Kennedy Townsend and Amaya Blake ended their prolific careers on a high note when the senior Park Hill duo earned all-district honors.
Park Hill senior Kennedy Townsend made the Class 6 District 8 All-Tournament Team after helping lead the No. 4 seed to the district championship this postseason, and is also one of three finalists in all of Kansas City for the DiRenna Award after averaging 21.5 points per game in her senior campaign.
After taking down a pair of opponents in the first two rounds of the Class 6 District 8 Tournament, the Park Hill girls’ basketball team found its way to another district title game. While the fourth-seeded Trojans fell short against the second seeded St. Joseph’s Central, the senior duo did enough on the basketball court as individuals to make the all-district team.
In the district championship loss, Townsend ended with 18 points and Blake finished with 11 points. Townsend has also become a finalist for the DiRenna Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding male and female high school basketball player in the Kansas City area.
The DiRenna Award originated in 1954 and there are only three female finalists at this point. Grain Valley’s Grace Slaughter and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Beatrice Culliton join Townsend as the finalists.
Slaughter was one of only two players in the Kansas City area who averaged more points than Townsend as the Grain Valley senior scored 31.2 points per game. Townsend averaged 21.5 in her senior campaign and knocked down 53 total 3-pointers.