Park Hill South coasted into the semifinals of the 2018 Northland Classic on Monday, Jan. 29 at North Kansas City High School.
The Panthers enjoyed a 20-point win against Columbia Hickman 52-32 in the first round of the annual tournament. Park Hill South, ranked No. 7 in the latest Class 5 poll by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, allowed just four field goals in the first half to take a commanding 32-8 lead into the locker room .
“We played well,” Park Hill South coach Josh Dorr after his team beat Columbia Hickman for the second year in a row in the field. “We really emphasized defense after the other night. We really talked about at practice. That is what I was most displeased with. Offensively, we didn’t do great either, but I felt defensively we gave up way too many things we don’t normally give up last Friday and I knew we had to fix that tonight (Monday). I was pleased how they came out and responded to that.”
The Panthers had a balanced offensive attack with nine girls cracking the score column. Dymeria Guillory led with a game-high 12 points. Alecia Westbrook, who returned to play limited minutes after an injury scare in a loss on Friday, Jan. 26, added nine points to the win. Emma Beuerlein (eight), De’Jaria Guillory (eight), and DeQuaria Guillory (seven) provided the biggest scoring punches.
The Panthers now face a rematch with Lincoln College Prep in the semifinals of the Tournament, set for Wednesday, Jan. 31. Park Hill South took the first meeting 67-64 to claim the Oak Park Invitational on Thursday, Jan. 18.
The top half of the bracket features North Kansas City — ranked No. 2 in Class 5 — versus Kearney, ranked No. 10 in Class 4. The championship game is at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while the third-place game is at 5 p.m.
“This year the top four here are solid teams and a lot of good ball clubs in it,” Dorr said.
Lee’s Summit West 46, Park Hill 33
The Trojans managed just three points in the second quarter and the hole proved too big to dig out of in a Suburban Conference Gold Division game on Monday, Jan. 29 at Park Hill High School in Kansas City.
The visiting Titans expanded their lead to as much as 19 points in the third quarter before a late run pulled the game to its final margin.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Trojans, a who won consecutive games for the second time this season after picking up their first conference win on Thursday, Jan. 25.
The Trojans turned the ball over 22 times and surrendered 17 points off of the giveaways.
Senior Taiya Shelby led the Trojans with a team-high nine points.
Truman 65, Park Hill South 31
The Patriots raced to a 20-9 lead after one quarter and never looked back in a Suburban Division Red win Friday, Jan. 26.
The Patriots extended the lead to 34-22 by halftime and sealed the win with an 18-5 advantage in the third quarter.
Alecia Westbrook was injured in the game and an ambulance was called for the Panthers leading scorer. There was about a 25-minute delay to tend to her after she fell to the ground after getting her legs taken out. She was released from the hospital later that night.
Brodi Byrd scored 17 points to lead Truman.
Stats for Park Hill South weren’t provided by The Citizen deadline.
Park Hill 57, Lee’s Summit 33
The Trojans earned their first Suburban Conference Gold Division victory with a commanding showing at Lee’s Summit High School on Thursday, Jan. 25, in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Park Hill trailed at halftime 19-11 but stormed back after the break to see the lead grow to 25 points with a stingy defensive effort. The Trojans capitalized on the turnovers created, with 25 points off of the giveaways.
Senior Taiya Shelby led all scorers with 18 points. Teresa Thomas added 17 and Hannah Graves tallied eight.