Right ahead of the postseason, the Park Hill boys (16-10) and girls (10-14) split the double-header, regular season finale at Kearney High School on Feb. 22.
Park Hill senior Dayton Howard makes a layup in the first quarter of the Trojans 60-58 loss to Kearney on Feb. 22.
The Trojans fell 60-58 to Kearney (8-17) but the Lady Trojans won 56-43. Park Hill will be competing in the Class 6 District 4 Tournament at Staley High School, with the opening round games being played at the higher seeded school.
The Lady Trojans entered the regular season finale coming off a 5-game stretch of alternating wins and losses, with their prior contest being a 50-24 loss to Staley (17-9) on Feb. 13. In the non-conference matchup with Kearney (12-14), a career-day by Maddie Crump led Park Hill to a triumph.
The senior guard tied her personal best in points with 19 and made a career-high five shots from behind the arc. She shot at a 45.5 percent rate from downtown – being the second highest rate of the season – and added five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Lady Trojans were ahead at the halfway mark of the third quarter and pushed the margin to double digits midway through the frame. When Lydia Keller sank a deep shot from the left corner, Kearney trailed 35-21.
Crump knocked down a shot from the top of the key ahead of the buzzer to give Park Hill a 43-29 advantage with eight minutes to play. The Lady Bulldogs had a foul fest in the fourth quarter, sending the Lady Trojans to the charity stripe eight times with their only field goal in the frame being a layup by Izzy Petznick.
Kearney made a late comeback bid – bringing the game as close as 52-43 – but the road team prevailed. McKenna Sonsa also had a big day for the Lady Trojans, making 10 of their 17 total free throws, to end with 17 points and two steals.
Lydia Keller shot four-of-five from the field and three-of-four from three to give herself 11 points as Park Hill forced eight steals and 18 Kearney turnovers. The Lady Trojans were supposed to end the regular season with a matchup with Lee’s Summit North (8-14) on Feb. 24, but that game was cancelled and won’t be rescheduled.
The Park Hill boys had a tough break in their final two games of the regular season, losing both, after a 4-game winning streak. One day after losing 59-53 to Staley (24-2) – the No. 1 team in Class 6 – the Trojans were upset by a Class 5 school in Kearney.
Despite the less-than-ideal ending to the regular season, the Trojans will have a chance to bounce back in the postseason. Park Hill will be the No. 3 seed and host a first-round district matchup with sixth-seeded Liberty (11-14) – who the Trojans split the regular season series with – on March 1 at 7 p.m.
The Class 6 District 4 Tournament is a tough one, with Staley and Oak Park (24-1) both being ranked as a top-3 team in the state and taking up the top-2 seeds in the district. If the Trojans advance past the first round, they will play Oak Park or Liberty North (14-11) on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
The Park Hill girls earned the sixth seed in the Class 6 District 4 Tournament, which is their lowest seeding they’ve had since being No. 5 exactly a decade ago. The Lady Trojans have been to two consecutive district championships, falling short in both, and will head to Liberty North (17-8) on March 6 at 6:30 p.m. for the opening round game.