The Parkland boys basketball team had a rough start to this year’s summer league. It might not be a surprise considering the Trojans lost a lot of senior leadership to graduation last year, including all-time leading scorer Sam Iorio.

They struggled to win games to begin the summer league, and then at the Cedar Beach Bash tournament in late June. But the proud program, one that has played in the last six district championship games and won four of them, began to find its stride like it seems to do in every season, summer or winter.

Parkland finished in second place in the Sportsfest tournament, and concluded the summer league season with a gutsy 51-44 overtime win against Whitehall last Tuesday.

“We knew that this summer was going to be a little bit different because we lost some guys,” said Parkland assistant coach Eddie Ohlsen. “There were a lot of guys that didn’t have experience and had new roles and had to step up. But from start to finish this summer we’re very happy with their progress. Sportsfest especially was a key moment for us. That weekend we came together as a team and really showed what this group can do.”

Heading into their final summer league game, the Trojans knew that they were not going to qualify for the playoffs. That did not stop them from finishing with some momentum heading into the winter season.

They led for a majority of the first half versus the Zephyrs, by as much as nine midway through. Whitehall cut the deficit and eventually took the lead heading into halftime, 27-21.

But the start of the next half was a different story. Parkland erased an eight-point deficit with an 11-2 run in the first 10 minutes to take back the lead.

The remainder of the game was back-and-forth, and with the Zephyrs holding a one-point edge with a few seconds left, the Trojans tied it at the free-throw line to send the game to overtime.

In the extra frame, it was all Parkland as they scored eight of the nine points and claimed the 51-44 victory.

“At halftime we preached about being more competitive and picking up the pace,” said Ohlsen. “Our team is going to want to play fast, but controlled. In the first half we were a little bit lazy so we needed to pick up the speed. We played together in the second half and with five guys working as a team. That really helped us in this one.”

Ian Dashukewich led the team with 15 points.