The offseason is quickly coming to a close as the Lehigh Valley summer league regular season concluded last week, and the playoffs take place this week. With teams wanting to get the last few opportunities to play together before the real action begins this winter, there are only a select number of programs that qualify for this week’s playoff single elimination.

Following the conclusion of the regular season last week, the Parkland High School boys basketball team finished with a perfect 12-0 overall record and clinched the top seed in the Big School Division playoff. The Trojans took on the eighth seed, Northampton in a quarterfinal round game this past Tuesday at Whitehall High School.

Head coach Andy Stephens is pleased with how his team has handled themselves and competed throughout the summer, especially in the Lehigh Valley summer league.

“I feel that the regular season went well,” said Stephens. “I thought we played hard and competed in every game and there are just a lot of positives to take away from this offseason. I wouldn’t say I expected it but was hopeful that we would be a tough team to beat.”

There have been a number of different factors into the on-court success for the Trojans this offseason. With an undefeated record through the regular season and a couple of victories in a highly-competitive Philly Live tournament last month, Stephens credits his team for their hard work and communication between each other into the success.

“Team chemistry between the guys, sharing the ball and playing hard at all times on both ends of the court have been at the forefront of our success,” Stephens said. “Our staff doesn’t put a whole lot of emphasis on summer results transitioning to the winter, but I do feel we have improved as this summer has progressed.”

Stephens said that his team will be a bit short-handed this week in the playoffs due to prior commitments. If the Trojans get past the Kids in the quarterfinal round, they will take on the winner of the fifth seed, Executive Education and the four seed, Emmaus on Wednesday.

Lehigh Valley Boys Varsity Summer Basketball League

Scores from July 12

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Roberto Clemente 53 (Matt Torres 16), Catasauqua 43

Kutztown 55 (Myles Schmidt 20), Saucon Valley 46

Upper Perkiomen 39 (Dan Carpenter 15), Bethlehem Christian 35

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Freedom 42 (Nick Ellis 12), Northampton 37

Wilson West Lawn 53 (Aiden Melograino 13), Allen 39

Reading 55 (Ruben Rodriguez 31), Central Catholic 46

Parkland 46 (Nick Coval 26), Notre Dame Green Pond 34

Bangor 55 (Joshua Gioquinto 27), Southern Lehigh 44

Liberty 72 (Nate Rivera 23), Palmerton 64

Phillipsburg 71, Dieruff 60

Emmaus 55, Pocono Mt. East 43

Easton 40, Nazareth 36 (OT)

Scores from July 14

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Salisbury 44 (Josiah Day and Andrew Grejda 10), Bethlehem Christian 37 (OT)

Lehighton 41 (Blake Roberts 17), Upper Perkiomen 33

Saucon Valley 65 (Adam Clark 15), Catasauqua 27

Northwestern 52 (Gavin Nelson 16), Kutztown 34

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Central Catholic 43 (Jahriel Vigo 18), Palmerton 30

Muhlenberg 56 (J’Daniel Moskuera 14), Phillipsburg 53

Executive Education 55 (Gabe Hornberger 23), Quakertown 16

Standings

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Parkland 12 - 0

Muhlenberg 12 - 0

Freedom 10 - 2

Emmaus 9 - 3

Executive Education 9 - 3

Reading 8 - 4

Central Catholic 8 - 4

Northampton 7 - 5

Notre Dame GP 7 - 5

Wilson West Lawn 6 - 5

Liberty 6 - 6

Quakertown 5 - 6

Pocono Mt. East 5 - 7

Whitehall 5 - 7

Phillipsburg 4 - 6

Palmerton 4 - 7

Nazareth 4 - 8

Bangor 3 - 8

Dieruff 3 - 9

Allen 2 - 10

Easton 1 - 11

Southern Lehigh 1 - 11

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Northwestern 11 - 1

Saucon Valley 9 - 3

Roberto Clemente 8 - 4

Upper Perkiomen 7 - 5

Kutztown 7 - 5

Lehighton 6 - 6

Catasauqua 3 - 9

Salisbury 2 - 10

Bethlehem Christian 1 - 11

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Tuesday, July 19

Big School #5 Executive Education vs. Big School #4 Emmaus

Big School #1 Parkland vs. Big School #8 Northampton

Big School #2 Muhlenberg vs. Big School #7 Allentown Central Catholic

Big School #3 Freedom vs. Big School #6 Reading

Small School #1 Northwestern vs. Small School # 4 Upper Perkiomen

Small School # 2 Saucon Valley vs. Small School #3 Roberto Clemente

Tentative second and third dates are Wednesday, July 20 and Thursday, July 21.