Parkland Press

Sophomore Trey Rolle wasn’t even expecting to play on varsity, let alone start his first career game last Friday night before showing up to the locker room.

But the young Trojan wiped away any jitters early on and hit what could turn out to be the biggest shot of his career, nailing a three-pointer as time expired to give Parkland an important 56-53 victory over Central Catholic in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference action at Parkland High School.

The Emmaus boys basketball team has had trouble knocking off Parkland over the course of the last five-plus years, as have most teams in this area.

But the Green Hornets had a fast start against the Trojans in Tuesday’s East Penn Conference opener and never looked back. They opened a 16-2 lead in the first quarter on their way to a 63-50 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory over the Trojans last Tuesday night at Emmaus High School. It was the Hornets’ first victory over Parkland since Dec. 20 of 2016.

Last season was the first time in seven years that the Parkland boys basketball team did not reach the District 11 championship game. Parkland had won five straight districts crowns and was in seven of the last 10 finals before last season.

Parkland finished the 2017-18 campaign at 12-12 overall and 9-7 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, dropping both of its postseason games. The Trojans lost to Bethlehem Catholic in the EPC tournament and to Northampton in the District 11 Class 6A Quarterfinals.

The accolades and honors kept coming in this season for the Parkland girls volleyball team. A few weeks after the 2018 campaign ended for the District 11 Class 4A champion Trojans, head coach Mike Krause one of four coaches in the region, and one of 40 overall throughout the country, as a coach of the year, voted on by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

For the first two periods the game was close, but in the final period the Parkland ice hockey team showed its strength and scoring ability by netting five third-period goals and six in row to take down Easton 10-3 last Monday night at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena in Lehigh Valley Scholastic Ice Hockey action.

It is the third straight win for the Trojans, who are now 6-1 overall.

Parkland never trailed, but still was challenged for a majority of the first two periods and into the third.

The Parkland girls volleyball team may not have looked the part early in the 2018 season, but it began to play its best volleyball within the last month of the season when it mattered most. That continued into the postseason.

The District 11 Class 4A champion Trojans played good volleyball in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs and district tournament.

The Parkland girls volleyball team has been playing its best volleyball recently and at the right time.

The Trojans were too much for Emmaus as they swept the Hornets by scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 27-25 last Thursday night at Catasauqua High School in the District 11 Class 4A final.

It is the fifth consecutive district championship for Parkland, as it defeated Emmaus for the second time this season and became just the second team all year to beat the Hornets in straight sets.

In a rematch of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship game, the Parkland girls volleyball team flipped the script and got the better of Nazareth 3-0 by scores of 25-10, 25-20 and 25-11 in the District 11 Class 4A semifinal round Tuesday night at Catasauqua High School to advance to another district final.

The Trojans have won four straight district championships. They will take on top seed Emmaus Thursday for this year’s crown. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. back at Catasauqua High School.

The Parkland boys soccer team fired shot after shot on the East Stroudsburg South net, but was having trouble getting one by the goal keeper.

After 21 shots and nearly 70 minutes of game action, the seventh-seeded Trojans finally broke through for a goal. They did so once more in downing the Cavaliers 2-0 last Tuesday night in the first round of the District 11 Class 4A playoffs at Parkland High School.

Senior Teagan Mangahas and junior Jackson Vanderpool both found the back of the net about four minutes apart from each other in the game’s final 11 minutes.

Brian Badawika had been practicing a kick from the exact spot several times during the days before Tuesday’s East Penn Conference boys soccer playoff game. He was ready.

His time came last Tuesday at Emmaus High School’s Memorial Field.

Badawika walked up to the penalty spot from about 10 yards away with a chance to deliver the Parkland boys soccer team a postseason win over rival Emmaus.