Coval, other talent set to defend league, district titles
As the 2022-23 high school boys basketball season is set to begin Friday night, Parkland is considered the area’s No. 1 team.
That’s no surprise since the Trojans feature the most talked about, most recruited player in the area in junior Nick Coval.
The Trojans are defending Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 6A champions and they won a summer league title back in July.
But outside of Coval, who averaged 16.4 points per game last year, and Matt Ray, who averaged 4.3, no one on the Parkland roster scored 11 total points last year.
So, while much is expected of the Trojans, they will be featuring a lot of new faces.
“We know the target is on our back, but I don’t think our kids mind that,” veteran coach Andy Stephens said. “Every team handles expectations differently, but this group doesn’t mind the pressure if that’s what you want to call it. But we do only have one returning starter with Nick. Matt Ray started about half the season and then started coming off the bench for us. So we have a lot of new kids, but I think those kids are ready to go.”
One of the expected starters for Stephens is Luke Spang, who just got off the football field as the quarterback of Parkland’s District 11 championship football team on Saturday.
Robbie Ruisch and Connor Johns are also coming off the gridiron.
“The one concern is that we don’t have a lot of varsity experience,” Stephens said. “But we do have kids coming up who are talented and this is their opportunity.”
Parkland averaged 54.4 points per game last season and allowed just 45. The Trojans were 13-3 in the league last season with two of the losses coming against Emmaus. They also lost to Pocono Mountain West in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase in early February.
But from there, they went on a memorable seven-game winnng streak that carried them through the league and district tournaments. The seven wins were by an average of 19.9 points.
Parkland had 102 3-pointers, the second most in the league behind only Nazareth, led by Coval’s 63 treys. The Trojans figure to fire away from 3-point land even more this season without a lot of size in the paint.
Parkland
Coach: Andy Stephens (15th season, 257-111, 353-155 including four seasons at Emmaus)
Last season: 21-813-3 EPC. Beat Northampton 56-37, ACCHS
52-49 and Nazareth 56-46 to win EPC tournament; beat Freedom 70-38, Nazareth 52-32 and Pocono Mountain West 58-33 to win District 11 title; lost to Penn Wood 60-50 in first round of state tournament. Season opener: 7 p.m. Friday, host Lower Merion
EPC opener: Dec. 6, host Northampton
Nonleague games: Dec. 2, vs. Lower Merion; Dec. 27-28 vs. Devon Prep in the Reading holiday tournament; Jan. 14 at Pocono Mountain
West; Jan. 21 at Easton; Feb. 5, vs. Archbishop Wood in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase. Players to watch: Nick Coval (6-2, Jr. G) 16.4 ppg; Matt Ray (5-9, Sr. G) 4.3 ppg; Blake Bednar (5-11, Sr. G); Joey Gerbasio (6-1, Sr. G_F); Zaire Smaltz (6-4, Jr. F); Connor Johns (6-2, Jr. F); Luke Spang (6-0, Jr. G); Eddie Paz-Romero (5-11, Jr. G); Owen Rodgers (6-3, Jr. F); Josh Pulver (6-3, Jr. F); Robbie Ruisch (6-2, Jr. F); Gio Escalona (6-6, Sr. C); Michael Totah (6-2, Jr. F).
Take note: The coaching staff remains intact from previous years and includes varsity assistants Ed Ohlson and Paul Stewart; JV coach Austin Beidelman; JV assistant Antonio Dell Aguzzo; junior high coach BJ Dugan and middle school coaches Scott Bauer and Steve Quinn.
Why the Trojans are Top 10
material: Coval enters the season as the most-recruited player in the area and is coming a big offseason where he played a lot of high-level AAU ball and has taken his game to an even higher level. The pieces around Coval fit well with a lot of good outside shooters. Parkland won the big school summer league title and went toe-to-toe with national power Camden in a memorable Saturday night game at the A-Town Throwdown.
Final word: ”We have a lot of talented kids, but they don’t have a lot of varsity experience,” Stephens said.“They love to play. During our preseason we would come in two mornings a week before school and two nights a week after school. The kids always wanted to be there to the point I had to tell we need to slow it down because we’re doing too much. It’s a good thing because the kids want to be in the gym but the kids need a break. They have a really good work-ethic and they are friends off the court which helps.”