Preview: Park Hill South boys basketball expect to leave their own mark, build on run to Final Four

The Park Hill South Panthers finished third in their conference and came into the district tournament as the fourth seeded team. What may have been considered just a slightly above average season for the Panthers soon changed as they battled to a district title game victory and continued through the Missouri Class 5 playoff bracket all the way to the Final Four. Their 21-11 record and unlikely fourth place finish at state are still in the minds of those players returning for the 2010-11 season, but not in the reminiscent way you may suspect. Past success aside, this year’s team wants to establish their own success.

“We talked about it at the beginning of the year. Not so much what we achieved, but what we did to get there. The little things we did and how we came together. After that conversation we haven’t mentioned anything about last year,” Coach Anthony Perry said. “We want to form our own identity and hopefully repeat some of the successes from the past.”

This year’s team will likely face a different reception from opponents this year compared to last. Especially in their run through the playoffs, the Panthers often found themselves the underdogs and gladly accepted the role, but they’ll have a harder time sneaking up on teams this season.

“Last year we were hunting, now we’re hunted. We’re going to get a lot of people’s best games,” Perry said. “I’m hoping that’s a challenge the guys are willing to accept.”

The three returning senior starters that will form the team’s core include last year’s leading scorer and rebounder Christian Hildebrandt, 6’9” center Adam Schemenauer, and defensive captain Rocky Benson. Sophomore Anthony Woods will fill the hole at point guard left by Tyler Keesee who graduated after being a four-year starter for the Panthers.

“He’s accepted the challenge of leading our team so far,” Perry said. “We’re relying on him a lot.”

Rounding out the rotation will be senior guard Joe Pearson, forward Kendrick White, Bobby O’Connor, and Omar Patterson.

While Perry is waiting to see what the strength of his team will be other than the leadership and proven play of his returning core players, he said his team will exhibit the same style of play they have in years past.

“We’ll push the ball in transition. Defend real well in the half court set. Be patient and take the shots that are given to us,” Perry said.

An early test for the Panthers will be the competitive Blue Springs South Tournament. Additionally, a challenging new conference schedule features basketball strong schools Raytown and Raytown South along with a varying degree of different styles of play. The Panthers hope the exposure to such athletic teams will help them when districts come around, a time where they hope to be clicking, once again, on all cylinders.

Preview: Trojans basketball will defend conference title, look to overcome district upset

The Park Hill boys basketball program broke out in a strong way last season when they went 19-7 including an undefeated 10-0 conference record which gave them their first conference title since 2002. Riding an unbeaten streak into district play, the Trojans’ hopes of a district championship were cut short as they were upset in the semifinals by Oak Park. Returning a strong nucleus of that team, the Trojans will reload for another fast-paced season and compete in a difficult conference and again look for a chance at the district crown.

"We gear ourselves to be playing our best going at the end of the season,” Coach David Garrison said. “It’s always a motivator (last year), but it’s a new season. There will be a lot of things that could work out differently.”

A senior class of nine will lead Park Hill including returning all-conference starters Chris Nsenki, DeAris Flint, and Brady Kreitzer accounting for a collective average of 35 points and 13 rebounds a game. Letter winners with experience include Burt Taylor, Nate Wilson, and Anthony Walters.

“The strength of our team is our senior class, people who have been in varsity basketball games, people that know our expectations and how our program works,” Coach David Garrison said.

By way of Tennessee, Tre Durham, will be an impact player for Park Hill along with junior Connor Farmer. One void the Trojans will need to fill is the loss of second team all-state center Justin Leathers who averaged 19 points and nine rebounds last season.

“That’s going to be tough to overcome. We’re not going to be able to put one person out there and tell them to do that, but collectively we can make up for that,” Garrison said.

With a conference consisting of strong teams like Truman, Lee’s Summit West, and North Kansas City, the tough schedule will provide some obstacles for the Trojans as there won’t be many easy games on the schedule once they reach the heart of league play.

“If you’re not mentally prepared, not physically prepared, you’re not going to be competitive,” Garrison said. “I think it’s going to be good for us because when you get to the end of the season and it’s do or die, then those difficult games should help us.”

