For the first time since the 2019 Class 5 District 16 Semifinals, the Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (4-0) defeated Park Hill (2-1) when the Panthers won the Winnetonka Tournament Championship Game 49-46 on Dec. 3.
The Trojans entered the championship contest with a three-game winning streak against the Panthers, but Park Hill South was able to snap the streak and pull out the victory. The Panthers won the Winnetonka Tournament for the first time since 2018, which was also the last time they started off 4-0.
“These girls have worked really hard to get to this position,” Park Hill South Josh Dorr said. “I told them before the tournament started, each game is a step up and it’s going to be tougher and they’re going to have to find a way to mentally to fight through it, and I think they did.”
Park Hill South set the tone early by scoring the opening five points; and a 9-2 lead and a baseline jumper from Regan Williams at the first quarter buzzer gave the Panthers a 13-7 lead. Park Hill senior Kennedy Townsend started the second quarter with a fast break layup and free throw after a foul and then the 5’10 guard knocked down a 3-pointer to tie Park Hill South at 15 with 5:56 remaining.
Neither team was able to get back on the scoreboard for the next 4:35 until Panther junior Tatum Kells converted on a layup. Trojan senior Amaya Blake narrowed the deficit to one point with a free throw with less than 10 seconds remaining, but once again Williams beat the buzzer – this time with a floater - and the Panthers took a 19-16 lead at the break.
“I think that helps a lot – that can sometimes salvage the quarter regardless of how it went. Maybe you’re playing bad or not having the best quarter but when you do that, you can regain momentum,” Dorr said.
Park Hill South opened the second half on a 10-2 run when four different Panthers scored, and they led the Trojans 29-18 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter. Park Hill senior Darcy Cato scored seven straight points and Townsend knocked down another trey to narrow the deficit 29-28 with 1:28 left in the period.
The Park Hill South girls’ basketball team, above, holds up the Winnetonka Tournament trophy after defeating Park Hill 49-46 on Dec. 3 in the championship game,
“We have a lot of great kids with good character on this team,” Park Hill head coach Aaron Neeser said. “I don’t doubt they want to win, so they’re going to keep fighting.”
The Panthers held on to a 34-30 lead entering the fourth quarter and a pair of 3-pointers from Townsend and McKenna Sosna tied the contest at 36 at the 7:28 mark. Park Hill South senior Jayme Dixon responded with back-to-back shots from behind the arc to help the Panthers regain the lead and momentum.
“With what we want to accomplish on the season, you need to be in these types of games, and I tell them don’t shine away from them, have fun with them. I know you’re nervous, but you have to embrace that opportunity and learn from it so next time you will have the experience,” Dorr said.
The Trojans found themselves trailing by seven points with right over five minutes remaining when Townsend took over and scored six of her 10 fourth quarter points to narrow the deficit to 46-45 with 48 seconds left. Park Hill South sophomore Avery Simmons knocked down a free throw to give the Panthers a two-point lead, then Townsend missed a 15-footer on the next possession and Williams sunk a pair of shots from the charity stripe to give Park Hill South a 49-45 lead with 14.6 seconds remaining.
Park Hill had four free throw attempts in the final six seconds and only made one - Cato was fouled with 7.8 seconds remaining and missed both free throw attempts, then Townsend went to the line with 5.8 seconds left and made the first attempt but missed the second. Cato got the offensive rebound and the Trojans had a pair of 2-point field goal attempts, but couldn’t convert before the buzzer sounded, and Park Hill South survived.
“We didn’t execute when we needed to, we could never get over that hump. They have some kids that have played a lot of varsity, and we’re still working towards being the team that we want to be, so sometimes these things happen,” Neeser said.
Townsend finished with a game-high 25 points with three of the Trojans’ six 3-pointers, while Williams led the Panthers with 14 points. To get to the championship game, Park Hill defeated Lee’s Summit (1-3) 52-46 on Dec. 1 after beating Ruskin (0-4) 86-22 on Nov. 29.
“I told them not to let this loss ruin the week, we had a pair of good wins in this tournament. Now we have to move on to the next opponent and get ready to battle them,” Neeser said.
Park Hill South opened the tournament up with a 52-15 win over Winnetonka (0-3) on Nov. 30 and came out on top 51-41 over Truman (1-1) on Dec. 1. The Panthers’ next game is at North Kansas City against the Hornets on Dec. 9, while the Trojans’ next opponent will be at Benton High School for the Hall of Fame Classic on Dec. 11.