PH South boys basketball: new coach, new roster

Park Hill South is a basketball program that prides itself on defense. It’s been defense which has been such a big part of netting them two district titles in as many years coming into the 2011-2012 season. It will be much the same this year as athletic director John Sedler takes over the head coaching duties of a team that doesn’t return a single letterman from last season and will be starting with an almost entirely new slate of varsity players.

“The mainstay of our program has always been our defense and we’re trying to keep it that way,” Sedler said. “We had a couple sophomores last year that played a couple minutes here and there, but we have less than 40 points scored in a varsity game coming back. Our seniors have just as many varsity minutes as the freshmen, so we’re trying to get them to mesh into what’s best for the team.”

What the Panthers lack in experience, they hope to make up for with athletic ability and that will start at the point guard spot with sophomore Anthony Woods, who gained some experience at the varsity level at the beginning of last season and will provide South with a basketball savvy leader.

“At the high school level, any team that doesn’t have a good point guard is going to struggle because you can’t get from point A to point B. At Park Hill South we’ve been fortunate to have those in the past, now we have Anthony Woods and I feel really strong about his abilities,” Sedler said.

Joining him in the backcourt will be Payton Meek, Spenser Braymer, and Mikel Blake. With a history of tall, natural post players, the Panthers will see a slight change in that this season with a pair of 6’4” power forwards including Hudson Welty and Robert Lane. Senior Dylan Huber and freshman Allan Hyatt will also be in the rotation down low.

“Our 6’4” kids have become our post players, which is something different, we’re not that big, but they’ve given us some good options inside. Those four guys will make the nucleus of our interior and they’ve gotten better and better,” Sedler said. “I’d say most of our posts are what you would call a hybrid, they can step out.”

Having been an athletic director and coach in the district for more than 20 years, Sedler knows what it takes for good teams to win and he boils basketball success down to a basic philosophy.

“Generally good teams rely on the intellect of their perimeter players and effort of their posts,” Sedler said.

The Panthers will for the most part be growing up on the basketball court this winter and with early games against William Chrisman and Rockhurst, they’ll find out fast how steep that learning curve will be. It won’t be so much about their opponent as themselves though.

“In our league, every game is going to be a dog fight. But it’s more a matter of us than our opponents, how we play,” Sedler said. “We’re not sure what the strength is. The potential is there to be competitive.”

Park Hill boys will reload with seniors

With the loss of eight seniors from a 16-11 team record and district runner-up finish in 2010-2011, returning only one starter would lead most people to believe the Park Hill Trojans should be going through more of a rebuilding season than one in which they would reload. Coach David Garrison, now in his fifth season, says it is very much the opposite as his team has another seven seniors to step up to the varsity level in 2011-2012.

Coming back as their most battle-tested player and a strong presence down low for the Trojans is senior Connor Farmer who stepped in as a starter mid-way through the season last year as a physical rebounder and post scorer.

“He had a good year for us last year. He’s definitely the one who’s been in the fire. He’s taken on a leadership role in wanting to step up and be a playmaker. At the same time, as a post player, there’s going to be times when two or three guys are sagging down on you and you have to find your teammates by being a good passer, kicking it out to an open guy and having confidence in them,” Garrison said.

Surrounding Farmer is what can be considered a mature team in terms of seniority, but somewhat inexperienced in regards to varsity playing time. This can be seen as a positive for the Trojans compared to a younger squad with the same description.

“We’re inexperienced, but I think we’re inexperienced with a lot of kids in their fourth year so they know what to expect,” Garrison said. “They are a very unselfish group so far, doing their best to help each other out. We don’t have a lot of experience, so they’re asking questions and are responsive to the coaching they’ve received.”

Another benefit of having a large senior class is the depth it comes with. Seniors Brent Collins and Marcus Cross will join Farmer down low while you could see a number of different faces in the backcourt including seniors Garrett Wooldridge, Zach Anderson, Santos Smiroldo, and John Harris. Others contributing to the rotation include juniors Darin Jones and Keaton Anchors along with sophomore Ricky Trammel.

“With our three posts starting, we’ve working a little on our four guard looks in case they get in foul trouble or face injuries. It gives everyone a little more flexibility to go out there and play, not worry about where they’re supposed to be and just react to the defense. We’ve got a couple different styles we can do that we feel good about,” Garrison said.

