Parkland's quest for a state championship ended Tuesday night with a 56-36 loss to West Chester Rustin in the second round of the PIAA Tournament. The loss finished Parkland's season at 19-9.

Last week, the Lady Trojans pulled off a 32-30 win over CB East that had fans holding their breath until the final buzzer sounded. With Parkland up 32-28, East's Katelyn Miller drove to the basket to bring her team within two and Parkland looked to move the ball up court, but lost the handle and could only watch as the ball rolled out of bounds on the far sideline with three seconds remaining in the game.

The Patriots inbounded the ball without enough time remaining to drive to the basket for the tie. They went right back to Miller, who put up a three-pointer that bounced off the rim and fell directly to Parkland's Erica Bross. Bross held onto the ball as time ran out.

The win put Parkland into its next challenge against Rustin, who slammed Manheim Township 71-47 in the first round.

Rustin senior Adashia Franklyn proved to be an immovable object around the basket on both ends of the court, repeatedly stymieing Parkland's attempts to drive to the hoop. The two teams battled back and forth in the opening quarter and at one point, Parkland moved to a 10-3 lead.

Rustin outscored the Trojans 16-4 in the second quarter and held a 27-16 halftime lead that proved impossible for Parkland to bite into.

"With her length, being able to help on one and recover back to her defender, she did that a couple of times, where she helped on a drive and then was able to come back and make blocks on a drive," said Parkland head coach Wes Spence of Franklyn's play.

Rustin kept defensive pressure on Parkland throughout the game and eventually found the right combination to derail the Lady Trojans offensively, while Franklyn (15 points) and junior Noelle Powell (14 points) found their shots and kept working to stretch the Knights' lead.

"Their athleticism probably got us a little out of sync," admitted Spence. "That's happened to us at times this year in a couple of different situations where teams are able to pressure us and get us out of our comfort zone. Sometimes we have a tendency to play a little faster than we want to, which can turn into rushed shots, bad shots or simply bad decisions with the basketball where you look to make a pass that isn't there or things of that nature. I think that definitely played into it, but give them credit, they're long, they're athletic and they did a nice job."

After losing a good chunk of their roster to graduation last year, the Trojans lose just three seniors - Olivia Brown, Brynne Brouse and Kristen McCarty - from this squad, leading to high hopes for next season.