Just a week after losing in the championship game of the Stellar Catch A Rising Star Tournament, the Parkland girls basketball team once again advanced to the final day of an elite summer tournament. But this time it ended shorter than the Trojans had hoped.

Advancing to Sunday of the big summer tournaments is always the goal, and the Trojans found themselves in that position at the Sportsfest event this past weekend at Cedar Beach, albeit through the elimination bracket.

After a game-winning shot by Erica Bross to take down Scranton Prep, 20-19 Sunday afternoon, a team that knocked out Parkland a year ago in the same tournament, the Trojans found their match against a gritty Northwestern team, that was able to handle Parkland 37-25.

"They're a well-coached team," said head coach Wes Spence. "Their girls played hard. They're physical and do a lot of things well. They played some zone, and if you don't hit some outside shots and do some things to give yourself an advantage, it can be tough."

Overall, it was still a successful weekend for the Trojans as they won four games and played into the final day of consecutive tournaments.

"I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness this weekend," said Spence. "We found ourselves in some close games. Things may not have gone our way at some points over the weekend, but we persevered. We were able to come back and do the things that the girls can do."

That persistence showed most in the Scranton Prep game as Parkland trailed by one late in the contest, but was able to knock down a shot late to win the game.

"Some days the ball goes in the basket and some days it doesn't," added Spence. "The thing that I'm always happy about with our girls, no matter what the situation is, is that we play hard. These girls really play hard and together as a team.

"As a coach, that's what you like. The girls do everything you want them to."

The Trojans defeated Palmerton in their first game on Friday night, and then beat Hempfield on Saturday morning before losing to Notre Dame (Green Pond) Saturday afternoon.

That forced Parkland to battle through the elimination bracket. A victory on Saturday night over Allen advanced the Trojans to the Sunday morning thriller against Scranton.

Nadine Ewald tallied nine points against Hempfield. Erica Bross had eight versus Allen. Alexis Koder led the way with eight points in the win over Palmerton.