Parkland calms Hurricanes

For most of the season, Parkland was clearly the best team in the EPC.

But for a stretch in the final week of the regular season when the Trojans had to stage a big rally to beat Northampton and then lost to Executive and Allentown Central Catholic on back-toback days, their status was in question.

And the question mark wasn’t removed by a 38-35 quarterfinal-round win over Nazareth Friday night, a win that wasn’t clinched until Jayden Thomas made a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

However, against Liberty, Parkland looked like the team it had been most of the season.

Leading only 24-20 at halftime, the top-seeded Trojans dominated the second half and rolled into the finals for the second time in three years. Liberty scored just 13 points after intermission and its 33 points was the second-lowest output of the season after a 31-29 win at Freedom Feb. 2.

“This was a big game and obviously a cool atmosphere here and I’m happy the league does this and we get to play here,” Parkland coach Eddie Ohlson said. “We were looking forward to it and the kids played really well offensively and

defensively.”

Ohlson said the key was slowing down all-league player Blake Hargrove.

“We lost him and a few of their other shooters a few times in the first half,” Ohlson said. “But our attention to detail in the second half was much better and we rebounded well as a team. We made good decisions late in the halfcourt offense.”

Coval was playing a day after he learned that he won another EPC MVP award and on the local basketball’s biggest stage he showed again why he gets all of the accolades.

“Nick finds his way to get his points and he picks and chooses different situations and I thought he did a good job of opening it up for some of the other guys,” Ohlson said.

One of those guys was a freshman Blake Nassry who hit a pair of 3s in the third quarter when Parkland took command by outscoring Liberty 15-8. Nassry and Robbie Ruisch both hit two 3-pointers and finished with eight apiece.

“I think the coaches did a good job of getting me ready for this moment,” Nassry said. “They helped me in practice a lot. It’s really special to get to play as a freshman. I’m not trying to live up to Nick. I’m just trying to do my best and do what I’ve been practicing for a long time.”

Nassry said Coval has really helped him in practice and during games. Several people, including Coval, have said Nassry is a player to watch in the future.

“I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Nassry said.

“I’m looking forward to coming back here Thursday, especially to play Emmaus.”

Liberty, which shot just 12-for-43 from the field including 3-of-24 from 3-point range, will look ahead to the District 11 6A tournament where it will play Nazareth on Feb. 24.

“We didn’t make shots and it starts with that,” Hurricanes coach Nigel Long said after his team lost to Parkland for the second time this season and dropped to 18-6. “But we also had too many defensive breakdowns and every time we had a breakdown they made us pay. That’s a credit to Parkland. They played very well tonight and it was a learning experience for a young group. There are no excuses. As a coaching staff, we’ve just got to do a better job of getting our guys in better positions offensively and to shore up those defensive breakdowns.”