In the final 5:03 of the Class 6 District 8 Semifinals of a tight, physical matchup between Red Division opponents, Central (19-7) outscored the Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (19-9) 12 to five to end the Panthers’ season with a 39-34 victory on Feb. 28.
This was the third time the Indians and Panthers played each other this year – with the regular season series being split when the home team won both matchups – so it was expected to be a barn burner, and it was. The opening half was a defensive battle with neither offense able to surpass the 20 point total in the first 16 minutes of action.
“Our goal was to stay in front of them and make them shoot jumpers,” Park Hill South Head Coach Josh Dorr said. “I think when we force them to take tough shots and get our defense set up, it’s tough to score on us.”
After Park Hill South went into the locker room up 16-13, it held Central to only one made basket in the first six minutes of the second half until the Indians made a pair of jumpers and closed the gap, 27-22. The Indians added a 3-pointer within 20 seconds of the fourth quarter and eventually took their first lead since the opening frame with a transition three-point play with 5:03 remaining in the contest and the Panthers trailed 30-29.
“They hit some shots late, and we didn’t. It was a physical game - they let us play – and we just missed too many shots when they made some shots late in the fourth quarter,” Dorr said.
After a Central free throw, Regan Williams answered with a right corner trey and Park Hill South regained a 32-31 lead. With 2:18 left Central converted on a three-point play, which made the second half foul total 10 to two in the Indians’ favor, and the Panthers didn’t make another field goal for the rest of the night.
Park Hill South heaved up four shots from behind the arc in the closing two minutes, but none found the way through the cylinder. A pair of free throws from Williams was the only two points the Panthers scored down the stretch as their season came to and end.
The Park Hill South girls’ basketball team, above, fell short in the Class 6 District 8 Semifinals, losing to St. Joseph’s Central 39-34 on Feb. 28.
“It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had a winning record, so we were able to win 19 games and that is a big jump. We won two tournaments – the North Kansas City Tournament and the Winnetonka Tournament – so there is a lot of positive things that they accomplished,” Dorr said.
Park Hill South had four turnovers in the opening quarter and trailed Central 6-4 with less than one minute to go before Jayme Dixon made a pair of highlight plays to give the Panthers an 8-4 advantage after one. Dixon tied the game with a fast break layup before making an acrobatic half-court assist to Avery Simmons at the buzzer.
Williams came up with the loose ball 84 feet away from the Panthers’ basket and was double teamed in the Indians’ corner, but before she stepped out-of-bounds, she found Dixon near half court. The senior made an impressive catch and one-handed pass from the right sideline to the left block where Simmons was streaking down.
The sophomore scored a layup right before the buzzer sounded and was greeted by Dixon for a celebration before going to the bench. Dixon was one of the four Park Hill South seniors this season who have made an impact on the program throughout their careers.
“They are a great group of girls – there are a few of them I remember coming to summer stuff back when they were in seventh grade, so I’ve known them pretty much as long as I’ve been at South. They have been involved in the program for such a long time, and they stepped up this year to become leaders and turned the corner to bring this group together,” Dorr said.
Park Hill South ended up with more wins this season than the past two combined, as it won nine games in each of the last two years. The Panthers will be bringing back three starters next season with junior Tatum Kells, along with Simmons and Williams who are both sophomores.
“When you have a couple of down years, to get everything going back in the positive direction, that is the nice spurt. The ball is starting to roll in the right direction and hopefully we can build on this moving forward,” Dorr said.