The Park Hill Trojans boys basketball team led most of the night last Friday, Feb. 21, en route to completing the season sweep of longtime rival Park Hill South with a 70-59 victory.
Despite weather causing school closings and low temperatures throughout the week, Park Hill High School was buzzing with two spirited student sections packing the gym for the rivals’ final matchup of the season.
“The crowd was amped up for it,” Park Hill head coach Chad Jones said. “Anytime there’s a crowd for a JV game, you know it’s important to the community. Real happy for our guys.”
Park Hill bounced back from consecutive 70-59 losses — to No. 1 Oak Park on Feb. 14 and No. 8 North Kansas City on Feb. 19 — by flipping the scoreline on their district foe.
The opening minutes of the contest were back and forth, but Park Hill gained the edge late in the first quarter. The Trojans knocked down three triples to take a 13-11 lead going into the second frame.
After a quiet first quarter, the Trojans’ leading scorer, Cam Jones, found his rhythm with eight points in the second. He was even more dominant after halftime, scoring 10 in the third and finishing with 21 overall — capping his night with a highlight-reel slam dunk that stretched the Trojans’ lead to 13 with 1:59 remaining in the third.
The Panthers showed some fight to climb back within single digits as senior Gerard Hinson hit three 3-pointers in the fourth, scoring 24 points on the night, trying to drag the visitors back in it. Hinson’s efforts weren’t enough to overcome the entire deficit as Park Hill took their second 11-point win over Park Hill South this year.
Park Hill has now won four of the last five meetings against Park Hill South. For the four Park Hill seniors, completing the season sweep meant everything.
“It’s one of the best rivalries in the city,” Chad Jones said. “For our four seniors, it’s probably the second most important question when they graduate. First is,’ did you win districts and conference?’ And ultimately, it’s ‘did you beat your rivals?’ It means a lot to these guys.”
Mac Jones wasn’t the only senior to step up in his rivalry finale. Senior forward Leo Gayman was also critical, scoring a season-high 27 points after going 10 of 13 from the field with 10 rebounds.
Park Hill will conclude the season with a visit to Liberty on Feb. 25 before hosting Central on Feb. 28. Park Hill South will go to Oak Park on Feb. 25 and North Kansas City on Feb. 28.
The Trojans and Panthers will have a tough path out of the Class 6 District 4 tournament with as many as four teams potentially being ranked top-10 in the state, including Park Hill and top-ranked Oak Park.