Parkland ends skid with upset win over rival ACCHS in rare Saturday game
A Day of Resilience and Redemption
Bright sunlight streamed through the windows of historic Rockne Hall on Saturday afternoon as Parkland and Allentown Central Catholic (ACCHS) concluded their rare Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) boys basketball matinee. The sun shining on the two teams seemed to symbolize a promising second half of the season for these perennial area powers, who have combined for nine District 11 championships this decade.
On this day, the outlook was just a little sunnier for the Trojans, who secured a 54-49 victory over the Vikings to end a three-game losing streak. Tyler Beck led the way with 19 points, while Jude Ruisch added 16, helping Parkland improve to 7-4 overall and 6-1 in EPC play. ACCHS, on the other hand, dropped to 8-4 and 6-1 in the conference.
The Trojans had come off consecutive losses to St. Joe’s Prep, Penncrest, and Archbishop Carroll, failing to score more than 47 points in any of those games. Playing without key players TJ Lawrence and Javian Porter, Parkland struggled early against Central. They scored just nine points in the first quarter and fell behind 16-9 before Ruisch's pair of 3-pointers and four total 3s helped them take a 27-26 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Trojans added four more 3-pointers to open up a 41-27 lead. However, the Vikings staged a 9-0 run to narrow the gap. Despite this, the Trojans maintained composure, holding the Vikings scoreless for over four minutes. Even though they didn't make a field goal in the fourth quarter, they made enough free throws — 9 of 12 — to pull away.
“We were shooting good shots early, but they weren’t falling for us,” said Trojans coach Eddie Ohlson. “We trusted in each other to make the right plays and to make shots, and we did. Our defense fell in line. It was a good team win.”
Ohlson expressed confidence that Lawrence and Porter would return soon, and Parkland has a favorable schedule ahead. Four of their next five games are against teams with losing records, with the exception being a Jan. 10 game at Central York, the District 3 power that beat Parkland in the Class 6A 2024 state finals.
“It’s a long season, and we’re trying to build and get better,” Ohlson said. “That’s why we try to play a tough nonleague schedule. There’s a lot of learning in losing, and we’re not dwelling on the three games we lost over the break. We’re learning from it, and the guys stayed positive. They’re doing a great job in practice. I like where we’re at.”
ACCHS started the season 2-2 before winning six in a row. However, they lost to Pope John Paul II from Royersford, 39-38, in the finals of their own holiday tournament. “We’re slowly putting the pieces together,” said Vikings coach Dennis Csensits. “From a player’s perspective and a coaching standpoint, we’re still trying to figure things out. We’ve had some stretches over the first month or six weeks of the season where we’ve played pretty well. And then we’ve had a couple of stretches like the first four minutes of the second half today where we were a little undisciplined and lost our assignments, and we let a four-point game get away from us a little bit.”
After getting back within 51-46, the Vikings had three turnovers and three missed shots to slow their momentum. A basket by former Parkland player Cameron Hines stopped the slide, but it was too late for the Vikings to make a comeback.
Ruisch went 4-for-4 at the line in the final period, helping the Trojans improve to 40-71 all-time against the Vikings and 6-7 against ACCHS this decade. Beck and Ruisch each made four 3-pointers, and Parkland had 10 as a team.
“It’s always good to get a win in EPC play,” Beck said. “The teams we played over the break were really good. We have to learn from those losses and come back stronger. We’re good right now, but we can get a lot better, and we’ve got guys coming back soon that will make us a lot better and deeper.”
Ruisch, one of several football players who took time to get healthy and in sync, noted that his team talked at halftime about communicating more on defense. “We had to get stops and knew that defense would lead to offense,” Ruisch said. “That helped us control the pace. This was big for us, especially being a league game. Javian and TJ coming back will be big for us. I feel good where we’re at. We’re on the rise, and we’re only going to get better.”
Other Saturday Games
Pocono Mountain West 70, Becahi 38:
KJ Coles made seven 3-pointers and scored 31 points overall as the Panthers routed the visiting Golden Hawks. West improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in EPC, with Teddy Stiehler adding 15 points. Roman Jackson led Becahi (5-7, 1-6) with 12.
Blue Mountain 65, Northampton 58:
Tyeirre Meade scored 24 points, and Cohen Werner added 16 as the Eagles handed the Konkrete Kids their second loss in 10 games. Noah Walakovits led Northampton with 26 points.
Northwestern Lehigh 59, Kutztown 45:
The Tigers bounced back from Friday’s loss to Notre Dame-Green Pond with Mason Bollinger scoring 20 points, and Malachi Coleman and Brady Krimmel adding nine apiece for the Tigers (8-4).
Bangor 60, Palisades 40:
Jason Marcantonis scored 19 points, and Landon Childs added 16 as the Slaters improved to 4-5. Sha Schulbach led the Pirates (0-10) with 11.
Catty’s Eric Snyder Gets Win No. 400
The Rough Riders got 13 points from Caiden Weaver and 12 apiece from Frankie Pujols and Reece Lopez in a 61-30 rout of visiting Argyl, giving veteran coach Eric Snyder his 400th career win. The 64-year-old Snyder, a 1979 Catty graduate, is in his 34th season. His overall record is 400-424. His current team has a record of 6-3.
