Park Hill junior Cameron Jones led the second unit last year and is taking on a larger role this season as a starter.
KANSAS CITY – Another season with a new lineup shouldn’t faze the Park Hill boys’ basketball team as it still has some talented players with some offensive firepower.
Graduating three players who started the last two years, Park Hill has a fairly inexperienced squad this winter. Gavin Schaag is the only full-time starter coming back for the Trojans after he led the Kansas City Suburban Conference Silver Division in 3-point field goals with 48 total as a junior.
“Gavin will be a tremendous leader for us,” Park Hill head boys’ basketball coach Chad Jones said. “The guy is just a walking bucket; he’s got crazy range on a jump shot and can get to the rim at will, so it’s always good when you have somebody like him coming back.”
Schaag scored 9.96 points per game last year, shooting an efficient 40.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from downtown. Desire Tonye-Nyemeck was in and out of the starting lineup as a junior and although he didn’t stuff the stat sheet, he is a crucial player that brings back experience.
“Desire is a high-flyer; he’s 6’4, a great athlete and he got second in high jump last spring. Although he’s a little undersized at the big spot he makes up for that with athleticism, and we’ll count on him do a lot of work on the boards this year for us,” Jones said.
Cameron Jones can play all five positions and will take on a larger role as a junior after being the sixth man in 2022. Isaiah Canton will be the starting floor general, and Akoi AKoi will be the fifth starter.
“I think if our team comes together, we hope that we’re playing our best basketball in February. With a lot of new guys, it may take a little while before we get rolling and get our feet under us, but we have the talent and the capability defensively to be right there at the end in a tough and talented conference,” Jones said.
Although Park Hill has had a revolving door of players, it has been consistent the last few years – earning 17 wins last year after back-to-back 16-win seasons. The Trojans are in a competitive district yet again and is looking to bring home their first title since 2018.
“If you look at the last few years, we’ve been fortunate to be at the top of that district for many years, but it’s always tough. There’s going to be some tremendously talented players and our schedule is extremely tough; we play everybody, and we are always playing tough teams so it’s nothing different this year,” Jones said.