A recap of a wild Wednesday at Freedom

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Still wrapping things up here at Freedom after a memorable night in the District 11 boys basketball tournament.

Two riveting games played in front of about 2,800 fans and two games in which every possession seemed magnified.

Was it the greatest basketball we've ever seen?

Certainly not offensively.

But if there was ever proof that defense wins championships, it came tonight.

Parkland was terrific on defense.

That's the only way you can explain the Trojans victory since they beat Emmaus despite not scoring a field goal in the fourth quarter and made just 8 of 21 foul shots overall, and were just 5-for-17 at the line in the final eight minutes.

Emmaus, obviously, had even more offensive problems with the exception being Greg Bobal, who scored 23 points, or nearly two-thirds of the Green Hornets' 36 total.

Sports is not always fair because despite his terrific offensive performance, Bobal will probably always remember the foul shot he missed that would have tied the game with 31 seconds left and the late 3-point attempt that would have sent it to overtime.

Emmaus at least has another game to play, although that won't be easy because you get the feeling that the Green Hornets desperately wanted this one tonight, desperately wanted to prove they could beat Parkland. Now, it's highly unlikely they will ever get the chance. It's going to interesting to see how they respond.

I suspect the kids will be deflated, but coach Steve Yoder was already trying to pump them up before they left Freedom.

"It's a tough one to swallow although I think back to Parkland several years ago [2004] when they lost to Whitehall four times and still wound up going to the state championship game," Yoder said. "We've beaten every single team we've played this year except Parkland. We're battle-tested and we've played a lot of teams that we're going to face in states. So, let's get over this, and focus on getting into the state tournament. We've got to take care of business on Saturday.

"The kids are devastated, but we've put ourselves in position to keep the season going. Not many teams can say that at this point of the year."

It's funny that Yoder brought up 2004 because I was thinking the same thing -- that no matter how many times Parkland and Emmaus play it's always going to end up the same way. Some teams just do not match up well with each other and the Trojans have a physical edge, and now a psychological edge as well.

That's the way it was with Whitehall and Parkland in 2004. The Zephs just had the Trojans number that year, but got to Hershey because someone else knocked off Whitehall. Basketball is all about the matchups.

Speaking of matchups, Salisbury just ran into a bad one.

They hit a hot team that loved to shoot 3s and made just enough to withstand a spirited Falcons rally.

The Schuylkill League just went 4-0 against the Colonial League in the 2A boys and girls semis. Give that league its due. They scrap, claw and hustle in that league.

Still, this was now how this glorious season was supposed to end for the Falcons, who were so impressive and pleasing to watch at various points.

"We dug ourselves a hole and used a lot of energy to try to get back out of it," Salisbury coach Jason Weaver said. "But what I really want to say is that it's just a great bunch of kids and I'm really proud of these guys. This doesn't diminish what they accomplished or show what this team is about. I've been coaching for a long time. I feel so bad for these guys. They put everything they had into it."

Lloyd Irons, Brent Maron and Max Simon are the key guys who are graduating. Quality kids like Justin Aungst, Austin Uhl, Dan Reichenbach, Tyler Brown, Brad Vangeli and Trent Clay return, among others.

But next year didn't matter on Wednesday night.

"You've got to win this game and we knew they were a really good team," Weaver said. "We saw them play on Saturday night and we were impressed with them. We didn't take them lightly.

"The kids who are returning will bounce back. We'll miss the leadership we've had from our seniors, but the future of the program is bright."

Kudos to Weaver. He had his share of difficult situations this season that made things harder than they needed to be. Not that he'd ever talk about them or make excuses. He is a class act and a fine coach and there's no doubt that Salisbury will be back as a major factor next winter.

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