After an early exit in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Tournament, the Lady Trojans are hoping for a much longer run in the District 11 Tournament.

Parkland comes into the tournament as the fifth seed and its opening game is Friday night against fourth-seeded Pottsville, which stands at 19-4 on the season.

Parkland, which played a difficult schedule both because of the toughness of its division and out of conference games against strong programs, is at 17-6.

"We played as challenging of a schedule as anybody over the course of the season," said coach Wes Spence. "Our division was a very good division and our league is a very good league. Outside of the league, playing teams like Harrisburg and Scranton Prep and Cumberland Valley and Southern Lehigh are all games that are intended to help us at this time of the year. We'll get a chance on Friday to see if that pays dividends or not."

The game will be played Friday night at six at Jim Thorpe High School as the first game of a double-header. The nightcap will feature the Pottsville boys, the number one seed among Class AAA boys teams, playing Blue Mountain.

Not only will the Trojans face a tough team, the scheduling means there will likely be a huge contingent of Crimson Tides making the trip to Jim Thorpe.

The seeding is determined by power point rankings. Parkland finished just .007 points behind Pottsville for the fourth seed, which would have likely had the game played closer to home for the Lady Trojans.

"That will be an interesting atmosphere," said Spence. "My guess is that the girls will draw very well with the boys playing right after them.

"The one thing that I do like about the draw is that it's a team we haven't seen before. We're not matching up with Nazareth for the fourth time. We're not matching up with Easton right away for the second time or Whitehall for the third time, so I do like the fact that we get to play someone new to start."

Pottsville has a well-rounded team, and like Parkland, the Tide plays a difficult schedule. It's losses have come to very good teams like North Schuylkill, Minersville and Governor Mifflin. It's a very physical team, with a lot of athleticism.

"They're a good team that plays in a good league and they're 19-4," said Spence. "They score a lot of points. They do a good job on the defensive end. They're athletic and they have a number of girls who are capable of scoring."

While the Crimson Tide are a good team, they're not necessarily the strongest team that Parkland has faced this season. Parkland's defense has risen to the occasion this season, including allowing just six second-half points to a tough Nazareth team during the regular season.

The challenge may come from not only holding a good offense in check, but then having to deal with a strong defense and the aggressive style that Pottsville is known for playing.

"They will definitely be an aggressive and physical basketball team and I would like to think that our girls will be up for that challenge and that's something that we will be able to respond to and won't get pushed around," said Spence. "When we've played physical teams this season, win or lose, we've always brought the effort and our girls have always worked hard and I don't think we've ever really shied away from that type of a game.

"They're going to be aggressive and we'll have to see. If it's something that we do shy away from, it could be an issue, but I'll be interested to see how our girls respond. I think that we'll do well."