Park Hill South juniors Lauren Dittmer (#11) and Avery Simmons (#23) comforts the Lady Panthers’ only senior, Tatum Kells (#44), in the aftermath of the 58-57 State Quarterfinal loss to Rock Bridge as the Lady Bruins’ celebrate behind them at State Fair Community College on March 11.
One of the greatest seasons ever for the Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (26-4) ended just short of a state championship berth in a heartbreaking, 1-point defeat at State Fair Community College on March 11.
One game away from the Class 6 Final Four, Park Hill South trailed Rock Bridge (23-7) by 16 points with 6:14 to play, but the Lady Panthers refused to give up. In a game where the officials made some favorable calls for Rock Bridge – whether it was counting freshman Jayda Porter’s bucket after she grabbed an offensive rebound, power dribble and putback layup on a missed free throw with 0.8 seconds left at the end of the third quarter or waiving off a fourth quarter transition bucket by Ava Miles because of a Rock Bridge injury in the backcourt – Park Hill South made a comeback.
The Lady Panthers went all in on their press, forcing havoc and turnovers to ignite the fourth quarter scoring surge. Down the stretch, both teams were in double bonus and Park Hill South made multiple trips to the charity stripe to bring the game tight in the final minute.
Park Hill South freshman Ava Miles goes up for a layup against Rock Bridge freshman Jayda Porter in the Class 6 State Quarterfinals.
“I can’t say enough about the heart of the girls that fought back and did everything they could,” Park Hill South girls’ basketball coach Josh Dorr said. “They kept fighting and there wasn’t any strategy, it was just coming back up and getting as aggressive as we possibly could be.”
In a fourth quarter that took 41 minutes of real time due to constant clock stoppages, Park Hill South freshmen Addison Bjorn and Miles capped off a 12-1 run with a layup and pair of free throws to make the score 49-45 with 3:37 on the clock. After the game was brought to within two points, Porter scored a layup in the press breaker for Rock Bridge’s first field goal in more than four minutes.
The Lady Panthers stayed within reaching distance down the stretch, regained possession and called a timeout with 31.1 seconds left trailing 56-52. Avery Simmons split a pair of free throws as the second shot went out-of-bounds amd Miles fouled out when Charlie Smith caught the ensuing inbound pass.
Tatum Kells was the only Lady Panther senior this year as they finished the year with a 26-4 record.
The Rock Bridge junior missed two free throws on the other end, but Park Hill South was unable to secure the rebound. Malia Chievous gained possession of the loose ball and Regan Williams fouled her – giving the junior her fifth foul – and the Rock Bridge sophomore went to the charity stripe with 14.6 seconds left.
“They were able to get some offensive rebounds, which hurt us. Our defense is really based around just not letting people score, make them take tough shots and rebound the ball but they got some offensive rebounds and that kind of hurt us,” Dorr said.
Regan Williams had eight points, seven rebounds and four steals in the 58-57 loss to the Lady Bruins.
Porter had a lane violation before Chievous sunk her second free throw to give Rock Bridge a 4-point cushion, but Bjorn came up clutch and pulled up and converted from the top of the key to make the score 58-57 with 8.1 seconds left. On the ensuing inbound pass, Isabella Corrado chased down a deep pass, dove after the ball and slid on the floor with possession – avoiding being called for a travel – and passed it to Chievous, who was sent to the free throw line with 0.9 seconds left.
She missed both shots, but Porter grabbed rebound number 12 of the night for her to secure the victory, snap Park Hill South’s 18-game winning streak and punch a ticket to state. The Lady Panthers’ magical season came to a heartbreaking end but will bring back four of their five starters, losing sole senior Tatum Kells.
“The future’s bright, and I know they’ll keep working and they’ll keep playing. Hopefully we can come back next year and have a chance to be in the spot again with a different outcome,” Dorr said.
Addison Bjorn (#1) celebrates alongside Maggie Schmidt (#10) and Miles (#5) after a big play in the second half.
Bjorn capped off her prolific freshman campaign with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Simmons ended with 17 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field and three-of-four shooting from the charity stripe. Porter – who is the youngest sister to former University of Missouri small forward and current Denver Nugget Michael Porter Jr. – was a huge factor for the Lady Bruins as the freshman ended with a career-high 36 points, along with six blocks.
“She’s a good player; she got position and knows how to work for position. She did a good job with that. I think that was kind of the big thing for us, she gave them a big boost today,” Dorr said.
Porter put Rock Bridge up early, scoring its first 11 points of the night and 16 of the Lady Bruins’ 22 first half points when Park Hill South trailed by seven. The Lady Panthers have never made it to state but have a promising future with the potential to make a Final Four run next winter.
Avery Simmons was the most efficient Lady Panther on the day as the junior made seven of her nine shot attempts to end with 17 points on March 11.
Ahead of the state quarterfinals, Park Hill South won its first district title since 2019 as the Lady Panthers took down Staley (19-10) for the third time this season on March 7. The Lady Falcons trailed for most of the Class 6 District 8 Championship and lost 63-44, which was the largest margin of victory in any of the three matchups.
Park Hill South’s starters scored all its points with Kells’ outing of seven points on three-of-four shooting being the only one who didn’t score in double digits. Bjorn made seven of her 10 field goal attempts – including her only 3-point shot – to have a team-high 18 points and two steals.
Simmons made two of the Lady Panthers’ five shots from behind the arc to close out districts with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and one block. Miles ended with 13 points and Williams added 10 points as Park Hill South outscored its three district opponents 193-112 with each of its last two victories being by a 19-point margin.