The last time the Parkland High School boys basketball team was on the court, it had a late lead slip and lost to Allen in the District 11 Class 6A championship game last March.

Fast forward three months and the Trojans seem to have used that as motivation, starting the summer season by winning their first three games of the Lehigh Valley Summer League.

Parkland has beaten Freedom, Allen and Nazareth to claim an undefeated record early on. It’s the first summer action for the Trojans and every other team competing after the league canceled its games last year due to the pandemic.

“Being back, playing in the summer league feels great,” said assistant coach and acting summer head coach Eddie Ohlson. “The summer is good to have as a coach and a player. It’s laid back, but also competitive and you can use it as a measuring stick for both yourself as an individual and as a team to see where you compare to the rest of the district.”

Like with every year, the goal is less about wins and losses, but more about creating team chemistry and giving younger players varsity experience that they may not have a lot of yet.

“As coaches, we don’t so much look for or teach the X’s and O’s, but more about growing the guys as players,” Ohlson said. “A lot of guys get quality minutes each game and they learn about the level of competition that they need to play with.”

The Trojans were put into competitive situations during their first three games of the summer, having played against three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opponents that they are familiar with. During each of the three games, the Trojans found themselves trailing at some point in the second half, and were able to come from behind each time to secure the victory.

A couple of guys that Ohlson singled out include returners Nick Coval, Matt Rantz, Will Meeker and Matt Bauer. He also mentioned Matt Ray, who was one of the top JV players last year, Kharan Joshi, Luke Spang and Connor Johns.

Parkland squares off with another EPC team that won a district title this past winter in Central Catholic on Thursday night. The Trojans will then head to DeSales University this weekend for a team camp.