With two district competitors in Staley and Oak Park on the first week’s schedule followed by the Blue Springs Tournament, Park Hill will be facing top competition right out of the gate to begin the season.

“After those two weeks, we’ll know where we’re at and what we need to concentrate on, but we’ve got to play our best in February when it counts,” Garrison said. “We don’t ever put a number on where we need to be, we just want to make the best out of every day. If we do that our record and performance will reflect that.”

Park Hill girls will lean on strong group of seniors

By most accounts, Aaron Neeser’s first year as head coach of the Park Hill girls basketball program was going to be rough. With a young team though, he was able to make more progress in the 2010-11 than expected and led the Lady Trojans to an 11-16 season. Not what he or his players would describe as successful, but one they could use as motivation coming into this 2011-12 campaign to build towards winning basketball.

“A lot of people put the over-under at single-digits last year, but we hit 11 wins. Was it acceptable for me? No, but it was an improvement. So are the expectations high this year? Absolutely,” Neeser said. “There is a lot of enthusiasm.”

With the return of several key parts to last year’s team, Park Hill will be returning a cohesive group of six seniors including leading point scorer and future Colorado Buffalo Kyleesha Weston, guards Shelby Blanchard and Beth Sullinger, and forwards KK Rettinger, Sarah Sumpter, and Amanda Lawrence. In the mix with this groups of seniors will be returning starter and 6’ 0” center Dominique Broadus along with Davon Thomas and Regina Bolin.

“I would say our strength is chemistry and people knowing their roles,” Neeser said.

Park Hill hopes their experienced group will come with a more aggressive nature resulting in a faster playing pace and more scoring opportunities.

“We’re going to try to push the ball because we have some depth and try to get a lot of shots up. We’re going to press when we can in our man defense, but we’ve also got a couple wrinkles we can use,” Neeser said.

Overall, Neeser and the Lady Trojans are looking forward to the season ahead and will look to two key early season matchups against North Kansas City and Park Hill South to gauge how far they’ve come since last season and in the opening weeks of practice.

“I’m excited to see all the work we put in the offseason, but we know we’re not a finished product and will improve throughout the year,” Neeser said.

PH South backcourt will power Panthers

Park Hill South’s 11-15 record in the 2010-11 season was a big improvement from their single digit win season the previous year, but this year is what head coach Jenny Orlowski is branding as a ‘fresh start’ yielding to the theme of the Panthers’ season: New year, new team, new attitude.

Confidence is high in the Panthers backcourt as they return their two starting guards from last year in sophomore Samantha Roy and junior Courtney Claassen as they will be a strong part of what Park Hill South does in the 2011-12 season. According to their coach, both have played well in practice leading up to the season opener with Roy improving her shot over the summer and Claasen building on her previous two varsity seasons.

A defensively solid Brandi Weymuth will serve as the Panthers only senior on a generally young team overall with post player and junior Jessica Lee joining Weymuth and Claasen as the only three upperclassmen on the squad.

“We’re young, so we have that fresh start kind of attitude,” Orlowski said.

Five of the team’s top eight will come from the sophomore and freshman ranks. Roy is joined by sophomore Morgan Keesee and freshmen Mackenzie Stout, Anna Courtney, and Madeline Homoly. While the freshmen will likely work their way more into the complete rotation as the season goes along, they’re very seasoned compared to most first year varsity players with the competitive AAU basketball experience they bring to the table. Still, how that past play translates into varsity results is yet to be seen.

“We don’t know where we’re going to be until those first couple games, right now we’re just looking to get experience early. We could have three or four players on the floor at any given time that haven’t played varsity before,” Orlowski said.

While depth and experience may not be a bedrock for Park Hill South, quickness and speed will be. Orlowski says her team has shown a desire to run in preseason workouts, something that plays well to their lack of a tall post presence.

“Quickness is definitely something we’ll have this year that we haven’t had in recent years,” Orlowski said. “We’re going to get up and down the floor a lot faster this year, our posts are generally shorter, but they’re quick defensively.”

Fresh starts come with their share of trial runs, but the Panthers hope it’s the new attitude along with their fast paced style of play that give them a chance this season at taking a step up from last year’s improvement.

