Parkland Falls Short In Bid To Qualify For D-11 Dance

Monday night’s Lehigh Valley Conference season finale was, in essence, a playoff game for the Parkland High School boys basketball team.

A win would have secured a position in the upcoming District 11 tournament for a club that began the season with a 2-6 record.  And history has shown that any team, no matter how low their seed, can beat another if they just manage to walk through the door of the D-11 dance.

Parkland needed one win in its final two games – ironically both against Whitehall – to finish the season with a .500 record and stamp its admission ticket to the big dance. But the Trojans couldn’t seal the deal.

Javier Rivera scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including six straight free throws, to pace the Zephyrs to a 41-31 victory over the Trojans, eliminating them from postseason play.

“I think the kids played a little tight,” said Parkland coach Andy Stephens. “There were a lot of disappointed faces in the locker room. We wanted to get into the tournament for the seniors.”

Whitehall appeared to enjoy its role as spoiler and raced out to a 12-4 first quarter lead that it stretched to 20-9 late in the second quarter when Rivera drained a long three-pointer and Nicholas Melosky converted a layup and free throw.

Parkland, down by 10 at halftime and by a 29-15 score midway through the third quarter, made its final bid for a playoff berth with a 12-4 run that cut Whitehall’s edge to 33-27 with less than five minutes to play.

But, the Trojans hurt themselves at the free throw line, missing six critical tosses including a one-and-one that could have cut the Zephs’ lead significantly.

Rivera’s six-for-six fourth quarter at the free throw line kept Whitehall comfortably ahead as the final minutes of Parkland’s season ticked away.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Stephens said. “We started 2-6 and it looked pretty dismal for awhile. At the end of year, our goal was to have something to play for and a lot of people questioned that. I’m happy for them, because they came a long way just to get themselves into this position.”

Both clubs finished with identical records – 10-12 overall and 6-8 in Lehigh Valley Conference play.

WHITEHALL (41)

Nicholas Melosky 3 1-2 8, Jordan Johnson 0 0-0 0, Javier Rivera 6 7-7 20, Scott Frey 1 3-4 5, Chris Moran 1 0-0 2, Chris Polony 3 0-0 6. Totals: 14 11-13 41.

PARKLAND (31)

Jarred Cury 0 0-0 0, Ben Miller 1 0-0 2, Austin Beidelman 0 0-0 0, Zach Muhr 3 2-4 8, Matt Kelley 1 0-0 2, Nate Case 0 0-0 0, Daulton Charles 2 1-6 5, Rob Dvoracek 3 3-3 9, Justin Zajko 2 0-0 4. Totals 12 6-13 31.

Whitehall – 12  11  8  10  -- 41

Parkland – 4   9  7  11  -- 31

Officials: Andy Donatelli and Joe Ligenza Jr.

Fouled out: None

3-point goals: Whitehall: Melosky, Rivera.

Technical foul: Whitehall: Rivera.