The Park Hill boys’ basketball team (7-6) hosted a pair of tough opponents last week when the Trojans were defeated by Liberty (13-0) and Blue Valley Northwest (7-1).
Park Hill’s Luke Renton, above, scored 14 points against Liberty on Jan. 11 and nine points against Blue Valley Northwest on Jan. 15.
Park Hill put up quite the fight against undefeated Liberty, giving the Blue Jays their closest victory of the season when Goliath defeated David 66-61 on Jan. 11. The Trojans relied on hot shooting from downtown to keep up with the Blue Jays as the home team made 12 3-pointers.
Luke Renton sunk all four of his shots from downtown and all five of his field goal attempts on the night to give him a team-high 14 points. Gavin Schaag knocked down three of his five shots from behind the arc and Marqueas Bell also made a trey as both Trojans scored 11 points.
In the Trojans’ next contest, the Huskies had a strong fourth quarter as Blue Valley Northwest won 58-55 on Jan. 15. Park Hill led 51-40 at the end of the third quarter, but the Huskies scored the opening 13 points of the final frame to take a 2-point lead over the Trojans with 2:38 remaining in the contest and held on to that lead to pull off the comeback.
The Trojans’ outside shooting wasn’t as efficient as it was against Liberty when Park Hill only shot 26 percent from downtown, although it made seven 3-pointers. Renton made three of the seven shots from downtown for Park Hill and Sammy Hall knocked down a pair as well.
Marqueas Bell finished with 14 points and four rebounds, and Kendrick Bell added nine points and three steals. Park Hill will hit the road and travel to take on Blue Springs South (0-13) on Jan. 25.