“We’re really young and we’ll probably make some mistakes right out of the shoot, but I think we have potential on any given night,” Orlowski said.

PH South grapplers not content with league title

Park Hill South Wrestling had a breakout year in 2010-2011 by going 16-3 and winning the school’s first conference wrestling championship with a 6-0 record, all while fighting through various injuries. They then expanded on it more by taking second place in districts and advancing six wrestlers to the state tournament. The goal for the Panthers as they come into the 2011-2012 is taking the next step by building on last year’s success by bringing home some state medals.

“Last year’s team did a great job achieving their goals. Many of our wrestlers were good enough to go to state last year,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said. “I think we need to be a little greedier when we get there. Just going to state is not enough. I want our South boys to bring back medals.”

A lot of what Park Hill South wants to accomplish will add higher focus to the two end of the year events: districts and state. The days of just getting to state being considered a worthy goal are of the past, replaced with the intent to do well once they get there and regularly aimed for by the top programs in the state.

“As a coach, we’re still going to try to win conference, but the main focus around our season isn’t going to be about conference, that’s just going to be something we do,” Dunkin said. “Most of our focus is going to be towards end of the year competition, whether it is districts or state. Most of the kids we return have won a match down at state. We did a lot of good things last year, I think we were happy to get to state. I’m going to make sure that we’re not happy to just get there.”

The Panthers return five state qualifiers from last year’s team including senior captains Brett Rounkles and Nick Gillespie who provide two different leadership styles according to their coach that benefit the rest of the team depending on how they’re best motivated.

“Brett is a leader in the room, he lets them know what they should do so the coaches don’t have to,” Dunkin said. “Nick’s a little livelier, charges the guys up more, Brett is more of a ‘get down to business-type guy. So they complement each other well.”

State qualifiers Junior Chase Gray, an experienced two-time captain, Alex Fortuna, and Jimmy Carpenter also return as strong competitors. Also returning are Justin Haughenberry, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly who were strong pieces to the Panther team last year before their seasons came to an early end.

“All three of their seasons ended with an injury. I’m not sure I would call these three a surprise, because they’re as tough as anyone,” Dunkin said. “The expectation for these three is as high as anybody else on the team. If they can stay healthy, they will be good.

George Barth, Alex Carpenter, Kendric Cook, Jake Crawford, Tyler Blyth, Daniel Long, Jon Holden, and Ron Anderson will also contribute towards Park Hill South’s success this season.

Their first big test will come in the Lee’s Summit Holiday Tournament over winter break, but they’ll also see a more competitive conference schedule as all schools look to be bringing back more experienced teams. All challenges Park Hill South will have to battle through in order to pick up where they left last year at the state tournament come this February.

Trojans squad will include five returning state qualifiers

Last year the Park Hill wrestling program opened up their season with several performances they weren’t satisfied with, but after recovering from some injuries and taking the right kind of lessons from those early obstacles, the Trojans went on to take first place in the district tournament, advancing nine wrestlers to the state tournament where they went on to take third place overall. For the 2011-2012 season, if it takes that kind of rough start to get where the Trojans did last year or better, they’re willing to roll with the punches.

“I considered it one of our better tournaments (state),” Park Hill coach Bill Erneste said. “I’d much rather struggle in the beginning than the end, the team peaked at the right time and I think we’re in similar territory again this year.”

Park Hill welcomes back state qualifiers Nolan Smith, Connor Shene, Russ Coleman, Paxton DiBlasi, and John Erneste this season along with junior Nick Harper who was one match away from a state appearance. Joining them will be Isaih Williams and Malik Coulding, two athletes who have moved up through the program and now hope to have their chance. The Trojans will feature three talented freshmen in the lower weight classes with Colston DiBlasi, Ke-Shawn Hayes, and Hunter Roberts. With the introduction of new expanded weight classes this year, many of the weights wrestlers will settle into have yet to be determined.

The Trojans will be tested early with three tough tournaments on their schedule including their own Park Hill Duals, the Walsh Jesuit Tournament, and the Kansas City Wrestling Classic. All three will give the Trojans steep competitive, but Erneste believes it gives them an advantage at the end of the season.

