Trojans show flashes of greatness, looking for consistency

Each Christmas season brings a great deal of quality basketball games to the metro as teams compete in tournaments across the area. With time off from school, it also gives coaches their last real chance to work with their teams extensively on certain areas of the game. But with Christmas over and the new year upon us, you’ll see high school basketball gear up for their conference schedule as they look forward to the all important district tournament.

Park Hill (6-2) starts their 2010 off with two very big games this week against Lee’s Summit West on Wednesday and Park Hill South on Friday night. They also happen to be home double-headers shared with the Girl’s Varsity team. Lee’s Summit West has not had a very good start to their season as they come in with a 2-6 record. It’s important to realize they’ve been playing against some of the best competition in the city of late, but have lost to two teams the Trojans have been able to win against, Lincoln Prep and Grandview. On the other hand, rival Park Hill South, comes into this week’s action with a strong 5-3 record after two very close loses to Rockhurst (46-42) and Hickman Mills (41-40) in another bracket of the William Jewell Classic last week. The battle between in-district foes could show us a possible favorite in the conference race as it heats up over the coming weeks and also be a possibly district match-up later on in the season.

After an upset victory over Grandview last week in the William Jewell Classic, Park Hill advanced to the semi-final round to play O’Hara with a record of 9-1. Unfortunately for the Trojans, O’Hara got out to a quick start in the first quarter putting up 16 points. Normally, that wouldn’t have been such a high number had the Trojans not posted a zero. As Coach David Garrison has been saying throughout this early season, it was a matter of consistency. Park Hill couldn’t get on the same page with each other on either side of the ball. Although it could be argued that Park Hill had more size and athleticism over the Celtics, O’Hara played a steady and composed game which didn’t allow the Trojans the turnovers they’re usually able to capitalize on. The margin stayed about the same throughout the rest of the game, never going below 13, before O’Hara pulled even further away to finish the game with a score of 80-55. Justin Leathers was the only Trojan to post more than ten points with his 22 in a below the bounds, clean-up man type fashion. O’Hara went on to win the tournament the next day by beating a very good Columbia Rockbridge team in double overtime.

With little time to reflect, the Trojans were back just under 16 hours later to play in the third place game against Lincoln Prep. This time they showed up ready to play gradually building a 32-27 halftime lead before really turning up the heat in the third quarter when they added another six to their margin. Leathers posted 27 points in addition to Chris Nsenki’s 11 and De’Aris Flint’s nine as the Trojans captured the third place trophy with a 66-49 victory.

Park Hill Girls look to end streak, start anew

Before Monday night’s game against Belton, the Park Hill Lady Trojans hadn’t played a game in over two weeks. Those weeks have hardly been a break for Coach Brian Rockers team though. Several key areas they set out to focus on in practice last week was rebounding, cutting down on turnovers, and finishing shots. Park Hill started the season off on quite a hot streak by winning five consecutive games including a Fort Osage Tournament championship before dropping two in a row to Truman and Platte County the week before Christmas. They are now 5-2 on the season heading into the new year.

The Lady Trojans have been led offensively by leading scorers Laura Bennett and Katy Plummer. Sophomore Kyleesha Weston had run the offense at the point while senior Emma Gossett has provided a steady hand in the back court along with an aggressive defensive mentality. Among others, Helena Hudson and Michele Rupard have provided some quality minutes off the bench.

Park Hill will be sharing double-headers with the boy’s teams against Lee’s Summit West on Wednesday and Park Hill South on Friday. Lee’s Summit West is 2-5 coming into the week while Park Hill South comes in with a young squad at 0-5.

“They’re very capable opponents and it will be important to us to get the new year off to a good start and get off our two game losing skid,” Rockers said of this week’s games.

Park Hill puts themselves on the map

Park Hill’s Boys Basketball hasn’t had too many games where they’ve made statement in recent years. Going up against some of the top teams in the metro hasn’t produced the results coach David Garrison and his Trojans would have liked in the past. That’s all changed this season and was taken to the next level last Saturday in Park Hill’s inaugural appearance in the William Jewell Holiday Classic as they defeated Grandview, defending state runner-up, by a score of 70-59.

It was evident from the tip that Grandview would use their speed and size to play the Trojans full-court the entire game. Nothing came easy for Park Hill, but a composed and methodical breakdown of the Bulldog press allowed them to get some quality opportunities in the half-court. Even with a controlled offense, Park Hill found themselves down throughout the first half including a 16-10 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

“We weren’t moving very well,” Garrison said of their first half. “It took us awhile to get our legs underneath us.”

Grandview’s 6’7” power forward, Quentel Denson, was a big threat down low for the Trojans and when combining it with their fast style of play could have led to a detrimental scoring streak at any time, but the Trojans held steady with physical defense and went into halftime only down 33-25.

