Parkland knocks off Nazareth in quarterfinals
A 20-2 regular season, with both losses coming in overtime to a pair of teams with two losses combined, is usually an indication that a team will come into the playoffs laid back rather than laser focused.
After a practice on Wednesday that was all too relaxed for coach Ed Ohlson’s liking, the veteran ensured his team would not make that mistake.
Instead, the Lady Trojans put on a defensive clinic in a dominant 46-30 win over Nazareth in Friday night’s EPC quarterfinal matchup at Parkland High School.
“Wednesday we didn’t have a great practice and I told them they better focus up or somebody won’t be there at the end of practice,” Ohlson said. “They were good but they weren’t up to standard.”
They certainly were on Friday night, especially senior guard Talia Zurinskas, who had everything working on the offensive end for Parkland. It didn’t matter what defensive scheme Rich Bickert and the Blue Eagles threw her way – and there were plenty – because she had the answer for every one.
Zurinskas got rolling early with a handful of impressive left-handed layups high off the glass, and once she saw those go down, the confidence only grew.
“I usually like to start inside a little bit because once I get those mid-ranges and layups going, it really opens up the basket for the three,” Zurinskas said.
Even after she admitted her shot felt a little off in warmups, those early layups gave Zurinskas all the confidence she needed to pull up from well beyond the arc in the second quarter, draining a triple to put the Trojans up by 10.
The Blue Eagles stuck around in that second quarter, however, thanks to a massive spark off the bench from Alexa Davis. Nazareth had scored just two points in the entire game as the first quarter was winding down, but as soon as the sophomore entered, everything started to change.
With nine of the team’s 16 firsthalf points, Davis was the biggest reason why the game didn’t get out of hand earlier than it did.
It was all Parkland in the third quarter, and specifically all Zurinskas and Delaney Chilcote, who scored all 12 points in the quarter for the Lady Trojans as they took a 39-20 lead into the fourth.
There was a scary moment in the quarter as Chilcote hit the ground hard and stayed down while Nazareth looked for a shot with a fiveon-four advantage. Once the junior finally got to her feet, she delivered the play of the game with a phenomenal fake pass and layup in transition to further frustrate the Blue Eagles.
It was a particularly frustrating day for their three leading scorers — Renee Wells, Samantha Baker and Peyton Long — who combined for just 12 points with many of them coming in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
“Slowing them down was part of the focus going in,” Ohlson said. “You have to play great defense first in the playoffs and that’s what we talked about during the week and before the game today.”
While Parkland committed to slowing down Nazareth’s top scorers, the Blue Eagles responded by successfully taking Madi Siggins, Parkland’s leading scorer, out of the game. The senior came into the night averaging over 16 points per game but was held to just six firsthalf points on Friday.
The problem for Nazareth? Everyone else stepped up.
“That’s the beauty of the team, right? They weren’t going to let Madi beat them, so Talia stepped up. Delaney stepped up. Addi Fritzinger stepped up. Bella [Halal] and Lauren [Ervin] came in and played great defense,” Ohlson said. “That’s the beauty of basketball. You don’t have to be the star every night but if everyone does their part, good things are going to happen.”
Parkland (21-2) will seek revenge on Easton (22-1) after an incredible overtime matchup just two weeks ago. The two teams will face off Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the first act of a doubleheader at the PPL Center.
Nazareth (14-9) will turn their sights to the District XI 6A tournament where the team will be the No. 3 seed and host No. 6 Liberty unless the Lady Canes or Emmaus win the EPC Tournament.