The first two times the Park Hill South boys’ basketball team (14-10) and Oak Park (15-8) matched up this season, the winner was decided by a total of three points, and it wasn’t any different when the home team won on a buzzer beating tip-in on the Northmen’s senior night on Feb. 15.
Miles Fant, above, scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half points in the Panthers 52-50 loss to Oak Park on Feb. 15.
When J.D. Roberts missed a shot from behind the arc with two minutes remaining in regulation, Park Hill South only had one more possession. Oak Park led 50-48 and began to play keep-away by passing and dribbling around to milk some time off the clock.
Miles Fant forced a jump ball with 53.8 seconds on the clock and the Panthers’ defense forced a five second violation on the inbound - as the Northmen couldn’t find anyone open - and Park Hill South regained possession. When a right corner trey by Cahmai Crosby bounced off the rim, Fant retained the offensive rebound and found Roberts for the game tying bucket with 27 seconds left.
While it appeared that the game might be headed to overtime, Oak Park didn’t let that happen as it took four shots in the final seconds. The Northmen got three consecutive offensive rebounds by continually putting layup attempts back up until the final shot banked in as the buzzer sounded.
While the game went down to the wire, it began with the Panthers starting off hot with a perfect four for four on their field goal attempts in the opening two minutes of play. Crosby scored a layup within three seconds of the opening tip and knocked down a transition 3-pointer 30 seconds later.
On the ensuing possession, Crosby found Roberts open at the top of the key for a trey and then Messias Dockery hit a streaking Crosby for a transition layup with 6:07 on the clock and Park Hill South led 10-0. Oak Park fought back and narrowed the deficit to one point in the final minute of the first quarter, but Roberts converted on a layup with 32 seconds left and the Panthers led 19-16 entering the second frame.
Park Hill South continued to extend its lead to 30-23 at the break and led by as much as 11 points in the third period, but with right under three minutes left in the third quarter Oak Park took its first lead, 38-36, when Dockery was called for a foul on a 3-point attempt and the Northmen converted on two of the three attempts. Fant converted on a three-point play on the other end, but Oak Park scored a layup at the buzzer to take a 40-39 advantage.
The final eight minutes were tight with four ties and six lead changes, and the Panthers went up 48-44 with 4:13 left after Crosby hit a shot from downtown and found Fant on a backdoor cut for a layup. Oak Park converted on a pair of shots in the paint and two free throws to take a 50-48 lead before the final two minutes.
Oak Park won 52-50 and took a 2-1 season series’ advantage as the margin of victory was by an average of 1.7 points. After the Panthers defeated the Northmen 61-60 in the North Kansas City Tournament on Jan. 19, Oak Park beat Park Hill South 47-45 on Jan. 28.
After the heartbreaking defeat, the Panthers bounced back with a 65-44 win over one of the top teams in all of Kansas City: Lee’s Summit (20-4). Park Hill South will get another shot at Oak Park in the opening round of districts as the fifth seeded Panthers and fourth seeded Northmen will be matched up on Feb. 26.