Park Hill closed out the Winnetonka Invitational with a win.
After dropping a semifinal, Park Hill came back to place third with a 52-41 win over Raymore-Peculiar in the Cardinal Division on Friday, Dec. 1 at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Mo. The Trojans were strong early and late, limiting Raymore-Peculiar to seven points in the first quarter and eight in the fourth.
Both teams struggled on free throws in a preview of two other scheduled Suburban Conference Gold Division matchups.
Park Hill senior Taiya Shelby led all scorers with 14 points to go with seven rebounds and six steals, while freshman Avery Mertz added 13 on 4 of 7 shooting — 3 of 5 on 3-pointers. Raymore-Peculiar committed 20 turnovers, leading to 16 points for the Trojans.
Four players supplied most of the scoring for Park Hill with junior Jayden Dorrell (three assists) and Hannah Graves (five rebounds) adding nine apiece.
Smithville 40, Park Hill 30
The Warriors clamped down on defense to prevail in a tight semifinal Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Winnetonka High School.
Park Hill managed just 13 points in the second half, while Smithville slowly extended a 19-17 halftime advantage. The Trojans shot just 27.3 percent from the field and also managed just seven free throws, while Smithville went 18 of 27 at the line.
Bryant scored 14 points, including a 4-of-5 effort on free throws, while Shelby, sophomore Teresa Thomas and Dorrell all scored four points. Dorrell added four steals, while Shelby had two assists.
OTHER GAMES
Park Hill South 62, Blue Springs South 52
A strong start to each half propelled the Panthers to a second straight win.
Alecia Westbrook scored 25 points with help from a 12 of 15 performance at the free throw line Monday, Dec. 4 in Blue Springs, Mo. Park Hill South led 13-7 after the first quarter and outscored the Jaguars 18-11 in the third quarter after the teams went into halftime tied at 31-31.
Down 12 at one point in the first half, Park Hill South finished the second quarter on a 15-3 run and the momentum carried over.
Park Hill South improved to 2-0 on the season and did so with a bigger offensive effort. Dequaria Guillory added 11 points, while Dymeria Guillory and DJ Guillory scored nine apiece.
Park Hill 53, Oak Park 43
The Trojans made it two straight wins with a solid victory Monday, Dec. 4 in Kansas City, Mo.
Oak Park’s Paige Allen scored 29, but a big second quarter run propelled Park Hill into the lead, which the Trojans didn’t relinquish. Shelby had a team-high 19 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 28 minutes.
Hannah Graves added 13 for Park Hill and went 5 of 7 on free throws. Both teams struggled at the line with the Trojans finished just 14 of 28. Oak Park was 10 of 23.
Park Hill stood at 3-1 overall entering a Thursday, Dec. 7 home game with Benton.