When Trey Rolle and his Parkland High School boys basketball teammates last stepped off the court in their final game of last season, they were disappointed after losing a close, hard-fought game in the district quarterfinal round. It was the program’s second straight heart-wrenching defeat to end the season.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the Trojans, like every other team across the state, were unsure if they would even be able to play this season.

But the green light was given back in January and Parkland players have not taken it for granted.

“It meant everything to play this year for me,” said Rolle. “I could’ve almost guaranteed you that we weren’t going to play this year and I thought it was going to be a hard pill to swallow, but we got the good news we were able to play starting in January and that was some of the best news I got all year.”

The Trojans (10-3 overall, 9-2 EPC) have made the most of the season so far, claiming the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Lehigh Division crown and earning a top-three seed in the District 11 Class 6A tournament.

“I think the team this year that we have is really good,” Rolle said. “We have a lot of young talent and people that love to compete in practice and games. Our strengths are definitely finding the open man and shooting all across the board.”

Rolle has been the starting point guard and offensive facilitator for the better part of the last three years. There have been a lot of times that he has had to keep the ball and make something happen. But this season, he has been able to rely on a couple of younger guards that have helped take the burden off offensively.

“In past years I was the main ballhandler and needed to score a lot more than this year,” said Rolle. “This year we have great guards like Nick [Coval] and Blake [Barthol] that can also handle the ball and create for other people, which opens up more options than just one person handling the ball and anyone you pass the ball to you know can shoot and knock down the shot.”

Parkland hosts sixth seed Nazareth Thursday in the quarterfinals. The winner earns a trip to the semifinal round to be played at the PPL Center on Monday night against the winner of Dieruff and Northampton.

“What excites me is just the atmosphere and being able to compete for something that everyone wants,” Rolle said. “It’s my senior year and a shot to win the district chip. We came up short my last two years but, with the great group of guys on our team, they are making this season special and enjoyable, and I seriously think we have a good shot at bringing home gold medals this year.”

Other members of Parkland’s boys basketball senior class include Jake Mclean, J.T. Siggins, Jordan Lewis and Mason Bergstein.