A week after facing tough competition in the grueling heat at the Stellar Catch A Rising Star tournament, the Parkland girls basketball team was back at Cedar Beach park for the second consecutive showcase event.

Once again, the Trojans made a run to the final day. But a week after losing in the Stellar final, Parkland lost in the SprtsFest quarterfinals to Nazareth, a team that defeated them twice in the postseason last winter.

"It's a great experience," said head coach Wes Spence. "I think we went 4-2 this weekend, and went 7-2 last weekend. Six games and nine games, we played 15 games in two weekends, that's two-thirds of a season. It's a great learning experience because all of our girls were put in situations that will help them grow. And that's the goal of this stuff."

Parkland opened up with a Friday night victory over Reading in the double-elimination style tournament. The Trojans followed that with a 42-27 win against Allen on Saturday morning.

Later in the afternoon, they experienced their first loss, to eventual runner-up Scranton Prep.

Parkland then rattled off two straight victories, a 46-40 decision over Notre Dame Green Pond and 25-15 against LVC rival Emmaus on Sunday morning.

Less than an hour later, the Trojans could not find a rhythm offensively, and fell to Nazareth 25-17.

"The goal is always to win these tournaments, but it's also about growing individually and as a team," noted Spence. "The summertime is about building chemistry and getting better as a basketball team. I think a lot of the experiences we were able to get these last two weekends are going to help us become a better basketball team. We've played in championships here, but it doesn't always mean anything in the winter time. The goal is just to get better as a basketball team."

After losing all five starters to graduation and relying on a lot of new faces with little varsity experience, Parkland gained valuable momentum heading into the winter season.

Editor's Note: Last week's Press article about the Parkland girls basketball Stellar Tournament performance omitted on Lady Trojan's name who was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Erica Brouse should have been included as one of the All-Tournament selections.