Park Hill survives off night to take down Liberty: Missouri district basketball recaps

On a night without their coach — and with one of the team’s two leading scorers undergoing an off night — Leo Gayman put the Park Hill Trojans on his back and carried them into the district semifinals.

The Trojans fought back at home against Liberty for a 60-50 win in the first round of Missouri Class 6, District 8. Forward Leo Gayman racked up 19 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter, as Park Hill didn’t take a lead until it was 49-48 with 4:35 left.

The game’s first and only lead change came on Gayman’s final 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Park Hill didn’t look back. The 6-foot-5 senior scored 13 points in the final 4:35, and 19 of Park Hill’s 23 points in the final quarter.

“I was just letting it fly. My teammates kept giving me open looks and (Liberty) kept leaving me open,” said Gayman, who drained seven 3s.

Liberty opened the fourth quarter with a Kale Mortimer floater in the lane for a 45-37 lead with 7:40 left, seemingly staving off a few Park Hill comeback attempts. But then two Gayman trifectas and a 3 from fellow senior Kayden Boersma in the right corner with 6:25 left shaved the deficit to 47-46.

“We came into the huddle at the end of the third down by six, and I told everyone that we don’t want to go out like this. And the guys responded,” Gayman recalled. “We’ve got good leaders on our team, and when they step up, the younger guys did too and brought energy.”

After Gayman’s go-ahead 3, both teams exchanged possessions of turnovers and missed shots until Gayman attempted a 3 at the top of the key and was fouled. Gayman hit two of three from the line for a 51-48 lead with 2:43 left.

Mortimer, Liberty’s senior point guard, got Liberty back on the board with a free throw, but Gayman countered with an up-and-under in the lane for a 53-49 lead with 1:28 left. From there, Liberty misfires and Park Hill rebounds resulted in more trips to the charity stripe, where Gayman canned six straight free throws to seal the game. Gayman also snared a game-high 12 rebounds.

“We did a great job of stopping Mortimer and making the rest of the team beating us,” Gayman said. “We got tougher on the boards and kept them off the offensive glass down the stretch.”

Fellow senior Cam Jones (19.1 ppg) fought through a tough night and scored 11 points, but just two after intermission. His dad, head coach Chad Jones, was absent from the sideline for undisclosed reasons with assistant Chad Wright filling in.

Liberty jumped out to an early 11-0 lead before Park Hill rallied for an 11-11 tie in the final minute of the first quarter. The Blue Jays again opened up a 24-11 lead midway through the second period behind Jax Froelich inside buckets and two Cooper Stirtz 3s. But Park Hill fought back on two Gayman 3s, a Jones running scoop through the lane, two Don Fonville free throws and a Jones dunk for a 27-27 tie right before halftime.

Mortimer finished with 11 points and eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark, finishing with 1,004 career points. Howie Chase scored 12 to lead Liberty, which finished the season at 13-14.

Park Hill (19-8) now faces the No. 1 team in Class 6, taking on Oak Park on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Northmen won previous matchups 67-54 and 70-59.

Other Class 6, District 8 results

No. 1 Oak Park 96, No. 8 St. Joe Central 53

No. 2 North Kansas City 59, No. 7 Park Hill 45

No. 3 Staley 76, No. 6 Liberty North 44

Raymore-Peculiar 62, Lee’s Summit 56

Brendan Perry fired in 26 points and led Raymore-Peculiar in shocking No. 3 seed Lee’s Summit 62-56 on Wednesday night.

The junior scored 11 points in third quarter to push a 24-21 halftime lead out to 45-35.

Perry connected on all six of his free throws in the final period, as Ray-Pec connected on 10-of-11 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. Fellow junior Jordan Shockley hit 4-for-4 at the line in the final stanza, finishing with 13 points.

The No. 6 seed Panthers (12-14) will take on No. 7 Truman, a 64-59 upset winner over No. 2 Lee’s Summit North, in the sub-state semi at 7 p.m. Friday at Lee’s Summit West.

Other Class 6, District 6 results

No. 1 Rockhurst 76, No. 8 William Chrisman 34

No. 5 Lee’s Summit West 71, No. 4 Carthage 49

Blue Springs South 69, Smith-Cotton 44

Blue Springs South enjoyed a breeze in its district first-round game with a 69-44 romp over Smith-Cotton.

The No. 2 seed Jaguars tallied four players in double digits, including Cooper Callahan and Blayne Marshall with 11.

Leading 11-8 after the opening quarter, the Jags opened it up with a 34-20 halftime lead. Bryon Gold and Suldan Mohamed picked up the scoring in the second half to finish with 10 points apiece.

Blue Springs South (20-7) will travel to Rock Bridge to take on the Bruins at 7 p.m. Friday.

Other Class 7, District 8 results

No. 1 Battle 95, No. 8 Fort Osage 67

No. 4 Hickman 57, No. 5 Blue Springs 47

No. 3 Rock Bridge 78, No. 6 Grain Valley 77 (4 OT)

For updated substate and district brackets, online broadcasts, stories and more, visit 810Varsity.com.