In sports, the phrase ‘sacrificing your body for the team’ is often used, but rarely does it play out as dramatically as it did for Park Hill guard Lydia Keller.
The Trojan senior’s gutsy defensive stand in the final seconds helped extend her high school basketball career as the Trojans secured a 50-48 victory over Liberty on March 6 in the Class 6 District 8 girls basketball quarterfinal. It is also likely the last high school basketball game that will ever be played on the current Park Hill High School court before the new court opens next season.
The Trojans seemed to have a grip on the game, leading by as many as six in the fourth quarter, but they never put it out of reach. The thorn in the Trojans’ side was Liberty guard Hadley Gravatt, who almost single-handedly pulled the Blue Jays back into the game.
Park Hill’s Audrey Sims and Lydia Keller celebrate with Boston Wand after Wand’s big shot against Liberty.
When Park Hill stretched their one-point lead to four early in the fourth, Gravatt stepped forward to hit her first 3-pointer of the quarter. With Park Hill leading 41-35, Gravatt demonstrated her versatility as she drove for a layup.
The Liberty guard was then held at bay until a Trojan turnover allowed the Blue Jays to break down the court and find Gravatt in the corner for another 3-pointer to bring Liberty within three with 1:07 remaining. Gravatt still wasn’t done from deep; she hit her third triple of the quarter out of a timeout with 48 seconds left, making it a two-point game.
With Park Hill up 48-46 with 16 seconds left, they called one final timeout to discuss how they could stop Gravatt this time. At the sacrifice of Keller’s health, the plan worked.
Liberty’s 6-foot sophomore came storming toward the basket against Keller, but junior guard Taylor Finney also stepped in for Park Hill. Finney’s presence alongside Keller forced Gravatt to lose control as she charged into Keller, who was sent flying backward, but no whistle was blown.
“I thought I should have gotten a charge there,” Keller said of the big defensive stop. “It was huge. I felt like we finally had the game; we just had to knock down some free throws to end it.”
Senior guard Lydia Keller in Park Hill’s district quarterfinal victory against Liberty on March 6 at Park Hill High School.
Keller remained down, anguishing in pain on the baseline as Finney recovered the loose ball for the Trojans before finding a teammate. That teammate was freshman guard Audrey Sims, who was fouled and iced the game by making both free throws to make it a two-possession game without enough time for two Liberty possessions.
“Our girls literally put their lives on the line,'“ Park Hill coach Kennedi Erhard said. ‘Exactly what we talked about in the timeout. They executed just like they have these last couple of weeks. They are really locked in at the right time.”
Park Hill’s district quarterfinal victory was an effort that took an entire squad. While Keller and Sims each led the team with 14 points, Finney came off the bench to score six points and contribute on the defensive end in a critical moment of the game.
“We made sure we knew what we were doing,” Keller said. “We played well as a team and stuck with it the whole game.”
Extensive scouting helped prepare the Trojans for their third and biggest matchup with Liberty of the season. After the hosting team lost the two regular-season matchups, Park Hill finally made their home-court advantage count.
“They have worked really hard these last couple of weeks,” Erhard said.” “We are playing our best basketball at the right time. I’m just so happy for them that they get at least one more game.”