Park Hill South senior Avery Simmons (#23) scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half of the 54-40 win over Park Hill on Jan. 18.
PARKVILLE – Being back on their home floor for the first time in over a month, the Park Hill South girls’ basketball team (7-6) got out of a dry spill with a victory over rival Park Hill (6-8) on Jan. 18.
Since taking down Lee’s Summit West (1-11) at home back on Dec. 11, Park Hill South was on the road for 42 days – which included a tournament in Arizona and a two-game shootout in Columbia, MO. The Lady Panthers came up short in a pair of lopsided scores against seven-time reigning state champion Incarnate Word Academy (12-0) and Helias Catholic (10-6) in the Sophie Cunningham Classic.
“We’ve lost two games the last two weeks from the snow and the weather so it’s kind of nice to get back out on the court,” Park Hill South head girls’ basketball coach Josh Dorr said. “I think there was a little rust we had to knock off because we hadn’t played in a couple of weeks, but it’s nice to get back in the city and to be back home.”
Entering the matchup, Park Hill South had lost four of its last five and Park Hill had won four of its last six. It was senior night for the Lady Panthers, but the Lady Trojans took control early as McKenna Sosna used the backboard to knock down a triple in the opening five seconds.
Park Hill guard Lydia Keller (#5) made five 3-pointers and had a team-high 19 points against Park Hill South.
Taylor Finney banked in a midrange jumper to make the score 5-1 in Park Hill’s favor midway through the opening frame. Ava Kells made a transition bucket with 3:13 on the clock for Park Hill South’s first field goal of the day and Avery Simmons scored the last four points of the quarter.
The Lady Trojans got in some foul trouble in the second quarter, but the Lady Panthers only made three of their nine attempts in the period. Lydia Keller brought the game within two points with a 3-pointer with just over three minutes left, but Park Hill South held onto a 19-15 lead at the break.
Park Hill came out strong in the second half, starting with a 4-0 run with buckets by Boston Wand and Izzy Petznick but Addison Bjorn immediately responded with a basket. Keller sunk another shot from deep with 5:33 on the clock to put the Lady Trojans’ ahead 22-21 but they only made one more bucket the rest of the frame.
“The big thing was the girls were working together and playing hard. We talked about in that zone (defense), you’ve got to take all five players, you can’t have just one person – they all have to talk and move, so we’ve been working a lot on the speed of our movements,” Dorr said.
Izzy Petznick (#21) shoots a layup while being defended by Avery Simmons (#23) on Jan. 18.
Simmons took over in the last five minutes, scoring 12 of the next 16 points – including an 8-0 run after Maggie Schmidt tied the game at 23. Simmons had a chance to score in the final moment of the third quarter but dished the ball to Bjorn who beat the buzzer to make the score 37-25.
The fourth quarter was Kells turn as the junior scored nine points in the final eight minutes. The Park Hill South lead was as big as 18 points and Park Hill lost, 54-40.
“When you play hard, good things are going to happen. Sometimes shots fall, sometimes they don’t, but they played their butts off tonight. I think they (Simmons and Kells) both did a great job, and they really gave us a spark there at that time,” Dorr said.
Park Hill junior post Boston Wand dives on the floor for a loose ball in the second half of in the 54-40 loss to Park Hill South.
Keller was huge in the second half for Park Hill, making four of her five triples after halftime. She scored 17 of the team’s 23 points after the break, tying her career-high in points with 19.
These rivals will meet against at Park Hill High School on Feb. 8 and could potentially play a third time in the Class 6 District 8 Tournament. In the meantime, Park Hill will head to Staley (15-1) and Park Hill South will host Liberty North (15-1) on Jan. 25.