Everything Breaks The Right Way for Parkland Girls Hoopsters

Parkland High School girls basketball coach Wes Spence had a difficult decision on his hands in the minutes prior to the Lady Trojans’ Lehigh Valley Conference season finale against Whitehall.

News that Nazareth clinched the LVC North crown with a victory over Northampton in a game played at 5:30 p.m. made its way to the coaching staff and some of the parents in the bleachers. Part one of the playoff puzzle was successfully in place.

Did Spence dare tell his players the good news and place additional pressure on his team, who needed that Nazareth win followed by one of their own Friday night to qualify for a LVC tournament wildcard spot?

Or would he keep the Lady Trojans in the dark and give them the news after the game?

“I decided to wait,” Spence said.  “We didn’t talk about it beforehand.”

A noticeably tight Parkland squad had its difficulties with a four-win Whitehall club for most of the game. But, an 8-0 fourth quarter spurt finally gave the Lady Trojans enough breathing room to hold off the Zephyrs, 36-31, for their 18th victory of the season.

An impromptu celebration broke out on the court when the girls were finally informed that they’d earned the chance at the league tournament crown.

They’ll face a familiar opponent, a Nazareth team that’s defeated them twice already, including a Senior center Erika Livermore torched Parkland with 28 points that night.

“Well, we’ve lost to them twice already, so we’ll have to do something better with offensively,” Spence said. “The key is going to try and limit Livermore’s offensive touches. She’s not a player you’re going to stop, so defensively, you want to make her touches as difficult as possible and work her hard for her points. But, they’re a real solid team with Caitlin Gary and Kim Owens. They’re tough.”

Parkland seemed to play tight through the first three quarters of the game and actually fell behind by two late in the third quarter, following a scoring drought that saw the Lady Trojans go more than six minutes without a field goal.

Jess Fritsche and Alissa Persichetti kicked into high gear in the fourth quarter to pace the attack. Fritsche hit for seven of her 11 points in the final stanza. Persichetti hit four-of-six critical free throws down the stretch and finished with a team-high 12 points.

“We were hoping to get into the leagues, but we weren’t worried about it, we were just worried about winning the game,” Fritsche said. “We look forward to Nazareth. It’ll be the third time we’re playing them. We’ll be the underdogs and we’ll have nothing to lose.”

Parkland' Spence, whose Lady Trojans  didn’t qualify for the league tournament last season, sees the tournament berth as another step in the program’s overall progression.

“It’s a very successful season. (An) 18-4 (record) is an improvement and we’ve proven that we can compete with the top teams in the league,” he said. “Our goal was to continue building the program and we’ve done that.

Win or lose Tuesday night, the Lady Trojans will probably receive a high seed in the upcoming District 11 4A tournament that begins Feb. 22.

WHITEHALL (31)

Shannon Stefanyak 2 0-0 4, Kayla Bet 4 3-4 14, Cara Basile 1 3-3 5, Amel Moussa 1 0-0 2, Niki Fragnito 1 2-5 4, Madison Kelly 1 0-3 2, Dainisha Colon 0 0-0 0, Olivia Brodsky 0 0-0 0, Briana Jordan 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-14 31.

PARKLAND (36)

Alissa Persichetti 3 5-7 12, Elena Pierce 0 0-0 0, Olivia Hassler 0 4-8 4, Jess Fritsche 3 5-5 11, Katy Anthony 0 0-0 0, Jackie Oertner 2 0-0 5, Monica Hagenauer 1 0-0 2, Kelly Robertson 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 16-24 36.

Whitehall – 5  6  4  16 – 31

Parkland – 8  5  5  18 -- 37

Officials: Bud Koehler and Joe DiOrio.

Fouled out: Whitehall: Basile.

3-point goals: Whitehall: Bet (3); Parkland: Persichetti and Oertner.