The end result wasn’t what the Trojans had hoped it would be

In the bigger picture of things, the Parkland High School girls basketball team can look at it positively as the season continues on. The second-seeded Trojans fell to third-seeded Emmaus 47-44 last Tuesday night in the District 11 6A semifinal round.

That loss stopped Parkland from winning its third consecutive district title.

The Trojans were able to continue playing together and still have a chance at winning hardware as they qualified for the PIAA playoffs, with a 39-35 victory over the fourth seed, Nazareth, last Friday night at Easton Area Middle School.

Parkland got out to a fast start in the game, outscoring the Blue Eagles 8-3 in the opening quarter, but Nazareth doubled them up in the second quarter and trailed 12-11at halftime.

The Trojans began to turn it on in the third quarter.

A Savannah Gonzalez three-pointer followed by a basket by Isabella Hallal pushed Parkland’s lead to 30-16 with 18 seconds left in the third, before Karly Leszcysnki hit a three at the end of the third.

“I think we just took better shots and moved the ball around better,” said Hallal. “They are a great team and played great defense and made it tough for us. We just did the little things a little bit better in the end.”

Nazareth cut the lead to two twice late in the game, the last time was 35-33 with 1:24 left.

Aneri McGalla and Karly Spang each hit a pair of free throws in the final :52 to seal it. McGalla was 4-for-4 at the line in the final two minutes, while Spang went 2-for-2.

Spang totaled three points, six rebounds and three assists. McGalla tallied eight points, five rebounds and two blocks. Hallal led the offense with 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. She also had six rebounds and three steals.

Parkland took its first lead of the game on an Addison Fritzinger jumper with 5:12 left in the first quarter and remained in front the rest of the way.

Gonzalez netted six points. Cheryllana Cunningham had four points and Arielle Brown contributed three. Both Fritzinger and Yana Smaltz rounded out the scoring with two points.

Heading into the game, the Trojans knew this could’ve been their last game of the season, especially the seniors. They wanted to keep playing.

“We all knew this could’ve been our last game together,” Hallal said. “We really didn’t want today to be it, so we played hard and played together. We just wanted another shot at a championship and to do it together.”

Parkland will play the District 12 runner-up Central in the first round of the state tournament at 7:30 p.m., Friday at Benjamin Franklin High School in Philadelphia.