Park Hill South senior Damon Stacker goes up for a layup in the district matchup with Staley at North Kansas City High School on Feb. 29.
NORTH KANSAS CITY – Each of the last five postseasons have ended the same way for Park Hill South, a loss to Staley.
While the final score of the Class 6 District 8 Boys’ Basketball Quarterfinals looks like it wasn’t competitive, Park Hill South (8-19) was within reaching distance until the final quarter of the 60-43 loss to Staley (22-5) on Feb. 29. Dating back to 2021, the Falcons have taken down the Panthers each time they’ve matched up, which makes it 10 in a row.
Park Hill South’s closest margin of defeat in that stretch happened earlier this season when Staley won 61-56 on Jan. 24. That game gave the Panthers confidence, and it showed in the district contest at North Kansas City High School.
Park Hill South played like a cohesive unit through the opening half, having its final six field goals being assisted on. Damon Stacker drove in for a bucket in the opening 90 seconds for the only unassisted Panther basket through two quarters.
The unselfish play put the No. 7 seed up early, with notable leads of 5-0, 7-3 and 12-6 in the first quarter alone. Staley hit a three with 28 seconds left in the opening frame to cut the deficit to 12-9.
Michael Good and Keegan Feder made a shot from behind the arc in that timeframe. Carson Bjorn kicked off quarter two with one of his own, which was followed by 11 straight Falcon points.
Cooper Oathout ended the nearly six-minute stretch of scoreless basketball for Park Hill South when Bjorn found the junior in the paint for a layup with 1:12 left in the half. Once again, Staley knocked down a triple in the final minute of the quarter to make the score 23-17 at intermission.
Colby Kiedrowski had an uncharacteristic low-scoring first half with only two points but scored five quick points in transition out of the break to ignite a run. Stacker added to that with a three-point play in the fast break and a transition bucket, tying the game at 27.
Good made it a 12-1 Panther run with another transition layup and put his team ahead, resulting in a Falcon timeout with 3:52 to play in the third period. Staley came out of the timeout with seven straight points until Bjorn scored with right over two minutes left.
A wild sequence with the ball bouncing around and bodies diving on the floor resulted in a fast break opportunity for the Panthers and ended with Good being called for a technical in the backcourt before his team could get a shot up. That resulted in two free throws for the No. 2 seed and Oathout was called for goaltending with 37 seconds left, rewarding two more points to Staley.
Stacker made a floater to kick off the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 38-33. Over the course of the ensuing 3:30, Park Hill South went cold – missing all its field goal attempts, along with two free throws – until Bjorn hit a shot with his foot on the line from the left corner.
The Panthers were outscored 11 to eight in the final four minutes, losing by 17 points. The winter came to a close with a rare losing season, something the program hasn’t experienced in more than 15 years.
Park Hill South says farewell to five seniors – Kiedrowski, Feder, Stacker, Good and Zeshaun Balance – four of which saw some time as starters this season. Oathout and Bjorn will bring back the most experience next season.