Park Hill South sophomore point guard Addison Bjorn (#1) erupted for a career-high 30 points and 19 rebounds in the North Kansas City Tournament Championship loss to Blue Valley North on Feb. 2.
NORTH KANSAS CITY – Having won the North Kansas City Girls’ Basketball Tournament each of the last two years, Park Hill South (10-8) had the opportunity to three-peat in the championship game against Blue Valley North (11-2) on Feb. 2.
Blue Valley North is the reigning 6A Kansas State Champion and beat its first two opponents of the tournament by a total of 91 points. Park Hill South nearly erased a 12-point second-half deficit but couldn’t finish off the comeback, losing 65-61.
Blue Valley North drew a foul two seconds into the second half, splitting the free throws, to make the score 42-30. Addison Bjorn scored seven straight points and nine overall amidst an 11-0 run by Park Hill South to bring the game within one point.
Lady Mustangs’ junior star Jaliya Davis – who went 9-of-11 for 25 points and 10 rebounds – scored the first of two straight transition buckets with 2:09 left in the third quarter to help them regain momentum. Bjorn tied her career-high 27 points through three periods and Park Hill South trailed 50-45.
The margin was pushed to six points with a free throw early in the final frame and the championship teams continued to match buckets to change the margin from four to six and back to four on multiple occasions. That was until Sarah Listrom made a shot from the right corner pocket, making it 57-54, with 4:06 to play.
Blue Valley North responded and held onto at least a four-point cushion until there were 33 seconds left. Avery Simmons cut it down to a one possession game with a layup, followed by an immediate Maggie Schmidt steal in the press and Bjorn split a pair of free throws to make the score 61-59.
The Lady Panthers had some late turnovers and missed some shots, and the Lady Mustangs went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the last 23.4 seconds. Simmons beat the buzzer with a layup and Park Hill South lost 65-61, being dethroned from back-to-back championships.
Bjorn had a career night, scoring 30 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, albeit in losing fashion. She had eight rebounds on offense and 11 on defense, as the rest of the team only had 12 rebounds.
Simmons had 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, along with three steals. Listrom scored a career-high eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from three, matching her season total on made triples in that game alone.
To reach the championship, Park Hill South routed Kearney (3-14) 60-36 on Jan. 29 and then took down North Kansas City (15-4) in the second round, 54-43, on Jan. 31. That win was not only big for the Lady Panthers to reach the championship for the third straight year but also pivotal for postseason seedings since the Lady Hornets are also in the Class 6 District 8 Tournament.
That was the first time that the teams had played each other since 2022 and Bjorn took care of business with another fifth double-double, putting together 22 points and 11 rebounds. Simmons made the team’s only two shots from deep on the night, good for 21 points, and Ava Kells added 10 points to the scoreboard.
Since the tournament has ended, Park Hill South has added another tally in the win column against Lee’s Summit (13-8) on Feb. 5. After the 69-48 triumph, the Lady Panthers have now won 12 straight in the series, going back to 2018.