LIBERTY – Reaching the championship game in the Liberty North Boys’ Basketball Tournament for the fourth straight year, Park Hill came away with a second-place finish this season.
Park Hill junior Cameron Jones (#10) averaged 15.3 points in the Liberty North Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
Prior to the successful outing at the tournament, Park Hill was coming off a 76-60 season opening road loss to North Kansas City (4-0) on Nov. 28. Cameron Jones didn’t shy away from the larger role he’s expected to take on as a first-year starter, erupting for 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from deep.
Jones led the second unit a season ago and had only scored double digits twice, never surpassing 11 points. That’s been much different in his junior year as Jones has scored 70 points already through the first four games, not far behind his season total of 98 points last year.
Isaiah Caston was in a similar boat, scoring 15 points in the loss to North Kansas City to go with three rebounds and two steals – all of which were career highs at the time – in his first career start. The Trojans’ loss to the Hornets was short-lived as they bounced back with a 61-48 victory over St. Joseph’s Central (2-4) to open the Liberty North Tournament on Dec. 5.
Gavin Schaag was an efficient scorer on the night, shooting 50 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from deep and 100 percent from the charity stripe. The senior knocked down four of the Trojans’ six 3-pointers en route to having 21 points.
Jones had another impressive night putting the ball in the hoop, ending with 18 points, along with two blocks and a steal on defense. Desire Tonye-Nyemeck scored 13 points, grabbed eight boards and forced three steals.
Park Hill went on to play Basehor-Linwood (2-1) and came out on top 54-47 on Dec. 7. Schaag ended with 16 points, Jones had 14 points and Tonye-Nyemeck finished with 13 points.
In the Liberty North Tournament Championship, Park Hill ran into a talented Nixa (5-1) squad and lost 66-49 on Dec. 8. The Eagles came out of the game hot, leading 11-4 but Schaag hit back-to-back triples to make it to within one.
Park Hill went into the locker room trailing with 23 first-half points and went scoreless in the first 2:33 of the second half until Schaag drilled another shot from deep. Tonye-Nyemeck threw down a pair of slam dunks with right over four minutes left in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 41-30 but Nixa still had a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter and held on to win.
Jones once again led Park Hill in scoring with 14 points as Tonye-Nyemeck ended with 13 points and nine rebounds. Schaag wrapped up the tournament with a 12-point outing and shot 10-of-24 from behind the arc through the three games at Liberty North High School.
The Trojans will head back to that school to take on Liberty North (1-3) on Dec. 15. The Trojans have taken down the Eagles eight straight times, dating back to 2019.