Winter Round-up: Dec. 11-17

Park Hill Basketball

…suffered two tough losses last week with a 54-36 loss to Liberty and a 65-47 loss to Blue Springs South. The Trojans only scored 11 points in the first half against Liberty which put them in a difficult position early, despite playing the Blue Jays fairly even in the second half. Again later in the week against Blue Springs South, the Trojans weren’t able to piece together a complete game as coach David Garrison said his team played the best through three quarters that he’s seen this season. After going on a scoring streak, the Jaguars pulled away to their eventual 65-47 win.

Park Hill, now 1-6, was in action Tuesday night against North Kansas City as The Citizen went to press. They have a week off before competing in the William Jewell Holiday Tournament starting December 26^th against Rockhurst at 4:30pm.

Park Hill Wrestling

…used their success two weeks ago at the nationally renowed Iron Man Tournament to propel them to a win and top tournament finish last week. The Trojans beat Staley and Columbia Rockbridge by scores of 50-10 and 58-18. Park Hill then focused its attention on the Kansas City Stampede Wrestling Classic at Hale Arena over the weekend where they took fourth place out of 38 teams. Ke-Shawn Hayes placed first in his weight class and John Erneste was a runner-up. Colston DiBlasi took third place, Malik Colding placed fourth, and Ryan Hosford took sixth. Hunter Roberts and Canton Marriott placed eighth.

Park Hill has a dual on the road against Liberty and Ray-Pec on Wednesday before going on a two week break from competition, resuming January 8^th.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball

…continued their early season hot streak last week with two wins over Winnetonka (62-23) and Raytown South (52-35). Jessica Lee led in scoring against Raytown South with 13 points and while Samantha Roy posted 19 points and eight steals in their victory over Winnetonka. Now 6-1 on the season, they host Grandview on Wednesday before going on holiday break until the beginning of January.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

…finished ninth out of 22 teams at the Independence Invite over the weekend with 108 team points. Madison Heydinger led the Trojans in several events including a second place finish in the 500 free and a fifth place finish in the 200 free. Park Hill also took fifth place finishes in the 200 free and 400 free relays. They will get a two week break before heading into the heart of their schedule at the beginning of the year.

Park Hill South Wrestling

…for the second week in a row, the Panther wrestling squad was able to pull out a second place tournament finish despite being short-handed due to injuries. Last weekend at the Lee’s Summit Wrestling Invite, seniors Jimmy Carpenter and Chase Gray advanced through their weight classes to bring home tournament titles. Adam Weatherly came up just short with his second place finish. Other Panther wrestlers to place in the top four included Kenric Cook, Cody Vaughn, Alex Fortuna, Alex Carpenter. Park Hill South will next see action on January 8^th.

Park Hill Girls Basketball

After a thrilling win over Platte County early last week 51-39 that Park Hill coach Aaron Neeser described as one of their best performances of the season, Park Hill wasn't able to keep the momentum going as they fell to Kearney (71-27) last Thursday and then Liberty North Monday night. While Park Hill got out ahead of Liberty North Monday night with a 15-7 advantage going into the second quarter, the Eagles would take control from there on the way to a 64-50 win over the Trojans. Jaeden Cordes and Amanda Alexander led in scoring during Monday night's matchup with ten and nine points, respectively. Cordes also pulled in five rebounds.

"I think we are improving and our kids are learning how to compete every second of every game," Neeser said. "I think we are growing into our roles.  I like this team and what they are doing together to improve."

The Trojans, now 2-7 on the year, will have a two week break during the holidays before hosting Truman at home on January 7th.