The Class 5 District 16 tournament that concluded last Friday night was déjà vu all over again for the top seeded Park Hill Trojans and third seeded Park Hill South Panthers. In the 2010 district tournament, Park Hill was upset in the second round despite being the two seed to put a premature end to the Trojans’ season while Park Hill South, seeded fourth, ended up taking the district title plus more as they advanced all the way to the state semifinals. After coming away with a slim victory several weeks ago against the Panthers, Park Hill was thought to have the advantage going into the district title matchup between the two. But at the end of the night, it would be Park Hill South again taking home the district title leaving Park Hill empty handed for a second straight season.
Park Hill’s De’Aris Flint gave the Trojans their only first half lead with his breakaway layup for the games first basket, but Park Hill would be plagued by key turnovers caused by a tough Park Hill South defense throughout the game preventing the Trojans from gaining any substantial momentum. When Park Hill was able to get to the basket, South’s Adam Schemenauer was instrumental for the Panthers as he had several huge blocks early in the game. He also added offensively with 19 points on the night.
“He’s a great player and better athlete than he gets credit for,” Park Hill South coach Anthony Perry. “We ask him to be a game changer, that’s his job in making teams adjusting.”
With a 21-17 lead at halftime, Park Hill South briefly gave up the lead when Nathan Wilson hit a three pointer at the 2:30 mark in the third quarter, but carried a 31-29 advantage into the final quarter. It was in that fourth quarter when a relentless Panther defense finally took its toll on the Trojans. While Park Hill had managed to only be down by a small margin the majority of the game, scoring just five points in the fourth quarter allowed Park Hill South to extend their lead as the clock wound down with their ability to convert free throws. With the 48-34 victory, the Panthers advanced to a sectional round game against Liberty on Wednesday at the Independence Events Center.
Perry’s team has now won two district titles in as many years after suffering losses to district opponents during the regular season. He says the season is a process his team goes through that allows them to excel at the right time.
“It takes time for the kids to grasp it,” Perry said. “We take our lumps throughout the year, so at the end they know what we want as a coaching staff and we know what to expect.”
The trend will be tested again against Liberty as the Panthers held a 14 point lead in the fourth quarter earlier this year before relinquishing it in the face of a 65-60 loss.
“We were up by 14 in the fourth quarter,” Perry said of the Liberty game. “It’s huge because the simple fact is we know we can play with them. We have to do good things, execute and play well.”
A victory Wednesday evening will lead to a quarterfinals matchup Friday at 6 p.m. with the winner of the Ruskin/Lee’s Summit North game. South has not faced either team this season, but Perry believes there are two basic things that make his team a competitor and capable of advancing through the state playoffs.
“We’ve got three guys with a lot of experience, they know what it takes to be competitive when you get this far,” Perry said of his leading scorers’ past experience. “The biggest thing is that the kids believe in us. We’ve been blessed to have kids that don’t fight the system.”
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