This year’s senior class of Parkland girls basketball players already knew the feeling of winning a district title, which it accomplished as sophomores in 2022.

But the team didn’t want to leave the program without also securing a league title, something which had eluded the Trojans since a Lehigh Valley Conference crown back in 2006.

Parkland senior Madi Siggins and her classmates played like a team that wasn’t going to be denied its title last Thursday at the PPL Center. The Trojans opened an early lead and kept Emmaus at arm’s length for the entire game en route to a 55-35 win and this year’s EPC championship.

“They’ve been together for three years,” said Parkland head coach Ed Ohlson. “They’ve won a district championship. This was on their target list of things to accomplish this year and they were able to do it really playing hard and together. If you look at this group they play together every night.”

Siggins looked unstoppable at times on both ends of the court. She scored a game-high 22 points while pulling in nine rebounds, making two steals and blocking a couple shots. After the game the East Stroudsburg University-bound senior was named tournament MVP.

“Siggins, in my opinion, has been one of the best players in the league for a couple of years now,” said Emmaus head coach Kelsey Gallagher. “She’s so hard to guard because she’s so quick and so athletic. She plays inside. She plays outside. I’ve been a really big fan of her game and what she does for her team and her teammates. It’s rightfully so that she got that MVP.”

The Trojans (23-2) opened a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Emmaus (15-10) cut the lead to five points in the second quarter. Parkland made just three baskets in the second quarter, two Siggins three-pointers and another from Talia Zurinskas as the Hornets cut the lead to 29-22 at halftime.

The Trojans maintained a 10-point lead through most of the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth when they made 13 of 14 free throws to seal the win.

“We just continue to work hard,” said Siggins. “The team works incredibly hard on and off the court. We connect so well and I’m just so proud of our team for getting this done tonight.”

Zurinskas added 15 points for Parkland and was one of three Trojans to go 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter, along with Siggins and Aneri McGalla.

Zurinskas’ biggest contribution to the win might have been her defense on Hornet freshman Kayla Snyder, who scored 22 points a night earlier in a semifinal win over Liberty. Snyder had eight points in the league title game, with six of them coming at the free-throw line.

“Talia especially did a great job controlling where she was and making sure we were on top of that the whole time,” said Ohlson.

Emmaus was the eighth seed in the eight-team EPC tournament. The Hornets knocked off top seed Bethlehem Catholic in the first round before beating No. 5 Liberty in the second round. Parkland was the second seed and got to the finals with wins over Nazareth and Easton in the first two rounds.

The Trojans advance to this week’s District 11 Class 6A playoffs as the top seed. They will face No. 8 seed Stroudsburg in a quarterfinal game Friday night at Allen.