“We knew from watching him in the Hy-Vee Shootout what problems he could cause us,” Garrison said of Denson.

Coming out of the second half, the Chris Nsenki Show came alive as he racked up four consecutive three-pointers for Park Hill. A defense led by De’Aris Flint and Anthony Walters then rattled the Bulldogs allowing Park Hill to take a 45-43 lead late in the third quarter. The Trojans didn’t look back and squashed any potential momentum Grandview was looking to gain by playing fundamental defense.

One key to the Trojans sustaining their lead was their tenacity towards defensive rebounds and pulling the ball in on second and third chances that Grandview wasn’t able to. Park Hill took advantage of the energy as Justin Leathers converted a series of free throws and Brady Kreitzer finished consecutive lay-ins to extend the lead to 64-54 before finally pulling out the victory by a final score of 70-59. Four of Park Hill’s starters finished in scoring double-digits with Nsenki’s 18, Leathers’ 17, Kreitzer’s 16, and Walters’ 11 points.

Garrison talked about the significance of the victory, especially when playing in the tournament for the first time and the added exposure that comes with it.

“It’s new for our program, being in this tournament,” Garrison said. “This is their first time in this setting so to be playing in front of this many different people is something out of our element and it was a big win for us.”

As we went to deadline on Tuesday night, Park Hill (5-1) was playing O’Hara (7-1) in the semifinal round at William Jewell.

Park Hill and Platte County get physical

The Lady Trojans (5-2) and Lady Pirates (7-1) start their Christmas break this week as their next games won’t be until January 4th against Belton and Grandview. It doesn’t mean they won’t be working hard though as the break will provide for some important practice time to sharpen up on certain things as they head into the bulk of their season.

For Park Hill, one key will be decreasing the amount of turnovers they give up. It has been one area holding the Trojans back early this season and was a factor again last Friday as they played defending state champion Platte County.

“I think it’s more mental because we’re getting more pressure put on us. They’re unforced and uncharacteristic turnovers,” Coach Brian Rockers said. “It’s going to be one our focuses over break.”

The Pirates visited the Trojans in a battle of two bordering school districts. Park Hill came swinging out of the gate to gain a 13-9 lead with the help of three-pointers from Laura Bennett (2) and Michele Rupard over the Pirates’ zone defense. Bennett led all Trojan scorers with 14 for the game. Platte County was able to close the gap to 17-15 going into the 2nd quarter with a steady dose of close range jump shots.

Shortly after the start of the second quarter, the Pirates sparked their momentum when Kelsey Knox dove into her own bench in a successful effort to deflect a ball over a Trojan defending out of bounds. Platte County took their first lead of the game shortly after at 21-17 as the game speed picked up. The Pirates went into halftime with a 28-27 lead. Once again, Platte County came out of the break with momentum taking a 35-27 lead midway through the third quarter. Both teams displayed defensive intensity throughout the game, but outstanding performances from Lady Pirate Taylor Johnson with 30 points and Kelsey Knox with 17 points was too much for the Trojans as they were only able to come within three points late in the fourth quarter before falling 60-52.

It was an unusually physical game, but even this early in the season, when two teams with high expectations meet against each other the stakes are higher.

“It was just two teams getting after each other,” Rockers said of the physical play. “We aren’t necessarily a real physical team, but our girls didn’t back down.”

It was the second loss in a row for Park Hill as they lost to Truman last Thursday 40-31, in a game that could mean something in the conference standings the next time they meet.

“We played catch up the whole game, but if we played the way we did tonight (vs. Platte County) then we could have taken care of business,” Rockers said. “Our conference race is wide open and we’ll see them again.”

