In what was literal milliseconds away from a huge bounce back win for the Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (14-8) turned into a heartbreaking defeat on Feb. 10.
Park Hill South junior Tatum Kells scored 14 points in the Panthers 53-52 loss to Staley on Feb. 10.
It took four extra minutes of play to decide the victor when the Panthers hosted Staley (16-4) with a wild sequence happening in the final 48 seconds between the Red Division opponents. After Park Hill South struck first in overtime, Staley knocked down its ninth 3-pointer in the final minute to take a 51-50 lead.
On the ensuing possession, a pass from Avery Simmons was intercepted from a Staley defender but Regan Williams poked the ball loose as the Falcon was dribbling across half court. The ball eventually found Jayme Dixon’s hands and the senior drove in and converted on a layup with 15 seconds left to give the Panthers a one-point margin.
Staley eventually called a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining and after the game resumed, Gabbie Schultz was called for a shooting foul with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Both of the Falcons’ attempts swished through the net and Dixon’s full-court heave fell short of the basket and Staley won 53-52.
“I mean it hurts – there’s nothing you can do, but it hurts,” Park Hill South Josh Dorr said. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes but is what it is.”
In the final minute of regulation, Park Hill South was also in a position where it trailed late and made plays when it mattered. Despite leading in the entire period up to the 1:04 point, another trey by the Falcons put Staley up 46-44 with the clock ticking.
The Panthers called a pair of timeouts – with the second one occurring with 15.1 seconds remaining – and they had a chance to tie or take the lead. With the ball being inbounded on the right sideline, Williams took the inbound pass and took it all the way to the hole with a euro step layup with 10 seconds left to tie the game at 46 and force overtime.
“They never stopped fighting, clawing and going for it. I know they aren’t going to give up, and that’s probably the best take away about it right now,” Dorr said.
In the second matchup between the conference rivals – following Staley’s 66-51 victory on Jan. 13 – Park Hill South went up early. After the Panthers led 10-4 after the opening frame, the Falcons poured out five 3-pointers in the second quarter to go into the locker room with a 23-18 lead.
“They are going to shoot threes – they live from that 3-point line and when they start making them, you have to find a way to quickly stop them. They are shooters and shooters are going to shoot a bunch and going to make it, so you have to be ready for that,” Dorr said.
A third quarter surge by Park Hill South put it back on top 28-27 when Josie Ham banked in a deep 2-point jumper with 4:34 left in the period before sinking a 3-pointer on the next possession. Another deep 2-point jumper right ahead of the buzzer – this time by Williams – gave the Panthers a 38-35 margin entering the final frame.
“They are going to shoot threes and we are going to pound it inside and get what we get in there and that’s the big difference for me. We were able to do what we wanted to do in the second half, but they were able to do what they wanted to do in the second quarter,” Dorr said.
Regan Williams led the way with 14 points. Tatum Kells also scored 14 points and Avery Simmons ended with 10 points.
This was the second consecutive loss for Park Hill South to a conference and district opponent as the Panthers also lost to St. Joseph’s Central (14-6) 49-39 on Feb. 7. After the loss, Coach Dorr told the Platte County Citizen that they are looking to move past the pair of defeats and look forward to potentially getting a rematch in the Class 6 District 8 Tournament.
“I told them we just have to be able to come back ready to go and finish out the season. We have three games left in the regular season and we will see what happens in districts – there is a good chance we see this team again or see Central again, so we have to be ready to go and maybe get a little chance of revenge there,” Dorr said.
Park Hill South has two regular season games left, starting with Lee’s Summit (9-11) on Feb. 17. The Panthers will then host North Kansas City (8-12) in the regular season finale on Feb. 21.