One thing Garrison is not worried about is depth. With so many athletes available, it will mean that much more each player be able to fulfill their role when the time comes.

“Keys for us will be our ability to defend and the chemistry that our team builds throughout the season,” Garrison said. “We have multiple players who will be able to contribute, so the sooner we come together as a team the better we will be.”

Preview: Park Hill South girls basketball looking to build from ground up

This year’s Park Hill South Lady Panther basketball team will be building from the bottom-up after last year’s 3-19 season. Head Coach Jenny Orlowski comes into her third season ready to mix things up and start anew with what will be a 2010-2011 Panther squad made up of players ranging in experience. That means out with the old and in with the new.

“We started from scratch after last season because when you hit bottom you know you can’t keep doing the same things that got you there, you have to change,” Orlowski said of this season’s fresh start.

Park Hill South will combine the experience of returning starters Stephanie Griffith, Kinsy Kuhn, and Haley Shelton who bring back a combined average of 15 points a game. They’ll lead some talented sophomore guards in the likes of Courtney Claasen and Tori Kerr. Also making consistent contributions will be sophomores Jessica Lee and Brittany Perry along with seniors Mackenzie Williams and Shannon Keith, the Panthers’ most improved player last year.

“We’re going to play a lot of kids. I told them there’s going to be a lot of cross over between JV and Varsity. A lot of the younger kids will get time at both,” Orlowski said.

Part of gaining back their competitive edge starts on the practice floor where the Panthers believe they’re further ahead than they were at this time last year and it starts with having the confidence to attack the other team.

“You’ll find they’re going to be a lot more aggressive and cutting to the basket more. They really see each other on the floor,” Orlowski said. “Overall, we’re a lot quicker and I think we’ll be an exciting team to watch.”

An area to keep your eye on throughout the season will be the Panthers’ maturity and composure. Their ability to mesh their senior leadership with their younger players to build a cohesive team could yield positive results.

“I think we have a maturity factor to overcome. Even though we have five seniors, we’ll have a lot of younger kids on the floor at times. We tend to forget things when our adrenaline starts pumping,” Orlowski said. “If we combine our new outlook and the hard work that must be done, we should be much improved over last season and will probably surprise some teams.”

The Panthers will look to compete will strong conference opponents William Chrisman, Raytown, and Belton.

Preview: Park Hill girls basketball looks to find its groove with new coach

First year Park Hill girls basketball coach Aaron Neeser has spent much of the first few weeks of practice doing what most first year coaches would do. Instilling a basic philophy, observing what kind of talent he’ll have to work with, and emphasizing several key points. What Neeser knows he has are two returning starters in Kyleesha Weston and Helena Hudson along with significant minutes from Shelby Blanchard and Michele Rupard. This is from a 16-11 team that at times seemed to play better than their record would suggest. Combined with a number of athletic players with little varsity experience, the Trojans are hoping to turn their new system into a machine consisting of many moving parts.

“We’re trying to preach defense and rebounding first. Being relentless and going after every ball. Having the attitude where every possession is important,” Neeser said of the style he hopes to instill. “Rebounding, I want us to be the best rebounding team in the conference.”

Looking to potentially play up to 12-13 players a game this season, the Lady Trojans’s inexperience at the varsity level will have plenty of chances to be ironed out with a steady rotation of players. Kelly Cook, Leslie Coons, Sarah Sumpter, Beth Sullinger, Micalla Rettinger, Amanda Lawrence, Marche Belcher, and Dominque Broadus all hope to contribute to a new style of game play that emphasies speed and quickness.

“We have a lot of athletes, so we’re trying to play an up tempo, trapping type of basketball,” Neeser said. “We’re going to try to play fast pace and we’ll see how it goes.”

Even if the Trojans struggle with the new upbeat strategy, there’s one thing their wants it to teach them and that is taking care of the ball is one of the most important things.

