Park Hill Boys off to fast start

The Park Hill Boys Basketball team is off to one of its better starts in recent years after defeating Truman and Oak Park last week. The Trojans, now 4-1, won’t have much of a break though, because they’ll be preparing to take on highly ranked Grandview the day after Christmas in the first game of the William Jewell Tournament in Liberty. Grandview comes in with a record of 3-3 after beating Shawnee Mission East last weekend in the Hy-Vee Shootout at Avila University.

A win against Truman last week by a score of 76-65 was a big road victory as the Trojans were able to contain top guard Antonio Winn especially in the second quarter as they were able to go into halftime with a 33-19 lead. Justin Leathers turned in an outstanding performance with 35 points while De’Aris Flint added another 15. They were able to see gains from their defensive rebounding and control of the ball in their offensive sets. Chris Nsenki put up 13 points while battling a sprained wrist. He’s expected to return to the lineup next week.

Then last Thursday, facing a young and inexperienced Oak Park Northmen squad, the Trojans used their athleticism and active defense to take a steady halftime lead of 30-24. It was at that point when De’Aris Flint took center stage and went on to score 14 points in the third quarter which he capped off when he received a Steven Clark pass and took it in for a dunk. Flint finished with 26 points.

“It was a night when he was finishing it whenever he had a chance to get a shot off,” Garrison said of Flint.

“As a basketball player, when you get that moment when you have that kind of confidence, you have to go for it. Otherwise, you’re hurting yourself and the team,” Garrison said of some of his players’ ability to take over a game.

Park Hill only allowed three Oak Park points and had gained a 41-25 score going into the fourth quarter. The Trojans continued to pull away before posting a final score of 56-34.

“Nathan Wilson, Burt Taylor, Steven Clark all gave us some good minutes. Especially with Chris (Nsenki) out, we were able to overcome that. Anthony Walker stepped up and he can start for us if we need him to,” Garrison said of his team’s bench play of late.

Park Hill will now look to an early morning game on December 26 against Grandview who will pose some difficult challenges to the Trojans. Their reputation is one that includes a fast-paced style of play possibly not similar to any opponent Park Hill has seen.

“They’ve got some height and some kids who are very fast,” Garrison said. “They like to play in the full court.”