Parkland High School’s Resilient Victory Over Allentown Central Catholic

Parkland High School’s 54-49 boys basketball victory over Allentown Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at Rockne Hall provided both Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Lehigh Division rivals with confidence they can tap into as they plow through January and into February’s playoffs. The game showcased a mix of resilience, strategic plays, and standout performances from key players.

Key Performances and Turning Points

Parkland’s leading scorer Blake Nassry, a Sportify All-Area first-team selection last year as a sophomore, shot 0-for-7 and went scoreless in the first half. However, seniors Tyler Beck, Jude Ruisch, and Ryan Kearney combined to score all the Trojans’ 18 points in the second quarter when they overcame a 16-9 deficit to take a 27-25 advantage into intermission.

Nassry got untracked in the third quarter with seven points, and Beck stayed hot with eight more points to finish with a career-high 19 as Parkland (7-4 overall, 3-1 EPC) never trailed the rest of the way. Beck’s 3-pointer boosted the lead to 37-25 with 5:30 to play in the quarter. Beck cashed in when the Trojans snared an offensive rebound after a missed free throw.

“I felt really good today,” said Beck whose previous high was 17 points against Easton last season. “My guys had my back and had confidence in me. Anyone can score on our team. The team goes really deep. Nass(ry), we rely on him a lot and sometimes he has to rely on us, and that’s what makes us good.”

“Once we get the lead I feel we can control the game and that’s what we were able to do in the third quarter,” said Ruisch, whose 16 points came on four 3s and 4-for-4 perfection from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

Defensive Strategies and Team Dynamics

Central Catholic (8-4, 3-1) extended its 10-9 first-quarter edge by scoring the first six points of the second quarter. Junior Cameron Hines sank a running hook shot; Jared Ford deposited a layup off a nifty pass from Grayson Schmell; and junior Yariel Gonzalez hit a short jumper.

Parkland initially struggled to keep the 6-foot-7 Hines, who spent his freshman season at Whitehall and then played 17 games for Parkland last year, and the 6-4 Gonzalez from effectively operating around the basket in the first half.

“Cam and Ya are really good in the paint,” Beck said. “Our job was as soon as they got to the paint we had to stunt in the paint and make sure they kicked out to their shooters and when they kicked out to their shooters we had to get the rebounds.”

In the decisive third quarter, Central Catholic shot 4-for-15 overall and 1-for-3 from beyond the arc. Parkland was 6-for-11 overall and 4-for-6 delivering 3s with Nassry and Ruisch opening the half with consecutive treys.

“The beginning of the second half they came out and hit a couple of big shots, and it snowballed on us and then we were playing from behind,” Central Catholic coach Dennis Csensits said. “They shoot the ball very well. I didn’t look at the statistics, but the number of field goals are probably pretty even. Ours were twos and theirs were threes.”

Actually, the Vikings made 19 field goals with six being 3s compared to Parkland’s six 2s and 10 3s. The Trojans were 0-for-4 on uncontested layups.

“I thought we were shooting good shots early, and they weren’t falling, including a couple layups,” Parkland coach Eddie Ohlson said. “They made some contested shots early on as well so we kept trusting each other, and when one guy makes one shot and one guy makes another we start building confidence. I thought we did that in the second quarter and carried that into the third.”

Fourth Quarter Comeback and Final Moments

Central Catholic’s fourth-quarter comeback was sparked by a half-court trapping defense. Di’Quawn Leaks’ steal and layup cut Parkland’s lead to 46-41 with 5:29 to go. However, the Vikings failed to convert offensively after a trio of consecutive Parkland turnovers.

Nassry and Kearney each went 2-for-2 and Ruisch 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 2:42 to counter Hines’ jumper and 3 and Schmell’s buzzer-beating 3.

The win halted Parkland’s three-game losing streak that started with before Christmas to Saint Joseph’s Prep and then after the holiday to Penncrest and Archbishop Carroll in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Tournament at Widener. The Trojans, ranked No. 3 in this week’s lehighvalleylive Top 12, are down a pair of starters. TJ Lawrence is still rehabilitating an injury from football, and Javien Porter has been out with an injury the past four games.

“We played some really good teams out of conference at Widener, and it gave us confidence that we can hang with the best teams and it will help us when we come into EPC play,” Beck said.

“We need to build a little bit of chemistry,” Ohlson said of what his team was focused on since the Nelson Tournament. “We’re down two starters. Javien started for us until he got hurt, and we just had to figure out other guys stepping up, filling bigger roles for us. This will help us with our depth. TJ is coming back slowly, and Javien will be back in a couple of weeks.”

Hines paced No. 7 Central with 17 points and Gonzalez and Jared Ford (three 3s) added 11 each.

The Vikings split a pair of games in their holiday tournament last week. The defending District 11 Class 4A champion appears to be ahead of schedule after graduating a pair of 1,000 points scores in EPC MVP Jahrel Vigo and Lucas Mushrush. Vigo is doing a prep year at the Phelps School and has received a handful of Division I offers. Mushrush is playing at Ursinus.

“We’ve got a lot of new pieces,” Csensits said. “I think we’ve overachieved to now, and we’re getting better and we got to keep getting better. We’re hopeful to be a team that peaks in February and we’re in position to play in the postseason.”