As the Lady Trojans prepared for the Lehigh Valley Conference playoffs, they were given the daunting task of trying to repeat their effort against Central Catholic earlier in the season, when they beat the Vikettes 42-38 in late January.

Beating a good team twice in the span of just over two weeks is a tough task and Parkland fell short in their bid for an LVC Championship, falling to Central Catholic 41-35.

"They're a very good basketball team and they did a very nice job tonight," said coach Wes Spence. "We didn't put the ball in the basket enough times to win. I thought it was a very similarly-played game to the last game, except last game in the second half we were able to make the surge and get ourselves a little bit of distance and force them to play from behind. [Saturday] they were able to force us to play from behind and they did a nice job maintaining their lead and making things difficult for us."

Parkland came out cold, struggling to hit shots, but the Trojans' defense kept them in the game and they trailed by just three at the end of the first quarter and were able to come back and take a 19-15 lead at halftime.

"I thought it was a well-played game with both teams trying to execute against each other," said Spence. "It just came down to a couple of made shots. They took advantage of theirs and hit a couple from the outside and that was the difference in the game.

"You can't dwell on that stuff; you have to move on to the next play. You tell the girls 'don't worry about the last missed shot,' so if I'm sitting there worrying about the last missed shot, I'm not exactly leading by example. It's frustrating, especially when you play good defense at the other end and you have opportunities to get a lead or extend a lead, but the kids are working hard."

Even with the loss, Parkland goes into the District 11 Tournament as the No. 3 seed in Class AAAA and will face Bangor Friday night. Bangor beat Liberty 47-35 in the first round of the tournament to advance to play Parkland in the quarterfinals at Catasauqua High School.

Obviously, Spence would have liked to capture the LVC title, but he believes the experience still meant a lot to his team and helps them for what lies ahead.

"We're using this [the loss to Central Catholic] as a learning experience" he said. "I told them that I'm very proud of the effort at the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, we did a great job of staying within our system and getting the shots that we wanted to get. Unfortunately, they just didn't fall.

"I think being in the league playoff is an extremely valuable experience, because it gives you the chance to be in that district-type atmosphere to prepare for districts, so hopefully going into these big games, the girls will be prepared."

As the Lady Trojans prepared for districts, they got some good news. Senior Olivia Brown was chosen to the Lehigh Valley Conference All-Star team, which is voted on by LVC coaches.

Seniors Brynne Brouse and Kristen McCarty were chosen for the Lehigh Valley West girls team that will play in the 39th Annual Via All-Star Classic at Northampton Area Community College on March 29.

The All-Star Game matches up various all-star teams from around the area, with the Lehigh Valley West girls playing a team of all-stars from the Colonial League.