The Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (14-3) traveled nearly 200 miles to play in the Nixa Invitational and dominated, winning all three games by an average of 23 points to win the tournament.
The Lady Panthers have been one of the top teams in the KC Metro area this season – posting an impressive 11-1 record against said opponents – so they traveled to Nixa to play some better competition. While Park Hill South went 1-2 in the same tournament a year ago, that changed with three consecutive comfortable triumphs this go-around.
Park Hill South freshman Addison Bjorn scored 77 total points in the Nixon Invitational, inlcuding a career-high 32 points in the championship, to help lead the Lady Panthers to a 3-0 finish in the tournament.
Opening up the tournament with a matchup with Republic (15-3) – who is the No. 3 team in all of Class 6, according to the Missouri Basketball Coach Association (MBCA) – Park Hill South had an efficient day offensively to come out on top with its biggest margin of victory in the tournament, 71-43, on Jan. 19. Four Lady Panthers scored in double figures, led by freshman Addison Bjorn who had 21 points on nine-of-13 shooting from the field, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Ava Miles made two of the Lady Panthers’ four shots from behind the arc to end with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. Regan Williams had her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Tatum Kells finished with a season-high 10 points.
In the next round, Park Hill South handled West Plains (12-6) with a 67-45 win on Jan. 20. The Lady Panthers once again had an impressive outing on offense and had both of their freshman stars have career days.
Bjorn led the offense, this time doing so with a career-high 32 points, which was her most since pouring out 27 points in the season opener. The freshman made 13 of her 20 attempts, while also grabbing eight boards and dishing out five assists on top of the strong scoring burst.
Miles also scored a career-high in points when she was a perfect three-for-three from downtown to give her 18, which was three more points than her previous career-high. Miles also had eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Park Hill South advanced to the championship with the victory, where it took on Nixa (11-3) on Jan. 21. The Lady Eagles are ranked at No. 6, which is one spot ahead of the Lady Panthers, in the MBCA Class 6 rankings but they fell short by a score of 61-42.
Bjorn ended the day with 24 points – to give her a remarkable 77 total points in the tournament – on an efficient day of shooting the basketball when she shot eight-of-11 from the field and seven-of-nine from the charity stripe, while also making her only shot from behind the arc. Miles ended with 16 points and three steals and Williams added 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists.
After the three straight tournament wins, the Lady Panthers have officially bested their last six opponents with their last loss being to Incarnate Word Academy (15-0), who is not only the No. 1 team in Class 6 but has also currently won the last five state championships and 83 consecutive games. The best team left on the regular season schedule for Park Hill South will be Liberty North (12-4) who will host the Lady Panthers on Jan. 26.