Parkland beats Williamsport, 49-35, to finish unbeaten and win the title at Stellar boys basketball tourney.
If there was any doubt about Parkland being the team to beat
in the upcoming 2007-08 boys basketball season, it was removed Sunday night at
Cedar Beach.
The Trojans withstood a 9-0 start by Williamsport and roared back to bankrupt
the Millionaires 49-35 in the title game of the 12th annual Stellar Construction
''Catch A Rising Star'' high school tournament.
The title was Parkland's third in tournament history and first since 2000.
And, this was one was quite impressive. The Trojans swept
through the 64-team field with a 7-0 record and five of the seven wins came by
double digits.
''The kids needed something beyond people, including their moms and dads,
telling them how good they are,'' said coach Rich Fatzinger. ''They proved it
today. It's a compliment to them.''
Fatzinger also won the J. Milo Sewards Memorial Coach's Award, but quickly
deflected credit to the players for the honor.
''Some of the kids congratulated me on winning the award and I told them that I
become a better coach when I have better players,'' Fatzinger said. ''That's how
it works.''
No one was better than Jaleel Clark, the Trojans' 6-4 swingman.
Clark, also a top football prospect, was named the tourney MVP. He scored 22
points in the title game, including 14 in the first half when the Trojans
responded to the early 9-0 deficit with a 10-0 run.
''We proved it here that we can win some championships next season,'' Clark, a
rising junior, said. ''We got off to a bad start and they were hitting
3-pointers. But Coach called a timeout and we just had to regroup. We ran the
floor, hustled and played good defense.''
Clark was hardly a one-man gang. He had plenty of help from all-tourney
selection Jeff Schmidt and sixth-man award winner Steve Neikam, among many
others.
Jon Ward had eight points, and M.J. Miorelli and Matt Fritz added seven and six,
respectively, in the final. Miorelli and Fritz were also heroes earlier in the
day.
Miorelli hit the game-winning 3-pointer in a 46-43 win over Susquehanna Township
and Fritz pumped in 20 in an overtime win over Glen Mills.
Even unheralded point guard Eric Zuber got his moment of glory as he had to
start in place of the cramping Miorelli in the title game, and overcame some
early mistakes to steer Parkland's rapid rally.
''I made some mistakes, but I just kept working hard,'' Zuber said. ''We had
some size on them and we were quicker than them. We beat them down the floor and
wore them down at the end.''
Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said his team couldn't force the turnovers that
fuel the Millionaires' offense.
''They were able to come down and execute their halfcourt sets and we got caught
up in playing a one-on-one game at our end,'' Taylor said. ''They spaced their
defense and closed the driving lanes. We couldn't get the easy drives we're used
to getting and we couldn't get easy baskets off turnovers. We play our defense
to score in transition and that didn't happen.''
Still, Taylor became a big fan of the four-day basketball extravaganza that has
become one of the most popular events in Lehigh Valley sports.
''To me, it's like having the state playoffs in the summertime with all of the
big-name teams that were here,'' Taylor said. ''Chester, Harrisburg,
Coatesville, all of the great teams were here and there was no walk in the park
against anyone. It was a great test for our kids and we learned we're a
playoff-caliber team. I was proud of the kids.''
And, certainly, Parkland fans had a lot to be proud about all weekend.
Besides winning the varsity tournament, the young Trojans won the JV tourney
crown. Parkland beat Easton 40-29 in the finals of that 20-team event which was
held just before the varsity finale.
Paul Pammer was named tourney MVP and the Trojans' Jon Brannon was selected to
the all-tourney squad.
''It was a great weekend because we won with different styles,'' said JV coach
Steve Yoder. ''A lot of my kids got stuck in an airport in Atlanta and early in
the tournament we didn't have any post players here and had to win by pressing
and trapping. Then when we got the post players back, we won a different way.''
But while Parkland made some positive statements, the Lehigh Valley Conference
as a whole had a great showing in West Allentown.
As of Sunday afternoon, half of the LVC -- Parkland, Freedom, Liberty, Emmaus,
Central Catholic and Easton -- was still alive and the Patriots went 4-2 and
wound up with a top-six Stellar finish for the second year in a row.
''Our league is better than ever,'' coach Joe Stellato said. ''If you're a fan,
you're in for a lot of great battles next year.''