The Parkland High School boys basketball team has enjoyed playing games inside the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference portion of its schedule to start the 2022-23 regular season. Following a 72-57 setback in the season opener against perennial state power Lower Merion, the Trojans began play in the conference. And that got them on track with some positive momentum.

Last Tuesday night on its home court, Parkland used strong first and fourth quarter runs to pick up the first win of the season, taking down Northampton 53-34. The Trojans outscored the Kids 13-6 in the opening frame and then 15-6 in the final quarter with the two teams playing near even basketball in the middle two quarters, Parkland holding a 23-22 advantage in scoring.

Nick Coval paced the offense with a game-high 25 points, including five 3-pointers. Luke Spang tallied 12 points and Joey Gerbasio added nine points, going 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Those were the only two free-throw attempts of the game for Parkland. Northampton went 7-for-12 from the charity stripe and was led by Tyler Kauffman with eight points.

That Friday night, the Trojans hit the road for the first time this season and made it a statement victory. Parkland was successful on both ends of the floor in defeating Nazareth 57-23. Coval single-handedly outscored the Blue Eagles 24-23. Matt Ray recorded nine points, Gerbasio added eight and Zaire Smaltz contributed six points. The Trojans defense held Nazareth in check, holding them to eight points in the opening quarter, three in the second, five in third and seven in the final frame.

Parkland has two more conference games this week. The Trojans are at Allen on Tuesday and conclude the week with a home game against Pocono Mountain East.