When the summer basketball season ended, the Parkland Trojans were semifinalists in the annual Stellar "Catch A Rising Star" Tournament and champions of Sportsfest.

It was a successful preview for a season of high hopes. Parkland qualified for the state tournament last season, after losing 57-53 in the District 11 final to Pocono Mountain West.

This new batch of Trojans have athletes with the experience to win big games. The 2011-12 team loses three starters, but head coach Andy Stephens feels this group are winners.

"We have a lack of size and strength inside with the loss of Rob Dvoracek and Daulton Charles," Stephens said. "The loss of Zach Muhr will also hurt as he had a terrific year shooting the ball and defending the other teams' top guards.

"We do return a lot of talented players. We have a lot of younger players who are very skilled, talented and tall who will continually be pushing and challenging our upperclassmen. We have quite a few guys with big game experience so I am optimistic that come time for the season we will be ready to go both mentally and physically."

The Trojans' scoring will heavily rely on the play of senior Austin Beidelman. He led the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game a year ago. If his play in the summer was any hint, Beidelman is bound for a breakout year.

The other lone starter back from the District 11 runner-up is junior Justin Zajko (7.8 ppg). Fellow juniors Nick Rindock and Jimmy Hahn, and seniors Nate Case and Astin Jones are key returnees looking to contribute for the Trojans.

Stephens will also be expecting support from a new cast consisting of juniors Alex Mitton, Andrew Lessel, Chad Cury and Nick Selvaggi, as well as sophomores Nick Hassler, Justin Jones and freshman Devante Cross.

There may be a lot of new faces, but the Trojans expect similar results. Stephens feels that through the first couple weeks of practice, this team has what it takes to get back to its winning ways of a year ago.

"These kids are gym rats and love to play," Stephens said. "They are anxiously awaiting the start of the season."

Parkland opens play Saturday, December 8 at Freedom in the Yasso tournament.