…improved their record to 3-2 overall last week with a convincing 61-20 win over Platte County. Kyleesha Weston led in scoring with 26 points. Weston, who has gotten off to a hot start to her senior campaign, is scoring a good chunk of her points on the defensive side of the ball from causing turnovers. They lost a close matchup to North Kansas City 38-31 to start this week. Coach Aaron Neeser says he is happy with his team’s performance so far and is seeing contributions from the entire team. The Lady Trojans face Belton, Park Hill South, and Blue Springs South in the next week before Christmas Break.
Park Hill Boys Basketball
…Lost to Blue Springs South 79-59 in the opening round of the Blue Springs/Blue Springs South McDonald’s Tournament despite spread out scoring (Santo Smiroldo had 11 points, Zach Anderson 10, Keaton Anchors 9, Darin Jones 9, Garrett Wooldridge 9). They came back to defeat Lincoln Prep with a close 56-52 win. Connor Farmer led the Trojans with 14 points supported by Smiroldo’s 11 points and Wooldridge’s 10 points. Park Hill fell to Park Hill South in the fifth place game 62-59 despite staging a fourth quarter comeback. Connor Farmer led all players with 22 points. Wooldridge added a strong 20 points as well. The Trojans, now 3-2 and hoping for injured players Marcus Cross and John Harris to return, will face Kearney and Ruskin before playing in the William Jewell Tournament over the holidays.
Park Hill South Boys Basketball
.. Lost their opening round game in the Blue Springs/Blue Springs South McDonald’s Tournament to Rockhurst by a score of 61-31 after falling behind 21-4 in the first quarter. Anthony Woods led the Panthers in scoring with 11 points. They came back later in the week to beat Staley 43-31. Robert Lane busted out down low with 19 points in that game. In the fifth place game, four players scored in double figures as the Panthers went on to beat Park Hill 62-59. Hudson Welty led with 15 points followed by Robert Lane’s 14 points, Payton Meek’s 13 points, and Anthony Woods’s 12 points. Now 3-2, they’ll face Winnetonka this week before going onto the William Jewell Invitational between Christmas and New Year’s.
Park Hill South Girls Basketball
… have gone 2-1 over the last week with a loss to North Kansas City before bouncing back with impressive wins over Winnetonka and Raytown South. Coach Jenny Orlowski says their game against North Kansas City was closer than the score indicated in their 68-55 loss early last week. While the Panthers were down throughout the game, they battled back to within a few baskets, but weren’t able to get over the hump. Jessica Lee led in scoring with 17 points along with support from Madeline Homoly’s 12 points.
Despite not coming out very sharp against Winnetonka, Park Hill South eventually pulled away with a 63-27 victory after regrouping at halftime. Mackenzie Stout led with 12 points while Samantha Roy added 10. One area of concern for the Lady Panthers, possibly indicating their youth, was the 37 turnovers they accumulated in the game.
In a 60-28 rout Monday night, the Panthers displayed a full team effort starting off the game on fire from the outside before eventually balanced out the offense overall. Lee led all scorers with 12 points from the post. Stout and Anna Courtney added 10 and nine points respectively from outside.
“It was probably our best game so far in terms of execution. I talked to the team before the game and there were some goals we wanted to accomplish, we did those for the most part,” Orlowski said. “We’re better at shooting than we were last year so we’ll be focusing on that in practice, but I like to see a touch down low every three to four passes.”
Now at 3-3, the Panthers next look to games against Grandview and conference opponent William Chrisman this week, where they hope to build on their early
“Every conference win is big, we can’t take anyone too lightly,” Orlowski said.
After six games, Roy leads the team in scoring with an average of 10 points a game. Several Panthers are averaging near four rebounds a game including Roy, Homoly, Lee, and Morgan Keesee.
Park Hill Wrestling
…placed 42nd in the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament (Cleveland, Ohio) with a collective 25 team points. Ke-Shawn Hayes, John Erneste, and Nolan Smith had quality tournament performances by going 3-2 on the weekend.
Park Hill South Wrestling
… won one of two in their tri-dual against Platte County and Ray-Pec last week. The Panthers defeated Ray-Pec 47-27 led with an impressive seven pins by Alex Fortuna, George Barth, Justin Haughenberry, Adam Weatherly, Alex Weatherly, Chase Gray, and Nick Gillespie. They fell in a close matchup with Platte County 36-30 despite three pins from Fortuna, Haughenberry, and Adam Weatherly.