Player’s death has left positive legacy through alumni game

Sometimes when people experience tragedy it isn’t necessarily the initial event that people remember, but what comes out of it and whether it can be turned into something positive. Darren Floyd, a junior at Park Hill High School, was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of him and classmate Brandon McPherson in the spring of 2004. Unfortunately, the accident hit home for me as both were good friends of mine and we had only left minutes apart on our ways home. The effect their deaths had not only on me, but parents, teachers, family, and friends was enormous. It isn’t death and sadness I want to focus on though, but how the tragedy has resulted in the creation of something special at Park Hill High School that will be on display this Saturday night in the school’s gymnasium.
Darren, an avid athlete, had previously finished his junior basketball season by receiving team awards for his high three-point shooting percentage and the team leadership award for his outstanding character and attitude. Knowing about his love for the game, parents and friends decided to name a scholarship fund in his memory. Not only would they start the scholarship, but they would fund it by putting together an exhibition basketball game featuring former players in a friendly hoops game. The first game was held in January of 2005 and a crowd usually un-seen at regular varsity games filled the gymnasium in an outpouring of support. Thousands of dollars would be raised over the next three years; eventually it was enough to officially endow the Darren Floyd Memorial Scholarship with the Park Hill Education Foundation and an additional scholarship to be awarded to a graduating member of the boy’s basketball team for college. In 2007, Darren’s #14 was retired by the program and remains the only basketball player to have had that privilege.
After the scholarship had been endowed and Darren’s number retired, there were some who thought there wasn’t a need to continue the game as an annual event. What they hadn’t realized though, is the game in and of itself had become something meaningful in ways the inaugural organizers had not envisioned. It was something former players started to look forward to each year. As it tends to be the case with high school, some alumni didn’t have any other reason to come back, but would for a worthy cause. For recent graduates, it was something they had come to expect to participate in as new alumni. Even those who weren’t familiar with the original circumstances or the person for which the game is named would have at least one thing in common, a love for the game. With the demand so high, a new energized group of current basketball parents and friends put forward their time to make sure the alumni game stayed alive along with the different symbolic meanings it had for each person involved.
With that in mind, one of the only events of its kind in the area is set to tip-off again this Saturday. The fifth annual game features the largest contingent of returning alumni players yet. The game will once again be a reminder of how fragile life is, but also how positive things can result from the most tragic of circumstances. It wouldn’t be able to happen if five years ago a committed group of people didn’t try to do the right thing and bring a community in mourning together. The feeling those in the gym on Saturday night will experience can be credited to Darren because of the 17 years of life he lived and also a reflection on us in the previous five years he’s been absent.

Lady Trojans look to big week ahead

Coming off a Fort Osage Tournament Championship run, the Park Hill Lady Trojans were back in action last Tuesday as they played their home opener against Ruskin. The Trojans built a gradually increased lead throughout the first half resulting in a 22-13 halftime score. Park Hill increased their lead in the second half to end up winning 41-30. Leading the Trojans in scoring were Laura Bennett with 11 points and Katy Plummer with 10.

After such impressing performances last week, Coach Brian Rockers felt his team could have played better.

“Overall, not one of our better performances so far this season,” he said.

Although they didn’t shoot very well from the field (32%) and had more turnovers than they would have liked(31), their defense was able to put up enough pressure to pull out the win.

“We have a lot to work on before a big week next week,” Rockers said of their upcoming matchups.

Those three big games will be a measuring stick of the season up to this point. They travel to Truman on Thursday to face a 1-5 Patriot team in a conference game, and then host defending state champions Platte County (6-0) on Friday night. Rockers emphasized the importance of both games in the pre-season and what potential wins against those opponents could do momentum and confidence-wise.

Park Hill Boys off to fast start

The Park Hill Boys Basketball team is off to one of its better starts in recent years after defeating Truman and Oak Park last week. The Trojans, now 4-1, won’t have much of a break though, because they’ll be preparing to take on highly ranked Grandview the day after Christmas in the first game of the William Jewell Tournament in Liberty. Grandview comes in with a record of 3-3 after beating Shawnee Mission East last weekend in the Hy-Vee Shootout at Avila University.

A win against Truman last week by a score of 76-65 was a big road victory as the Trojans were able to contain top guard Antonio Winn especially in the second quarter as they were able to go into halftime with a 33-19 lead. Justin Leathers turned in an outstanding performance with 35 points while De’Aris Flint added another 15. They were able to see gains from their defensive rebounding and control of the ball in their offensive sets. Chris Nsenki put up 13 points while battling a sprained wrist. He’s expected to return to the lineup next week.

Then last Thursday, facing a young and inexperienced Oak Park Northmen squad, the Trojans used their athleticism and active defense to take a steady halftime lead of 30-24. It was at that point when De’Aris Flint took center stage and went on to score 14 points in the third quarter which he capped off when he received a Steven Clark pass and took it in for a dunk. Flint finished with 26 points.

“It was a night when he was finishing it whenever he had a chance to get a shot off,” Garrison said of Flint.

“As a basketball player, when you get that moment when you have that kind of confidence, you have to go for it. Otherwise, you’re hurting yourself and the team,” Garrison said of some of his players’ ability to take over a game.

Park Hill only allowed three Oak Park points and had gained a 41-25 score going into the fourth quarter. The Trojans continued to pull away before posting a final score of 56-34.

“Nathan Wilson, Burt Taylor, Steven Clark all gave us some good minutes. Especially with Chris (Nsenki) out, we were able to overcome that. Anthony Walker stepped up and he can start for us if we need him to,” Garrison said of his team’s bench play of late.

