Parkland Press

The 2017 season for the Parkland boys lacrosse team ended in historic fashion. The Trojans finished with a 20-3 overall record, were crowned Eastern Pennsylvania Conference East Division champs, were runner-up in the league, and won their first ever District 11 championship while qualifying for the state tournament.

As in any year, Parkland lost some key players to graduation, but the amount of experience and talent returning this year trumps the losses of last year.

Entering the 2018 spring season, the Parkland boys tennis team will have the luxury of senior leadership in its lineup. Six seniors will occupy the Trojans’ lineup this season, with three of the seniors having the experience of competing in last year’s District 11 3A tournament.

Lehighton Area High School senior football player Nolan Ryan Wentz became the second Lehighton football player in the past 12 years to earn the Lehigh Valley Football Scholar-Athlete Award.

Wentz earned the honor on March 4 at the 58th annual National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Lehigh Valley Chapter banquet.

The annual banquet honors a high school football senior from one of 33 schools that best represents achievements both on and off the football field.

Muhlenberg College senior basketball player Nick Rindock stepped onto the West Allentown campus as a winner. He won two District 11 championships in his final two seasons at Parkland High School, so the confidence and winning attitude was with him as he took his talents to the college level.

The Parkland ice hockey team has been the class of the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League for more than a decade. That status remained intact another year.

The Trojans skated through the LVSHL playoffs unscathed, first by shutting out fourth-seeded Emmaus 6-0 last Friday night in a one-game semifinal round. Parkland then took care of second seed Freedom in a best-of-three series, winning in two games with the clincher coming via a 4-1 victory at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena Tuesday night.

It is the 12th overall championship for Parkland and ninth straight.

Trading wins during their two regular season games, the rubber match between the Parkland and Northampton boys basketball teams had more on the line. With a spot in the District 11 Class 6A final four and berth in the PIAA state tournament at stake, it was the hot outside shooting of the Konkrete Kids that proved too much for the Trojans to overcome last Saturday afternoon in the district quarterfinals at Allen High School’s Sewards gymnasium.

The third seed Northampton relied on a three-point barrage to take down sixth seed Parkland 74-65.

Two sets of teammates and two other senior male student-athletes joined one another at a recent college signing ceremony at Parkland High School.

Wrestler Zach Ortman was a team captain and leader the last few seasons.

He signed a letter for Army West Point.

The Parkland boys basketball team had a whirlwind of emotions on totally different levels between its last two games. In last Friday night’s game against Whitehall, the Trojans trailed the entire game up until the fourth quarter when they made a comeback to defeat the Zephyrs 51-46.

Three nights later, Parkland led after each quarter leading up to the fourth, but gave up its lead and dropped the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference home game versus Allen 60-52.

After a change in defensive philosophy and in intensity, the Parkland boys basketball team came out of the halftime locker room a different team Tuesday night against Nazareth.

Needing two wins in its final four games of the regular season to qualify for the postseason, the task was looking even harder at halftime when the Trojans trailed by 17 points.

A spirited second half helped the Trojans beat Nazareth 68-59 Tuesday night at Parkland High School.

Every team wants to start fast. That’s an important part to winning any game.

The Parkland ice hockey team did just that. The Trojans scored five goals in the opening period, and rode that early cushion to a 7-1 victory over rival Emmaus last Monday night at the Lehigh Valley Ice Arena.

“It was definitely important for us to have that fast start,” said senior Jeremy Sell. “Anytime you can start fast and get out ahead, it gives you a much better chance at winning, and there is less to stress about. You play without as much pressure.”