A pair of runs to open and close the third quarter were vital in the Park Hill South boys’ basketball team’s (4-1) 61-48 home opening win over St. Joseph’s Benton (1-5) on Dec. 13.
Park Hill South junior guard Daman Stacker dunks on a fast break with less than four minutes left in regulation of the Panthers 61-48 home opening win over Benton on Dec. 13.
The Panthers were behind for all but a total 29 seconds in the opening half on two separate occasions. After trailing 12-7 after the first eight minutes of play, Park Hill South took a brief 14-12 lead after Cahmai Crosby scored a layup 1:51 into the second quarter, but Benton tied the game nine seconds later and then quickly retook the lead.
There were five ties in the second quarter and Park Hill South went up 22-20 after Jaylen Lockhart scored a backdoor layup off a pass from Zahir Ragsdale with 20 seconds left. Carson Mattson blocked a Benton 3-point shot at the buzzer and the home team headed into the break with a 2-point advantage.
Crosby found Mike Collins who converted on an and-one opportunity 13 seconds into the second half to start a 7-0 run – which ended up being a 9-0 run dating back to the second quarter – to put Park Hill South up 29-20 with 6:38 left in the third quarter. With right under three minutes left in the frame, Benton had cut the deficit to 31-27 when a bucket by Crosby started a 10-0 Park Hill South run.
Collins and Crosby both scored four points in the run and Colby Kiedrowski scored one of his two baskets on a right baseline layup with nine seconds left. Leading 41-27 ahead of the final quarter, the Panthers held off the Cardinals in the last eight minutes.
Collins had a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds, while Crosby scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in addition to forcing a season-high two steals. Ragsdale finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and five steals.
While this was the Panthers’ first home game of the year, they started the season off with a 66-36 road win over Blue Springs South (5-4) on Nov. 29, before going 2-1 in the Republic Tournament in Springfield, MO, on the opening weekend of the month. Park Hill South’s only loss of the early season was to Springdale (AR) when the Panthers only converted on 33.3 percent of their shots and lost 65-61 behind Crosby’s 20 points and eight boards.
Park Hill South poured out 25 total shots from behind the arc on a 50 percent rate in the other two games of the tournament, including a 63-46 win over Liberty (1-3) on Dec. 3. The Panthers will look to start off 2-0 at home when Webster Groves (1-4) comes to town on Dec. 22.