Park Hill will now look to an early morning game on December 26 against Grandview who will pose some difficult challenges to the Trojans. Their reputation is one that includes a fast-paced style of play possibly not similar to any opponent Park Hill has seen.

“They’ve got some height and some kids who are very fast,” Garrison said. “They like to play in the full court.”

Park Hill looks to build momentum going into William Jewell Classic

The Park Hill Boys built on their first home victory by pulling out a win against North Kansas City last Tuesday. It was a quality win to build momentum coming into this week with games at Truman and then against Oak Park this Thursday before having a week off to prep for the William Jewell Tournament over Christmas break.

In the first half, the Trojans allowed themselves to get into foul trouble as Chris Nsenki, Justin Leathers, and De’Aris Flint all had two apiece, but went into the locker room at halftime with a 42-36 lead. Stepping up for their teammates in foul trouble was Brady Kreitzer who finished with 24 points and 8 rebounds along with Anthony Walter who added 13 points.

Nsenki and Leathers came back in the second half to round out a Trojan offense that presented a balanced scoring attack with 20 and 11 points respectively. Nsenki also grabbed seven boards.

The Hornets were able to cut the margin to three going into the fourth quarter. That’s went Park Hill went to work at the free throw line. As many coaches have said over and over again, free throws win games, and that was the story for Park Hill last week as they made 27 of 34 in the game. With that, the Trojans increased the margin to 82-73 for the final score.

“We did a great job of getting to the free throw line and converting,” Coach David Garrison said.

Park Hill is now 2-1 on the year as they’ll play key conference games against Truman who is off to an undefeated start to the season after winning the Blue Springs/Blue Springs South Tournament this past weekend. Oak Park at 2-3 then travels to Park Hill following a lose against Southeast last Friday night.

Lady Trojans start season undefeated, look to Platte County

Coming off a Fort Osage Tournament Championship run, the Park Hill Lady Trojans were back in action last Tuesday as they played their home opener against Ruskin. The Trojans built a gradually increased lead throughout the first half resulting in a 22-13 halftime score. Park Hill increased their lead in the second half to end up winning 41-30. Leading the Trojans in scoring were Laura Bennett with 11 points and Katy Plummer with10.

After such impressing performances last week, Coach Brian Rockers felt his team could have played better.

“Overall, not one of our better performances so far this season,” he said.

Although they didn’t shoot very well from the field (32%) and had more turnovers than they would have liked(31), their defense was able to put up enough pressure to pull out the win.

“We have a lot to work on before a big week next week,” Rockers said of their upcoming matchups.

Those three big games will be a measuring stick of the season up to this point. They travel to Truman on Thursday to face a 1-5 Patriot team in a conference game, and then host defending state champions Platte County (6-0) on Friday night. Rockers emphasized the importance of both games in the pre-season and what potential wins against those opponents could do momentum and confidence-wise.

Park Hill starts season with impressive performances

It was an exciting first week of the season for the Park Hill Boys Basketball team. They started off against a formidable opponent in tradition-strong Liberty. The Trojans knew coming into the game that it would be a key game early in the season to give them an idea of where they are and where they could be by the end of the season. With four starters in double-figures including Chris Nsenki’s 25, Justin Leather’s 14, Brady Kreitzer’s 13, and De’Aris Flint’s 10 points, the Trojans came out swinging. No team wants to lose, but the 73-68 score that left Liberty on top in the end was something the Trojans wanted to build on coming into their home-opener last Friday against Winnetonka.
The Trojans didn’t get the rhythm they wanted in their offense during the first half, but with a tenacious defense led by De’Aris Flint and an overall solid rebounding effort they went into halftime only down 21-17. Things started clicking in the second half when the momentum shifting to the Trojan’s favor when Chris Nsenki erupted for a series of three-pointers. The first gave Park Hill their first lead of the game mid-way through the third quarter and gave the crowd something to get behind.

“He has stretches where he can take over a game,” Coach David Garrison said of Nsenki’s shooting ability.
With the offensive runs they went on in the fourth quarter came a renewed intensity on the defensive end. Flint took a fast break pass and finished it with a dunk to open the fourth quarter to put the Trojans up by ten at 44-34. Winnetonka did not go quietly into the night though, as they went on a run that cut the lead to one at 48-47 with three minutes remaining.

“They’re very fast and they’ll make you pay for it,” Garrison said of some of the troubles Winnetonka gave the Trojans.
The Trojans’ high-energy defense frustrated the Griffins into fouling down the stretch, as Park Hill was able to make several key free throws to seal the victory. Justin Leathers, was key in putting the game away as he was able to make four free throws and a layup in the last minute to lead the Trojans to a 63-51 victory.

“Defensively, I’m happy with what we were doing,” Garrison said. “We just have to be consistent.”