Staley boys hang on for Missouri Class 6, District 16 victory over Park Hill South

There was no irony lost inside Staley High School’s gym when the theme song from the TV show Friends began to play during a Staley timeout.

“So no one told you life was gonna be this way …”

The song echoed around the silenced gym as the visiting Park Hill South Jaguars rattled off seven-straight points to start the second half and narrow Staley’s lead to 31-26. Life certainly wasn’t expected to be that way for Staley.

“We probably called two or three timeouts in that quarter, not X’s and O’s timeouts at all, just let’s collect our emotions,” Staley head coach Chris Neff.

By the end of the quarter the Staley Falcons (23-3) led by a slender five points but managed to see out the game and claim the Missouri Class 6, District 16 championship with a 49-42 win over the Park Hill South Jaguars (12-8).

The top-seeded Falcons started out the game strong, defending the perimeter well.

Sophomores Kyan Evans and Kayden Fish set the tone for Staley, scoring 21 of the Falcons’ 31 points.

“Boy they answered the bell in the first half, they really set the tone,” Neff said. “And both of them guarded hard, I thought they defended well, they boarded, they pushed it and got great shots and were really aggressive, I was proud of them.”

Evans finished with a game-high 16 points and Fish with 14 points.

Their efforts led to a confident 31-19 lead over the No. 3 Panthers at halftime, but that’s when the game turned on its head for the home team.

Park Hill South came out blazing in the second half, producing a much more patient passing game. The Panthers had recorded just one assist in the first half — that total was up to five just halfway through the third quarter.

As for the Staley Falcons, well, they went cold and scored just four points in the whole quarter.

The steadied possession game turned into a frantic attack featuring just a couple of passes at most before tossing up hopeful low-percentage shots.

“They were trying a little too hard to put a nail in the coffin with 14 minutes left. We want to stay the course,” Neff said. “You’re not going to hit home runs, we needed to be hitting more singles, more singles, just going at them, getting the right possessions, good shots.”

And thanks to that frantic third quarter, the Falcons’ backcourt entered the final quarter in foul trouble. Senior Kendrick Stone had four fouls, while Evans had three.

The situation forced Neff to switch to a zone defense to counter the 1-2-2 offense that Park Hill South had begun running in the second half.

“We played that zone pretty well, we’ve got a 6-foot-6 wing that will come up and will defend,” Neff said. “And at that time Larry Parker was in the game, one of our reserves, and he’s about a 6-3 kid who can play on the wing as well.”

The move stifled Park Hill South enough to allow Staley to see out the rest of the game.

The final dagger came when junior forward Jamaal Davis made a quick steal in the final minute as Park Hill South scrambled for points. His pass to Evans forced the Panthers’ top scorer, Jacob Roberts, to foul out.

Roberts finished with 12 points, two assists and three rebounds.

“We were just there for each other,” Evans said. “We were talking to each other and helping each other out. When we’re one, we’re better.”

As Park Hill South’s season came to an end, Staley will go on to face Liberty in the Class 6 sectional round on Tuesday. Liberty defeated Truman 58-51 on Friday night.

Staley will be hoping to conclude unfinished business from 2020. The Falcons had made it to the Missouri Class 6 semifinals in 2020 before the season was canceled due to COVID-19.

“It’s crazy,” Evans said. “We just want to get back to where we were last year when COVID stole it from us.”