Parkland Girls Basketball Team Must Win Tonight and Hope For Help

About a week ago, the chances of the Parkland varsity girls basketball team qualifying for the Lehigh Valley Conference tournament were nearly non-existent after what appeared at the time as a

But, following the loss, coach Wes Spence said it wasn't time to throw in the towel just yet.

“We’ll see what happens. There’s still a lot of basketball to play. If we get there, we get there,” Spence said.

Key losses by divisional foes -- and a huge Parkland win over Northampton this past Tuesday-- have placed the Lady Trojans in a precarious position, but one they're happy about.

The Lady Trojans must take care of business tonight and defeat visiting Whitehall in the regular-season finale to keep their league tournament hopes alive. Game time is 7 p.m.

At the same time, they must root for Nazareth -- who has defeated Parkland twice in the regular season -- to defeat Northampton.

That scenario would earn Nazareth the LVC North crown and leave Parkland and Northampton tied for second place. The Lady Trojans own the tiebreaker egde over the Konkrete Kids, having beaten them twice this season. That would give Parkland a ticket into the LVC tourney and eliminate Northampton.

If Northampton beats Nazareth -- the K-Kids win the LVC North title and Nazareth takes the wildcard spot. That scenario leaves Parkland on the outside looking in.

It's all a moot point if Parkland (17-3) loses to a 4-15 Whitehall club. But, the Zephyrs know what's at stake and would love to play a spoiler's role.

Parkland, Nazareth and Northampton girls teams have all qualified for the District 11 tournament later this month, but want the chance for compete for the overall league crown.

The Parkland boys won't have that chance, and a week or two ago, it didn't appear that coach Andy Stephens' club would have a shot at the District 11 tournament after winning two of its first eight games.

But, a gutty 51-45 victory Wednesday night over Central Catholic evened the Trojans record to 10-10.

Teams must finish the regular season with a .500 record to qualify for District 11 play. So, Parkland could qualify for the tournament with a victory tonight at Whitehall (8-12) or try to do it at home Monday when they host the same Zephyr club at 7 p.m. in a makeup game.

One of two is all the Trojans need to keep their season going and Stephens will likely stress that getting done tonight is in their best interests.