“The first three weeks are pretty brutal. I want to make sure our guns get tested before we get to state, so you have to make sure they’re there first,” Erneste said. “These national tournaments get them ready for state. I want the state tournament to feel to our guys as if it wasn’t the toughest tournament they wrestled in all year.”

Every Park Hill wrestler’s benchmark is a state championship and with their only state champ from last year Bricker Dixon graduating, there are several determined to step up to fulfill goals left unaccomplished last year. Smith finished fifth last year at state in the heavyweight division, Shene won a big match early at state but did not place, Erneste is looking to improve on his third place finish, and Coleman took second after battling through a knee injury before falling in the title match for the second year in a row.

“He (Coleman) hasn’t won it yet, that’s the number one thing for him, he wants his name on the wall, he’s not going to stop working, and not going to lose track of his goal,” Erneste said.

While the Trojans will be tested early against some of the region’s best, they know when it comes down to it the sport is often as much a battle waged against one’s self as it is their opponent.

“You’re going to see a lot of heart, that’s going to be the key to our season. I would say we are cautiously patient, but we think there is a bright light at the end,” Erneste said. “If they’re training the hardest they can and come into February with confidence, usually good things happen.”

PHS swimmers chasing 10th straight conference title

Relying on strong relay teams on their way to a tenth place finish at the state swim meet last season, the Park Hill South girls swim team looks to this year with many of the same swimmers returning, having only lost two seniors to graduation.

Returning are three strong seniors with Miranda Henderson, Rachael Norfleet, and Mariah Bryant along with sophomores Shannon Brouk and Olivia McLain, the five of which will form the main components of what is shaping up to be another strong group of relay competitors. Adding to the mix will be freshman Helen Yeader, a strong swimmer in the breast stroke and butterfly.

Coach Steve Busenhart hopes some of the improvements his swimmers make in individual events will propel them to a higher finish at state, where before they had finished just outside the top eight which rewards teams with higher point totals. Last year’s meet saw Rachael Norfleet finish ninth and Olivia McLain finish 14th in the 100 meter breast stroke along with Mariah Bryant’s 16th place finish in the 50 yard freestyle. Stronger performances in those events will likely have the added benefit of stronger relays, something Busenhart says is a result of flexibility and depth.

“We have a very strong team because we have depth that is consistent so we can move swimmers around and that benefits us in other competitions,” Busenhart said.

The Panthers travel to St. Louis to participate in the Flyer Invitational in December, an event they placed first in last year, their first appearance in the event.

“Since that is a period where we are training the hardest, we probably won’t hit our main stride until the first part of the new year,” Busenhart said.

While a positive early season result will be welcoming, Park Hill South will only use it as an early test on their way towards another commonplace conference championship and opportunity for a top five finish at state.

Young Trojan swimmers aim to get experience

The Park Hill girls swim team comes into the 2011-2012 season with a mostly untested group of swimmers after a 24th place finish at the state tournament in 2010-2011. Leading them are five seniors, headlined by two-time all-state swimmer Brynn Guardado who finished fifth in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle at state last year. Coach Karl Haley believes it will be another great season for Guardado and hopes it includes putting her name at the top of the wall lining the hall of swimming accomplishments at the Park Hill District Aquatic Center.

“She is looking to continue that along with setting a few new school records along the way,” Haley said.

Guardado will be joined by seniors Eleanor Parrott, Jordan Rowlett, Amanda Panich, and Lindsey Horstman. Junior Abigail Hill and sophomore Jasmine Jones also return after state qualifying seasons last year. Haley says the main thing for the Trojans this season is getting some of the more inexperienced swimmers exposed to the level of swimming they’ll face on the high school level.

“We have a fairly young team without a lot of experience in competition. So the key is getting them on board and teaching them how to compete,” Haley said.

Even with a young team, Park Hill still has their sights set on a conference title which they fell short of last year with a second place finish. In their way is a talented Lee’s Summit West program who hasn’t lost a suburban conference championship meet since the school opened in 2004.

“We would like to compete for a team conference championship. Lee’s Summit West has never lost a girls conference meet. They graduated a lot of talent last year, but they would still be the front runner,” Haley said.

Other swimmers looking to contribute this year include juniors Sarah Thompson and Madeline Hemphill along with sophomores Lynn Huynh, Braidey Howe, and Shannon Barry.