As the Parkland Trojans were mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter, senior Logan McGinley allowed himself a brief celebration with a fist pump after converting a layup, giving the Zephyrs a little breathing room.

That basket gave them a 51-46 lead over Parkland and McGinley felt that was the spark they needed to close out the pivotal game against their division rivals.

“That just gave us the upper hand on the team,” said McGinley. “That made me feel more comfortable in the situation. I feel like that basket kind of flipped the momentum.”

And it was only fitting that McGinley scored the final two points of the contest at the line, sealing the 57-53 win for the visiting Zephyrs.

That basket fended off a charge by the Trojans who were steadily clawing their way back into the game after being down 11 points with 2:19 left in the third quarter. However, after Parkland called a timeout, Whitehall’s offense stalled, their only two buckets coming from Kayden Walschburger drives. They were clinging to a two-point lead when head coach Jeff Jones called a timeout of his own.

“There’s important possessions where you have to get a basket,” said Jones. “Sometimes we’ve been able to do that so far this year, and sometimes we haven’t been able to get that really important basket.

“I thought tonight certainly wasn’t pretty by any stretch, but I thought we hung together and we did a heck of a job on Sam [Iorio]. “That was a big key to the game.”

Drawing that assignment was McGinley and Devin Martinez. They held the reigning league MVP to just 14 points. Iorio is dangerous on the perimeter or down on the block, making him tough to guard. He can also kick to his teammates if you double him and that opens the door for some uncontested threes.

“Sam’s probably their best player and we had to key on him,” said McGinley. “He’s been scoring a lot for their team and we knew that if we took at least half his points away, it would be a close game. So that’s what we focused on.”

McGinley had to shadow Iorio everywhere, from out top to down low, and that makes guarding him difficult.

“He can play all the spots and that makes him a diverse kind of player,” said McGinley. “It was hard, but you just have to play him straight up and play him well.”

The last time they beat Parkland was on Dec. 20, 2013. None of the current varsity members were on that team and last Thursday’s victory was a sign that a new day was dawning. In fact, head coach Jeff Jones said that this group expected to win.

“We had a really good summer, obviously, and I know that always doesn’t translate, but they have confidence in what they’ve done so far this year,” said Jones.

The win lifts their record to 6-1 and puts them in a tie with Emmaus atop the Skyline Division of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Both teams are currently 4-0.

While McGinley’s points provided the emotional lift as the Trojans were battling back, it was Martinez getting position underneath the basket for a rebound that ultimately sealed the Trojans fate. The senior leaned into Iorio, preventing him from getting good position, and then secured the rebound under the basket. That led to a quick outlet pass to Jackson Buskirk who found Walschburger who passed to McGinley for the fast break deuce for the 53-48 lead. The Trojans never got closer than four points the rest of the way as the Zephyrs remained undefeated in league play.

Whitehall got balanced scoring again as seven different players found the stat sheet.

McKinley led the way with 16 points, while Walschburger had 12, while Charles Hudson and Mikey Esquilin each had nine. Additionally, Martinez finished with seven.

This group is determined to get better and declined Jones’ offer of having a day off on Friday even though they were off from school.

“I was pretty impressed that the guys said no,” said Jones.

McGinley was one of those players voting for practice.

“Of course, of course, no days off,” he said.

McGinley said that regardless of their opponent, they come into every game with the mindset that they “have to get this done.” He said that’s the attitude they need to take the rest of the way.