The Parkland High School boys basketball team has always enjoys challenging itself during the regular season. The program consistently is competing for conference, district and state championships each year, so the more they can play against good competition that they’ll be seeing late in the year, the better.

Even before head coach Eddie Ohlson took over the program two years ago, the Trojans have gone into Philadelphia during the holiday season and played in holiday tournaments, most recently at Widener University. They were there the weekend between Christmas and New Years for two games, against Penncrest and Archbishop Carroll in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic, falling in both games.

Parkland dropped a two-point game against Penncrest 43-41 on Saturday, Dec. 27, and lost 58-47 to Carroll the next day.

“Losing both games wasn’t ideal because you obviously want to win each one, but we learned a lot in just those two games,” said Ohlson. “We had lost Javian Porter to a wrist injury in the game leading up to the invitational, so we had to learn to play without one of our better players. It was certainly a learning experience and one that will help us grow and compete better.”

In the game with Penncrest, Blake Nassry finished with a game-high 19 points and Tyler Beck also finished in double figures with 11 points. Marcus Temchatin recorded five points and both Nassim Adams and Jude Ruisch tallied three points.

In the game against Archbishop Carroll, Nassry once again paced the offense with 22 points. Temchatin and Ruisch each netted nine points and Ryan Kearney totaled six points. Beck rounded out the scoring with one point.

But as the calendar flipped over to 2026, Parkland responded and got back to its winning ways with a win in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference competition, taking down Central Catholic 54-49 on the road last Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans actually trailed 10-9 after the first quarter, but took the lead at halftime, outscoring the Vikings 18-15 for a 27-25 advantage at the intermission. They took control of the game and extended their lead even more with an 18-11 frame and then held on late from a CCHS surge. Three finished in double digits, led by Beck with a team-best 19 points. Ruisch contributed 16 points and Nassry added 10. Kearney had nine points to round out the scoring.

“It was a good feeling for the guys to get back in the win column, and doing it on the road against a quality team,” Ohlson said. “Some guys had to step up as we had some injuries and a slower start, and they did. It was just a good, overall team victory.”

Parkland, which improved to 7-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference, played at East Stroudsburg South this past Tuesday and hosts Pleasant Valley Friday.

The Trojans are at Central York on Saturday afternoon in a nonconference matchup between the teams that played in the 2024 PIAA Class 6A state championship game.