Anytime a local high school basketball team draws a team from District 12 – the Philadelphia region – in the PIAA playoffs, it could be in for a wild ride.

District 12 is perennially strong and is known for an aggressive, up-tempo play. Parkland (17-10), the second-place team from District 11 got a tough draw, having to play Archbishop Ryan (21-5) from the Philadelphia Catholic League in its first round contest at Saturday Freedom High School.

Archbishop Ryan used big spurts at the start of the first, second and third quarters to help lead it to a 77-55 win over the Trojans. The most damaging of the runs came in the early moments of the game, as the Raiders hit three, three-point shots to start the game, putting the Trojans on their heels and forcing an early change in strategy.

“We knew we’d have our hands full with them,” said Parkland head coach Andy Stephens. “The plan was to play mostly zone defenses, but when they came out hitting three-pointers, we had to go man-to-man. When you spot a team like that early baskets, it makes things really tough.”

Division 1 college recruits Matiss Kulackovskis and Izaiah Brockington combined to score 47 points, with Kulackovskis hitting for 25 and Brockington picking up 22 points in the game. Kulackovskis and Chris Palantino were the ones doing the damage from beyond the arc early in the game. Palantino hit four three-pointers on the night to account for his 12 points.

The Raiders used an 8-0 run to open the second quarter and a 7-0 opening run in the third quarter to stretch their leads, with Parkland always battling back. In the final quarter, Parkland had cut the lead down to 58-46 when senior Sam Iorio hit a shot and was fouled to complete the old-fashioned three-point play to open the quarter.

Iorio scored 22 points to lead the Trojans, and will play college ball at American University. In his high school career at Parkland Iorio scored 1,892 points and was the leader of a talented senior squad that Stephens credited with helping the team and the program as a whole.

“All of them played a big role and I told them that tonight,” said Stephens, who said the team gave the seniors a post-game standing ovation in the locker room. “They’re all just really good, quality kids. They compete, but more than that, they’re just good kids.”

Iorio stressed that the seniors used this season to show that even though the team lost talented players, they were still going to be strong, and he believes that they accomplished what they set out to do at the beginning of the season.

“We didn’t have what we had last year, or even the year before, but I’m proud of the guys that we had and how well we played,” said Iorio. “They gave it their all and that’s all you can ask. I think we showed that there was no really good reason to doubt us even though the talent level might not have been as much as it was previously.”

Parkland had reached states in six straight seasons, having won at least one state playoff game in each of those years. Allen, the District 11 third-place was also eliminated, but fourth-place Emmaus and the top team from District 11, Pocono Mountain West, both advanced.

This year’s Parkland roster has eight seniors – Jake Bartholomew, Zach Bross, Gabe Burgos, Tyler German, Iorio, Justin Lessel, Matt Persichetti and Michael Zeky – that will leave an even bigger hole to fill for next year’s squad.

“It’s been great and I’m so glad that I had the chance to play with these guys,” said Iorio. “As much fun as it was, we all knew it was going to come to an end and this is where it ended.”