Park Hill junior post Boston Wand (#10) goes up for a layup in the Lady Trojans’ 34-27 victory against St. Teresa’s Academy in the Kearney Tournament on Jan. 10.
KEARNEY – With the chance to take third place in a tournament for the first time since 2021, the weather interfered, and the Park Hill girls’ basketball team (5-7) couldn’t play.
In the 49th Annual Kearney Girls’ Basketball Tournament, Park Hill moved to the right side of a regular season bracket for the second time this season, holding off St. Teresa’s Academy (7-5) on Jan. 10. After falling to state ranked Liberty North (13-1) in the semifinals on Jan. 12, the Lady Trojans were set to play in the third-place game, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Park Hill entered the tournament with a season-high two wins in a row and extended that streak with a 34-27 win. It looked like the Lady Trojans were going to have a one-sided victory when they scored the first 11 points of the game, but St. Teresa fought back.
McKenna Sosna and Paige Barry both tallied six points in the opening frame and Park Hill led 14-4 after Barry knocked down her only triple of the night with around one minute left. The Lady Trojans’ offense struggled in the second quarter, not making a field goal until there was 37 seconds left in the half.
The Lady Stars opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run to chip at the deficit, making the score 14-13 in the Lady Trojans’ favor. Boston Wand made a free throw with 2:33 on the clock and Izzy Petznick added a layup to push the lead to 17-13.
The second half started with both squads hitting a pair of layups in the opening three minutes, then Barry and Petznick split a pair of free throws. Park Hill shot 55.2 percent from the charity stripe, making 16 of its 29 attempts.
With 1:11 left in the third quarter, Barry made a floater which ended up being the last made basket from the field by the Lady Trojans. The Lady Stars responded with a 3-pointer, and they entered the fourth quarter trailing 25-22.
The final eight minutes was a defensive battle and a foul fest with all but two points coming from the free-throw line. St. Teresa scored a fast break layup with 2:15 left for the only made field goal in the frame by either team.
Park Hill’s lead was cut down to 29-27 with 53.3 seconds left, but Lydia Keller and Wand both went 2-for-2 and Barry went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to hold off St. Teresa. Barry led the way offensively with 10 points.
Petznick scored five points and snatched 12 boards, whereas Wand had five points and 13 rebounds. Keller and Sosna both scored seven points.
For the second time this season, Park Hill matched up with Liberty North and came up short. After falling 74-46 back on Dec. 16, the Lady Trojans put up a bigger fight in the Kearney Tournament, ultimately losing, 48-38.