“That’s one thing we’re trying to instill each and every day is being aggressive and being passionate about possessing the basketball,” Neeser said. “We will need to rebound and play extremely well on the defensive end to be successful.”

Park Hill begins play in a new and highly competitive conference this season featuring strong teams like North Kansas City, Truman, Lee’s Summit West, and St. Joe Central. The tough matchups haven’t stifled their expectations though as their coach began to name who he expected the most out of, but stopped short of the entire team.

“I could go down the list, we have high expectations for all of them,” Neeser said.

Preview: Panther wrestling look to youth for next step, leadership

Experience is what you get by not having it when you needed it as the saying goes. That's a good way to sum up what the Park Hill South wrestling team learned from last year. The young Panther squad went a solid 10-4 in dual competitive, but didn't fare so well with their conference as they went 2-3 and later went on to place fifth at districts. While still fairly young, Park Hill South returns a number of now experienced wrestlers who will be looking to improve on last year's performance.

"We got beat up pretty good last year in our conference," Coach Dan Dunkin said. "I would like to see this year’s team be more competitive in the conference race. We were young last year, we should be much better this year."

Returning state qualifiers Jimmy Carpenter (119), Adam Weatherly (130), and Chase Gray (171) will lead the Panthers this season along with Alex Weatherly (135) and Alex Fortuna (103), all sophomores.

"If we’re going to be successful this year, these guys need to wrestle like they're upperclassman," Dunkin said.

Speaking of upperclassmen, senior heavyweight Sam Eickhoff will be relied upon both on and off the mat as the team's designated captain. Look for junior Bret Rounkles (112) to have a breakout year as his coach believes his attitude and work ethic will pay off on the mat. Others looking to contribute this season include George Barth (125), Justin Haughenberry (140), DJ Dewitt (145), Alex Carpenter (152), Rene Jimenez (160), Nick Gillespie (189), and Grant Kirschbaum (215).

Dunkin's team will focus intently on their conference schedule, where three of their total four losses occurred. The conference title contention will likely come down to matches between the Panthers and three other teams including Belton, William Chrisman, and Fort Osage. None of which will be easy duels.

"On a bad night any of these team’s can beat us. If we’re wrestling well, I like our chances," Dunkin said. "This year the magic word is consistency. If we want good things to happen we need to wrestle tough every duel."

Of course, not only would they like to place towards the top of their conference, they'd like to improve on their performance at the state tournament. Last year, they took three freshmen to state and the ultimate goal would be for the Panthers to increase that number. With any team, especially a young team, those goals will be realized slowly, one match at a time.

"This team can achieve great things. Right now, that means winning the next match," Dunkin said. "Right now for South, being tough is winning the next match."

Preview: Park Hill wrestling looks to defend title, again

Park Hill Wrestling will return a strong group of wrestlers to the mat for the 2010-11 season to defend their back to back state titles. While they lost a solid group of wrestlers to graduation that racked up high point totals for the Trojans over four years and four individual state titles last year, the returning varsity wrestlers will now be expected to make up for those points as they step in to fill leadership roles on the team.

The Trojans’ sole returning state champion, Bricker Dixon, will move up weight divisions from 112 to 125. Paxton Diblasi moves up from 103 to fill the void left by Dixon at 112. A state-runner up at 130, Russ Coleman returns at a lower weight class of 119. Senior Preston Crouse moves from 140 to 145 pounds after a third-place state finish last year. State qualifier Nolan Smith returns in the heavyweight division. Park Hill will look to this core group of returning wrestlers to lead the way towards what they hope is another run at a third consecutive team state title.

“We’re looking forward to and expect a lot out of those guys this year,” assistant coach Joe Gonier said.

Other returning wrestlers with varsity competition under their belt include Cody Goodwin (135), Nick Harper (152), DJ Dietrich (171), and Eddie McDonald (189). Newcomers include John Erneste (103), Michael Olsen (112), Noland Anderson and Ryan Hosford (160), Isiah Williams (171), and Travis Marcum (215).

