It was an old-fashioned barn burner Friday when the Trojans invaded Zephyr Gymnasium, and when the dust settled, the home team claimed victory to stay unblemished in league action.

Whitehall established an early lead, at one juncture extending the lead to 12 points, but had to survive a blizzard of threes in the third quarter that briefly put the Trojans in front 44-43 when Justin Zajko hit from beyond the arc.

However, they answered right back when Matt Melosky connected on a short jumper, and then never relinquished the lead again despite leaving the door open with misses from the foul line down the stretch.

The 63-59 win was certainly one to savor, especially since they were swept by the Trojans last year.

"We're obviously excited," said head coach Jeff Jones. "We said to the kids afterwards, we think this is steps in the right direction for our program. But we're also reminding them that we need to be humble."

While that's a lesson they'll need to embrace after the glow of victory fades, their immediate reaction was one of joy over beating a rival. Senior Aaron Keglovits has been though many of those battles, and Friday's win was a moment to enjoy.

"This was great," said Keglovits who finished with 11 points. "We haven't beaten Parkland in our first meeting of the year in I don't know how long.

"This is the game we look forward to every year, and it just gets us excited to play, and winning it was really special."

Jones said while they're thrilled to beat one of the premier teams in the Lehigh Valley Conference, it has to be tempered by the fact that it's still early in the season and there's a lot of basketball left to play.

"We're extremely proud of their efforts, and we're going to be in the gym tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock getting ready for Pleasant Valley," Jones said.

Whitehall got off to a furious start, attacking the basket on almost every possession.

Jones said their fast start helped to build their confidence, but he knew that Parkland was poised to make a run even with the deficit in double digits.

"They're too veteran and too seasoned to let that bother them," Jones said. "We talked about them making a run, and they did, and we kind of weathered the storm."

One player responsible for their fast start was Keglovits. He was both facilitator and scorer, one of several Zephyrs who finished the game in double digits. He connected from beyond the stripe, and also penetrated for points inside. He said being aggressive on the offensive end was one of their goals against the Trojans.

"That's everyone's plan, and that's my plan," said Keglovits. "We just look to go, get into people, and get fouled. They're either going to foul, or it's going to go in, something good has to happen."

Point guard Chad Rex was also asserting his will on the offensive end. He continually drove to the bucket, forcing the action as he finished with 13 points.

He also helped ice the game with a big steal off an errant pass from under the basket, driving the length of the floor before being fouled. He then dropped in one of two from the charity stripe to help send Parkland away with a loss.

Keglovits said that giving Parkland breathing room at the end was an area they need to address. He said it's a matter of concentration.

"We can't get too excited at that point and keep our heads in the game," said Keglovits.

As Parkland drained threes to begin their comeback, the Zephs relied on the strong post play of Brett Radocha who helped quiet the large Parkland contingent in the packed gym.

Time after time, he hit a big bucket to give the Zephs a two possession cushion as the Trojans drilled buckets from the perimeter. He led the team with 15 points, the bulk of those coming in the second half.

Other than Devante Cross' willingness to drive to the hoop, most of Parkland's points came on jumpers. Jones said that it gets difficult matching five guys who can all shoot from the perimeter, acknowledging they're going to make some of those baskets.

"Thankfully we got enough defensive boards and enough stops to hold them off at the end," said Jones.

The Zephs had a balanced attack, with Melosky finishing with 10 points, while Jake Meyers chipped in with nine and Jacob Buskirk had two.