3.
Central jumped out the gate with a quick six points before Park Hill scored a single bucket, causing the host team to call a timeout. Kennedy Townsend sank a shot from the top of the key late in the opening frame to narrow the deficit, 10-8, heading into the second quarter.
The Indians offense continued to roll in the ensuing period – with Central leading by as much as 10 points – but Townsend once again converted on a trey to keep the Trojans afloat. Park Hill had a late first half surge, outscoring Central 10 to five, and trailed the No. 2 seed 23-18 at the break.
Central took control in the second half and pushed the margin back to double digits in the third quarter. The Trojans made a late comeback bid – narrowing the deficit to 45-36 with 1:24 left – but it wasn’t enough to keep their season alive.
Townsend and Amaya Blake carried a large load of Park Hill’s offense as a third quarter free throw from McKenna Sonsa was the only second half point not scored by the senior duo. Townsend ended her superb Trojan career with 18 points and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Park Hill girls’ basketball program and Blake ended with 13 points in the contest; the postseason loss was the end of an era as two seniors were large pieces in Park Hill’s success over the last four seasons.
In 2021 Townsend averaged 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals and shot 47 percent from the field, while Blake ended with 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals and made 43 shots from downtown. The Trojans also lose senior guard Darcy Cato, who was a starter and key contributor this season when she led the team in total steals.
While Park Hill never won a district title in the three senior’s tenure, the Trojans made it to two district championship games and were the No. 1 seed twice out of the last four years. While in high school, the trio led Park Hill to an overall record of 65-40.
The Trojans won seven of their first 10 games of the season, but when Townsend went down with an injury and missed six games, Park Hill went 2-4 in that stretch but won eight of its last 10 games of the season ahead of the Class 6 District 8 Championship.
Park Hill will be bringing back three upperclassmen in 2022 who started or played significant minutes this year: McKenna Sonsa, Cali Richards and Maddie Crump. The Trojans will also return a freshman duo who saw some time off the bench in Anaya Guess – who made 14 treys on 40 percent shooting – and Boston Wand.