The Park Hill boys basketball team took the Oak Park to the brink, but the defending state champions showed their quality down the final stretch to escape Park Hill with a 69-61 win on Feb. 6.
The Trojans impressed throughout the night as they had hoped to strike revenge on the Northmen, who ended Park Hill’s season last year in the district semifinals. While Park Hill led for the majority of last Friday’s contest, No. 5 state-ranked Oak Park continued to make timely baskets when they needed to seal a seventh consecutive win over their conference rival.
The first big basket came at the end of the first quarter, when Oak Park ended the quarter on a 7-0 run as Park Hill had hoped to hold for the last sho but a turnover allowed Oak Park to hit a buzzer-beater from midcourt. The Trojans had opened the game well, jumping ahead 17-9 before Oak Park’s late run, which cut the lead down to a single point.
DJ Bronson scores goes for a contested layup in a conference defeat against Oak Park on Feb. 6.
Park Hill didn’t let that shift in momentum carry into the second quarter, even after Oak Park tied the contest, the Trojans responded by taking a two-possession lead. Despite the promising start, Park Hill’s Javon Washington sat the bench for most of the second quarter due to foul trouble, but the Trojans still managed to came up with key defensive stops, including a block from Dontae Bronson to deny Oak Park of a layup in transition at the end of the second quarter to keep Park Hill ahead 32-28.
Baskets from Isaiah Caston and Donnovan Fonville opened up a 36-30 lead for the Trojans, but Oak Park responded to take its first lead of the night as they converted an old-fashioned 3-point play at the expense of Washington’s fourth foul to take a 43-42 lead with 2:26 to play in the third. Again, Park Hill picked themselves up and struck as back-to-back 3-pointers from Fonville and Caston guided the Trojans back in front by a couple of possessions until another Oak Park triple at the buzzer cut the deficit back down to a single point.
Senior guard Isaiah Caston takes a jumper against Oak Park, finishing the night with 21 points.
Oak Park’s quality showed in the fourth quarter, and after several lead changes, the Northmen quickly created some separation late in the contest. Park Hill held a 61-56 lead in the final three minutes, but Oak Park ended the game on a 13-0 run to grab the lead and extra separation to seal their road victory.
The Trojans dropped to 11-9 on the season and 1-3 in conference play, but picked up an exhaustive comeback win earlier in the week as they used four overtimes to finally take down Liberty 79-74 on Feb. 3.
The game could not have started much worse for Park Hill as they trailed 35-13 at halftime. They managed to cut into the deficit in the third quarter before completely erasing it in the fourth to tie it at 50-50.
Park Hill grabbed its first lead in overtime, but Liberty stayed within reach and tied it 56-56 to force a second overtime. Nothing could separate the two sides for the next two overtimes, either, as the game went to a fourth overtime tied at 71-71.
A 3-pointer form park Hill to start the fourth overtime gave the Trojans an advantage they would never let up. Holding a 76-74 lead inside the final 30 seconds, the Trojans hit some free throws to ice the game as they won 79-74.