Park Hill powers to opening victory in 42nd Annual William Jewell Holiday Classic

Park Hill came out with the perfect strategy to prevent Central from building on the momentum it carried into halftime. A press defense in the third quarter by Park Hill broke open a close game.

The Trojans carried their strong third quarter to an 84-48 victory Monday morning in the opening matchup of the 42nd Annual William Jewell Holiday High School Classic.

Park Hill, 5-3, advances to the semifinals of the Nelson Division and will return to action 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and play North Kansas City, which beat Truman 81-37.

After a year with no spectators allowed at the Holiday Classic because of COVID-19, Park Hill and Central treated fans at the Mabee Center to a back-and-forth first half.

Park Hill jumped to an 11-4 lead but trailed 18-17 after the first quarter. It appeared the Trojans were going to take a three-point lead into halftime until Central sophomore Timothy Wooden Jr., who finished with 17 points, hit a three-pointer that tied the game 38-38.

“We had a little change in defense in the second half,” Park Hill coach Chad Jones said. “We came out with a little more energy. You never know what you are going to get at 9 a.m. Our team responded well.”

It definitely worked. Park Hill scored the first 17 points in the third quarter for a 55-38 lead.

“We came out with energy and actually decided we wanted to play some defense,” said Park Hill junior Marqueas Bell. “We knew our shots were going to fall. Defense just takes effort and heart.”

The Trojans didn’t let up with the big lead. They eventually outscored Central 36-5 in the third quarter and put the game away.

“We came out at the start thinking this game was going to be easy,” said junior Ty Schreck. “If we wanted to win, we had to come out with a lot of energy in the second half.”

Scoring in double figures for Park Hill were Bell with 23, his twin brother, Kendrick Bell added 18 and junior Ty Schreck finished with 15.

During the explosive third quarter, Park Hill also got inside scoring from senior Ryan Dodson and a few driving layups from senior Sammy Hall.

After a year away, Park Hill was glad to be back at the Holiday Classic. Last year the Trojans were scheduled to play but Covid-19 prevented them from participating.

“They had the tournament last year, but there were a bunch of teams out with Covid,” said Jones, who also played in the tournament in the early 1990s when he went to Park Hill.

“It was frustrating last year. This is one of the marquee tournaments in the city. We had an excellent team. We are glad to be back this year.”

So far this year, only Grandview is unable to compete in the Holiday Classic because of Covid-19.

“Playing in this tournament is a lot of fun,” Bell said. “It is a big tournament so a lot of people in the city can come and watch.”

Indeed.

The Holiday Classic runs Monday through Thursday. The Nelson Division championship game will be 6 p.m. Thursday followed by the Holley Division title game at 7:30 p.m. and concluding with the Patterson championship game at 9 p.m.