Park Hill South takes out Rockhurst in Missouri Class 5 quarterfinals

Behind Park Hill South’s and Rockhurst’s benches, in stands flooded mostly with Park Hill South’s purple attire, sat a boy wearing a white Kobe Bryant jersey and the newest Kevin Durant shoes.

Park Hill South sophomore guard Jacob Kline wore long socks with “KANSAS” stitched on them. Across mid-court, Rockhurst senior guard Cartier Dean warmed up. He squeaked his black Air Jordans on the polished court while dribbling between his legs and firing up his teammates.

Some of basketball’s kings were represented at the Missouri Class 5 quarterfinals at Liberty North High School on Saturday evening. The standard for high-quality basketball was set.

And both teams met that standard.

Park Hill South beat Rockhurst 59-49 and advanced to the semifinals at Mizzou Arena next Friday afternoon. The Panthers will face Chaminade, 24-3.

Park Hill South junior forward Ryan Welty led all scorers in Saturday’s games with 19 points.

“I was hitting (three-pointers) well in warm-ups, so I figured I might hit some during the game,” Welty said. He finished with five three-pointers.

Energy oozed from Hawklets and Panthers’ pores from the very beginning. Rockhurst senior guard Will Bazzle stole the ball on Park Hill South’s first possession and nearly lost it when his excitement caught up with his hand-eye coordination.

“We knew we had to leave everything on the floor tonight,” Bazzle said after the game.

With a minute remaining in the first half, Rockhurst senior forward Patrick Geha approached the free-throw line. Park Hill South’s student section screamed, “Miss it!”

Rockhurst’s Dean stood behind Geha. Dean turned toward the student section and mimicked them with his hands as his teammate swished his first free throw. Park Hill South led 23-19 at halftime.

Just before the start of the second half, Pharrell’s song “Happy” played over the speakers. Everyone in the gym clapped along to the song as well as some players. Happiness traded sides in the third quarter — halfway through, Park Hill South led 34-23 and Rockhurst tied it at 40-40 — but things ultimately went Park Hill South’s way.

“This group of young men has been through three coaches,” said Park Hill South head coach Dan Parra. “I’m their third coach in four years. … When I got the job in April, they all told me, ‘Coach, we just want to work hard.’

“And they’ve worked their butts off since April to get to this point. It’s a sigh of relief. Nobody believed in us, but we believed in ourselves.”

Just as he finished his sentence, Barra’s team drenched him with water and smiles.

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Park Hill South takes out Rockhurst in Missouri Class 5 quarterfinals."