Parkland girls basketball head coach Wes Spence has been coaching long enough that he knows what he may or may not get in the form of a roster for games played during the summer. Summer basketball is used to find the identity for the upcoming season, and to get players acclimated to new teammates and the varsity level of play.

It is also a season that sees many of his players participating in other sports, including soccer, lacrosse, or even AAU basketball.

This summer was no different, as the Trojans juggled different lineups and formations with the numbers that they had or didn’t have each game. But they still finished 2-2 and reached the yearly goal of the final day (Sunday) of the first annual Cedar Beach Bash at the Beach two weekends ago.

“It was a good weekend overall,” said Spence. “And we got a lot of good experience for some of the younger players. We had a couple of games where we had most of our squad, and then other games where we didn’t have the numbers we would’ve liked to have competed with. But that is also good for some of the younger and more inexperienced players.

“Summer is all about getting experience and really just having fun. We won some games and played against some great competition inside the district and outside, so this will be beneficial for us this season.”

After opening the tournament with a win, Parkland went into the weekend with some momentum.

On Saturday the Trojans only played once, taking down Dieruff 50-28. That win advanced the Trojans to Sunday, the final day of the tournament that is always a measuring stick for each team involved.

But on Sunday, Parkland lost back-to-back games in the double-elimination format, falling to eventual runner-up Freedom and Boyertown.

“We got to play against some great competition in teams we will see like Freedom and Nazareth, and teams that we don’t really get to see in Boyertown,” said Spence. “That’s good for us. Anytime we can put ourselves in position to play against good competition and compete with them is great. I told them I’m glad with how we played and just being able to come to this tournament each year is so helpful for us.”

Julia Buchman was named to the All-Tournament team for her play over the course of the weekend.