summer basketball Trojans crush Bangor
Over the first two Thursdays of the Lehigh Valley summer league, the Parkland boys basketball team has won its two games by an average of 32 points. Last Thursday night at Muhlenberg College was no different. A 14-0 start led to a 66-32 win over Bangor.
Once again the Trojans played an up-tempo style that forced the Slaters into numerous early turnovers that led to easy baskets at the other end.
Five miscues by Bangor within the first couple of minutes gave the Trojans the early double-digit lead.
"We've been playing really well lately," said Trojan guard Jimmy Hahn. "The first couple of games you can see that. We're knocking down our shots and really hustling. Our defense has led to our offense. Last year a lot of our success was due to fast breaking because we're a guard-oriented team. That's the key to our offense. We have a lot of guys that can run and get to the rim."
Devante Cross has stepped up this summer and shown he can be a key contributor. And with Nick Rindock and a healthy Justin Zajko (flu), Hahn has a plethora of weapons at his disposal. Even with the pass-first mindset, Hahn can knock down an open shot if he is given time.
Rindock (11 points) and Cross (nine points) combined to score the first 11 points of the game against Bangor. Hahn contributed 11 points on three 3-pointers.
The continued growth of forwards Nick Selvaggi, Alex Mitton, and Kevin Delourie has also paid dividends for the Trojans offense.
"Nick Selvaggi can really be dynamic to our team," said Hahn. "He really works well down low and he really runs well on the fast break, too. [Alex] Mitton is also a really good rebounder. When he wasn't in tonight it seemed like they got more second-chance shots. And we have good rebounding guards. When you can get rebounds and outlet to our guards, we get better offense."
Bangor made a push at the deficit, scoring seven straight points, but they never got closer than that. The Trojans led 29-17 at halftime.
Parkland head coach Andy Stephens was again able to use more than 10 players in the game. This team is full of scorers and the hustle and rebounding is just an added bonus.
"These guys make me look good with the shots that they hit," said Hahn. "I just need to get the ball up and get it into their hands. Everyone so far has been stepping up, and we have a lot of scorers on this team."