For the third straight season, the Parkland girls will head to the PIAA Tournament, which begins Friday night. The Lady Trojans will play Central Dauphin East Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Lebanon High School.

To make it to states, Parkland had to beat Pocono Mountain West in the District 11 third-place game, which it did last Friday by a score of 47-42.

It was the second win of the season for Parkland over PMW. Parkland used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Panthers. Erin Bross led Parkland with eight points, while Emily Piston scored eight and Sarah Stagaard had seven.

Meanwhile, Pocono Mountain relied heavily on senior Jackie Benitez, who scored 20 points on Parkland earlier in the year and finished with 26 in the District 11 consolation game. Parkland started fast and held a 27-14 edge going into half-time. The Trojans needed just about every bit of that advantage.

"The first half, we came out and we shot the ball very well against their zone, which I think was a big catalyst for us," said Parkland head coach Wes Spence. "We were able to get out in front and have them have to chase us, which was nice.

"At the defensive end, I thought we did a good job of making looks for Jackie Benitez as difficult as possible. She's a phenomenal player and you're never going to just stop her, but as a team, you have to make it as difficult as possible."

Benitez finishes her high school career with 1,979 points, the most ever by a female player in Monroe County.

Last season, Parkland went into states as a district champion, giving the Trojans a higher seed. This season, the path is tougher since they come in as the third team out of District 11.

"As far as being tougher, it's really just different," said Spence. "For example, I think the number-one seed in District 1 going into their tournament was 25-0 and they lost, so they're a ninth-seed. It's all relative and you never know. You can have a team get hot and they wind up higher or a team lose a key game and they drop."

Central Dauphin East is the third team out of District 3, which is known for having competitive teams. During the regular season, Parkland played another District 3 team, Cumberland Valley, losing 57-31. CD East (23-2) comes in battle tested, having given the Eagles (27-1) their only regular season loss.

"Our girls set goals at the beginning of the year and one of the things that we try to do is improve on the season before.

"This year is our third straight trip to the state tournament, which I think says a lot about these girls. We won a game last year and this year. We want to win Friday and then win again on Tuesday and sort of move forward as a program."

For Parkland to meet its goal of at least two wins in the PIAA Tournament, they'll need a win over Central Dauphin East Friday night and then a win in the second round over either Cardinal O'Hara or Radnor. Radnor is the ninth team out of District 1, while Cardinal O'Hara is the top team out of District 12.