While Park Hill Wrestling has been a powerful force in the state of Missouri over the last decade, it’s hard to tell early in the season how new athletes will perform in different positions, particularly freshmen. Park Hill’s Youth Wrestling program has alleviated this obstacle with many underclassmen coming into high school prepared and already familiar with the program. The first part of the season gives them a chance to get a lot of different kids a chance to see where they fit best and are most comfortable.

“We try people out in different spots in the first third of the season to see how kids react, but as the season progresses the lineup gets more consistent as we move closer to districts,” Gonier said.

Judging from the past, most of those shakeups will allow the top wrestlers to emerge which will prepare them well for those crucial tournaments at the end of the season. While talk will continue of the possibility of a three-peat at February’s state wrestling meet, one thing Trojan Wrestling fans can count on in the meantime is the emergence of a new, young group of top wrestlers in the area.

Preview: Park Hill South Girls Swimming will compete to be KC's top team

Their ninth straight conference championship season left them with a 12-1 dual meet record and an eighth place finish at state including some of their relay teams being the top out of metro competition. Hoping to pick up where they left off they return a solid portion of that team this season in what Coach Tim Busenhart considers to be one of the strongest teams he's coached in his 11 years.

It's no surprise the Panthers' top priority is placing higher in the state meet than they did a year ago and the swimmers they have coming back are no strangers to competing on a high level. Lyndsay Ryan and Mary Cate Reinert have been on the All-State team three times along with Rachael Norfleet and Mariah Bryant who have been members twice. This strong group of swimmers will lead the way for Park Hill South. Newcomers Olivia McLain and Shannon Brouk will also add talent to their already accomplished teammates.

One thing Busenhart thinks will give them an edge this year is the depth on their team. A good problem to have, they just need to harness that depth to their advantage. They'll try different line-ups throughout the season to see which swimmers to strategically place in what positions so the Panthers have the strongest shot to place high at state.

"It's really just about figuring out who fits best where," Busenhart said. "We are strong across the board, but we're trying to find the right combinations."

While Park Hill South has faired well against Kansas City metro area competition over the years, in the realm of Missouri swimming, St. Louis is where many of the top teams come from. An opportunity to face some cross-state competition, the Panthers will travel to St. Louis and participate in a meet with MICDS followed by the Flyer Invitational the weekend of December 17-18. Other big invitationals include the Park Hill Invitational in early January along with the Raytown Invitational two weeks later.

Once again, they will be the ones to beat in their conference as it doesn't seem like an obvious contender stands out to seriously challenge the Panthers.

"We're probably the heavy favorite," Busenhart said.

In the end, the dates Busenhart and his team are looking towards is February 18 and 19 when they'll travel to St. Peters for the state meet where they hope to not only top their eighth place finish from last year, but possibly contend for the title itself.

Preview: Park Hill Girls Swimming looks to overcome last year's second place conference finish

After coming in as runners-up at last year’s conference swim and dive meet, the Park Hill girls team will be swimming against a new set of competitors at this year’s meet as conference realignment puts the Trojans up against North Kansas City, St. Joe Central, Ruskin, Lee’s Summit West, and Truman. Although their conference will change, their regular season schedule will feature many of the same familiar opponents and coming off an 11-2 dual meet record from last year puts Park Hill in position to have another successful season.

Relying on a core group of swimmers to lead them, the Trojans will look to junior Brynn Guardado to be their strongest swimmer. Guardado returns as a member of the All-State team in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Joining her will be senior Kaley Hensel and sophomore Abigail Hill in the breaststroke and Jasmine Jones in the butterfly. Returning state qualifying divers include Eleanor Parrott and Jordan Rowlett.

Coach Karl Haley’s team will participate in two big swim invites this season as they compete in the Independence Invitational in mid-December and then they come home to host their annual Park Hill Invitational at the beginning of January. In terms of overcoming their second place finish from last year, the team that appears to most likely sit in the Trojans way of a conference title is Lee’s Summit West who returns a strong squad from last year. Haley believes they will give them a strong run for it though if his team puts the work in.

In addition to competing for a conference championship, the team will once again try to qualifier as many swimmers and divers as possible for the state meet in mid-February.