The Parkland High School boys basketball team had a strong run through the Lehigh Valley Boys High School Summer league, going 11-1 to earn the top overall seed in the playoffs.

Parkland earned a bye into the semifinal round, but was downed by the fourth seed, Wilson West Lawn, 55-49, last Wednesday night, July 15, at Executive Education Charter School. The Bulldogs went on to take down the third seed, Dallas, 49-43, to win the championship.

“Give them a lot of credit over there,” said Parkland head coach Eddie Ohlson. “That was probably the best three quarters I’ve seen a team shoot in a long time. That’s a really talented team and made it hard for us. I thought our guys really fought, but we dug ourselves into a hole early, even in the second half. But we found ourselves with some good opportunities late in the game and we were probably just one or two stops away.”

Blake Nassry, who will be a senior this winter season, has seemingly been a leader since his freshmen season, starting the last three years. But this offseason, according to Ohlson, he has began to take on an even bigger role for the team.

“Blake’s had a really good summer for us,” Ohlson said. “He’s taken on an even bigger leadership role as a rising senior. He’s doing a great job, but so are the guys around him. We lost a lot of talent from last year with a lot of scorers, but some young guys have been stepping up this summer. This has been a really good summer for us as far as growing as a team and learning each other and the system.”

Nassry, along with classmate TJ Lawrence, were usually names that appeared at the top of the scoring column during the summer. And that duo, along with the rest of the Trojans, will continue to try and win other championships this summer, including in the A-town Throwdown at Cedar Beach Park this weekend.