March Madness was at an all-time high in the Class 6 District 8 Girls’ Basketball Tournament as No. 6 seeded Park Hill (11-5) was on the verge of two upsets and a third straight trip to a district championship.
The Park Hill bench celebrates when junior guard McKenna Sonsa tied the game late in regulation to force overtime in the Lady Trojans heartbreaking 53-50 double overtime loss to Staley in districts on March 4.
After knocking off third-seeded Liberty North (17-9) in the opening round on March 2, Park Hill took on second-seeded Staley (19-9) in the district semifinals on March 4. While the Lady Falcons won both of the regular season matchups – including a 50-24 triumph 12 days prior to the postseason meeting – the Lady Trojans gave it their all in six periods of action in a season that was turned around from a rough 3-9 start to the winter.
“We had some growing pains at the beginning of the season,” Park Hill girls’ basketball coach Kennedie Dorrell said. “We lost two really awesome players from last year and it took everyone a second to kind of figure out their role and figure out how this team was going to be. It’s taken some time but as you can see, we’re a way different team than we were at the beginning of the year and I’m so proud of them.”
Park Hill’s Lydia Keller attempts a corner 3-pointer in the double overtime loss to Staley.
Before both overtime periods, the game was as competitive as it could be in regulation with nine ties and 22 lead changes as Staley led 41-39 in the final minute. McKenna Sonsa tied the game with a layup with 23 seconds left and after the Lady Falcons called a timeout with the ball, the host school had a chance for one last play.
After a couple of ball reversals and dribble penetration, Lizzie Boehm – who leads Staley in true 3-point shooting percentage – had an open look from the right corner and took a shot ahead of the buzzer. The shot went into the cylinder, but rolled out, and the game went into overtime.
“I told them it’s going to be hard and there’s going to be people here who don’t think that you’re going to be able to do it except for the people in our locker room, and they came out and they did exactly what I knew that they could do. They showed everyone in the city how far we’ve come and I’m really proud of them,” Dorrell said.
Londyn Parker made a pair of free throws in the opening minute to put Staley on top, but a pair of layups by Lydia Keller then Boston Wand gave Park Hill a 2-point lead with 1:05 on the clock. Cali Richards split a pair of free throws with 41.5 seconds left to make the score 46-43 and then Wand forced a steal on the other end and Paige Barry went to the charity stripe with 11.6 seconds left to shoot one-and-one, but missed the shot and Staley had another opportunity.
Senior starter Maddie Crump finished with nine points, including three triples at Staley High School.
Coming out of a timeout with 7.9 seconds on the clock, the Lady Falcons inbounded it from the left baseline and after four total passes and a ball reversal, Ava Pickens ended up with the ball in the left corner. Sonsa closed out with two hands up to contest the shot, but the junior buried her third shot from downtown on the night, tying the game at the buzzer and sending the game into another overtime period.
Keller and Wand gave the Lady Trojans a 50-46 advantage in the opening two minutes, but Park Hill failed to score another point after that. Parker tied the game up with 1:22 left and ended up with a steal with right under 30 seconds left, drew a foul in transition and sank a pair of free throws.
Keller missed a jumper on the ensuing possession and Staley senior Lizzie Boehm split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to make the score 53-50 and Park Hill called a timeout to draw up a play. Sonsa ended up with the ball and drove to the right side and kicked it out to Wand – who had only attempted four 3-pointers all year – in the corner and the sophomore post’s shot was no good, with the Lady Trojans’ Cinderella story coming up short.
Cali Richards was a starter each of the last two seasons and played her final game in in the Class 6 District 8 Semifinal.
Wand ended with a double-double, posting 12 points and 11 rebounds and Keller had 11 points. Park Hill senior Maddie Crump ended her high school career with three of the team’s five 3-pointers, giving her nine points.
Before the heartbreaking loss to Staley, Park Hill knocked off Liberty North 42-37 thanks to late heroics by Keller and Sonsa. With the Lady Eagles leading 37-35 with right over one minute to go, Keller knocked down a triple from the right wing to put Park Hill back on top with 55 seconds to play.
“We’ve been preaching all year that the ball has to go inside out, and we’ve got to get those reversals and that’s exactly what they did. That’s when our girls are good is when the ball is popping and we’re getting it inside out and Lydia (Keller) did exactly what she’s good at, so I’m really proud of her and I’m happy for it,” Dorell said.
Park Hill sophomore Boston Wand, below left, took the final shot – a corner 3-pointer when trailing 53-50 in the final moments of double overtime – on March 4.
With under 20 seconds left, Liberty North sophomore Alex Couch – who had scored the team’s last five points at the time – missed a shot and Sonsa went to the charity stripe with 4.2 seconds left. The Park Hill junior made both attempts then stole the ensuing inbound pass and put the game away with two more free throws.
“Liberty North is a great defensive team. We’ve been preaching that all week that it’s going to come down to defense and our girls really locked in and made those extra plays and the extra efforts,” Dorrell said.
Sonsa had the best postseason game of her career, leading the team with 17 points on four-of-nine shooting – including three-of-six from downtown and six-of-nine from the free throw line – along with four assists and two steals. This was an impressive performance for the Lady Trojans, especially since they had lost to the Lady Eagles 39-23 in the only regular season matchup when they ended that contest with more turnovers than points.