TROJANS FIGHT ON
Parkland survives, will face Allen for 6A championship
Considering the youth on his roster, Doug Snyder kept a lid on expectations for his Allen Canaries back in late November.
As things began, the veteran coach hoped for a .500 season and a chance to gain some experience in the District 11 Class 6A tournament.
Three months later, Snyder is hoping for much more. His Canaries will play for the district title Saturday night after a stunningly dominant 74-64 win over top-seeded Emmaus in the second game of a semifinal doubleheader at Freedom.
Fifth-seeded Allen (16-9) will meet No. 7 seed Parkland (16-9) at 7:30 p.m. for the district gold after the Trojans knocked off defending champ East Stroudsburg South 62-59.
Emmaus and East Stroudsburg South will play in a third-place game earlier Saturday, also at Freedom.
Soaring Canaries
Allen took an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back in beating an Emmaus team that had defeated the Canaries twice previously this season including Feb. 14 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals.
“This group of young men is playing for a district championship, who would have guessed it,” Snyder said. “We just wanted to get to the district tournament with the young players we have. We’re getting better and we’re growing as the season has been going on.”
Freshman guard Nate Ellis led a balanced Allen scoring attack with 17 points while Alexis Adames and Emmanuel Ozuna added 16 apiece. A’Quele Adderley, the hero with a 3pointer at the buzzer in Saturday’s overtime win over Pocono Mountain East, added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“We tried to spread the court on them and we were patient,” Snyder said. “The ball was moved more and the ball was dribbled less. That’s been our philosophy in preparing for Emmaus. Emmaus is big and strong, so we wanted to chase them on the defensive end. Plus, we made some shots. In the EPC semis, we missed shots early and they opened a 12-1 lead and it was an uphill battle.”
Snyder said Allen still wanted to get up and down the floor, but was more patient in the halfcourt.
“Our game plan was to come out with great energy and just push them and try to pressure them the whole game,” Adder-
ley said. “We lost to them twice and we didn’t play with great energy in the EPC semis. So this was a good revenge game for us.”
Parkland pride
In retrospect, maybe missing the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament was a good thing for the Parkland boys basketball team.
A late-season swoon cost the Trojans a spot in the eight-team league tournament but it gave Parkland coach Andy Stephens and his guys a chance to regroup and recalibrate.
The time off has paid dividends as the Trojans have won three straight games in the District 11 Class 6A tournament, including a hard-fought victory over East Stroudsburg South.
It will be the Trojans’ seventh appearance in the biggest game in boys basketball’s biggest classification over the last eight years.
It’s also the eighth time in Andy Stephens’ 11 seasons as a coach that Parkland is going for district gold.
The Trojans play Allen at 7:30 Saturday night at Freedom and if they win it, it may be the most gratifying of title of Stephens’ coaching career.
“After we didn’t make leagues, people said I should give them a couple
days off but I brought them in and we only had an hour practice,” Stephens said. “The primary intent was to read their body language. They weren’t down and out. They were fine. I told them afterward that this is what I wanted to see. They were into it. I knew they had their mind on districts. They knew they could do it.”
Parkland is doing it with team depth that’s producing unsung heroes.
Most notably has been the play of 6-foot-7 senior Adam Klinger, who has been in and out of the lineup.
He delivered quality defensive work on Nazareth’s Stephon Sheard in Saturday’s quarterfinals and delivered 10 points and eight rebounds against South.
“Adam is playing with a lot more confidence,” Stephens said. “He’s a senior captain who started a lot last year. He started for us early in the season, but we went a little younger. He’s playing with more confidence and it’s really helping us.”
The key stretch
After Jeremiah Anderson made two free throws with 5:10 left to pull the defending district champion Cavaliers to within 3837, South went three possessions without scoring and Parkland began to put on a foul line clinic.
The Trojans made 10 straight at the line with Jake Melady making six straight and Jared Kucharczuk hitting four in a row.
Mixed in was a Klinger basket off a Jared Kucharczuk feed.
“What’s really nice to see is guys who don’t play a lot are on the bench rooting like crazy for the guys who are out there,” Stephens said.
“You want it to be like that every year when you coach a team. But it’s not always like that. That makes it more special as a program when everyone’s into it and enjoying it.”
Slowing down the MVP
Anderson, who was selected the EPC’s most valuable player, led his team with 19 points but had just five points in the fourth quarter. He made just one 3-pointer and it came in the final seconds.
“I thought we did well against him,” Stephens said. “You can look at junk defenses, you can look at this or that, but our guys were up for the challenge. We played pretty smart. He made some big shots, but he’s going to do that. He’s the league MVP. But Jared Kucharczuk did a good job on him.”
Stat of the Game
Parkland’s Logan Rindock was 4-for-6 from the field and 6-for-6 at the line in scoring 15 points. He also had two assists.