When senior guard Kyleesha Weston suffered a concussion towards the end of December, the Park Hill Lady Trojans lost their leading scorer and top defender. In a three game stretch leading up to Monday night’s game against St. Joe Central, Weston was forced to watch the team she considered her own go 1-2 including a 51-22 thumping from Truman in a conference game last week.
Stepping up for Park Hill to fill the void was senior guard Bethany Sullinger who led the team in scoring with 11 points per game during the three game stretch including a 17 point game against Liberty North in a 47-38 victory. K.K. Rettinger also stepped up contributing an average of eight points a game.
While Coach Aaron Neeser says Weston’s absence did not change the overall team philosophy and how they approach the game, he realizes the difficulties they encounter without her on the court because of her ability to not only score, but draw multiple defenders and find open teammates who can.
“I don’t think our philosophy changed,” Neeser said. “She just opens the floor up for us. She’s a player that makes everyone around us better. We just had to work a little harder to score.”
Probably most frustrated about the concussion was Weston herself, who couldn’t wait to get back on the floor Monday night with her teammates.
“When you sit there at practice on the sidelines, you want everything for your team, but you want most to get back into the game,” Weston said.
She came back in a big way, leading both teams in scoring with 22 points. Despite being down throughout the game and never holding a lead, the Trojans gave St. Joe Central a run for their money battling back from nine points down to narrow the lead to two with just seconds remaining. Unable to convert a put-back on a missed free throw left Park Hill on the short end of a 58-56 loss.
Even with the loss Park Hill is ready to move forward with the second half of their season and focus on the two things that have troubled them throughout the season.
“It wasn’t only good for me (to return), but good for my teammates because I’m able to get them open,” Weston said. “I’d say fouling and getting in there to get rebounds. If we rebound, we win games like this. If we do that we show who the better team is.”
Now at 4-6 on the season and 0-2 in conference, the Lady Trojans travel to Lee's Summit West Thursday before participating in the Basehor-Linwood Tournament next week.
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