Every team has certain benchmark games during their season that often test how strong they truly are.

The Pleasant Valley boys basketball team was aced with a harsh reality of how strong it is against an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference powerhouse Friday night as Parkland came into Brodheadsville.

It was the Trojans who took care of business, rolling past the host Bears 61-28 for their third straight victory.

Pleasant Valley came into the contest tasked with playing shorthanded, as the squad was without key starters Sebastian Sacci and Madden Roselli.

“Those two guys mean a lot for our team defensively, rebounding, offensively, the way our offense revolves around our bigs and having them not here, it was kind of tough,” said Bears’ head coach Bobby Hahn about the absence of Sacci and Roselli. “Then playing a team as good as Parkland, it’s tough to really kind of see where you stand when you’re not at full strength.”

The Trojans wasted no time taking command opening up a 16-2 lead in the first quarter as PV struggled to break through Parkland’s aggressive defense.

The score would eventually balloon to a 41-7 Parkland lead going into halftime, with Blake Nassry leading all Trojan scorers with 13 points on the night, all of which came in the first half.

“I thought offensively, we moved the ball really well and got ourselves in a position for some good shots,” said Trojan head coach Andy Stephens. “We got into a rhythm early, which I think helped us. Compliments to them. They play hard, and (Zach Prator) is really good. So I thought our guys did a good job being physical with him, making his opportunities difficult.”

Prator would finish the game with a team-high 15 points, many of which coming after Parkland’s offensive barrage in the first half proved to be too much for the Bears to handle.

“I thought that in the beginning, we weren’t quite ready for the speed, the quickness and athleticism that Parkland has,” coach Hahn said. “I think that we had to work so hard to get those shots, and after we worked so hard to get open and drive to the basket, we almost kind of relaxed and thought, ‘We did the hard part and got past them,’ and then we kind of lost a little bit of focus on that, because we worked so hard to get open.”

The loss drops Pleasant Valley under .500 as the Bears continue to battle through the ups and downs of their season and attempt to establish themselves among the best teams in the EPC lead.

Hahn already has his team prepared for its next game against East Stroudsburg South, and is focused on reaching its goal of making the district playoffs.

“We’ve had a lot of success in different areas of the season compared to other seasons,” he said. “This is one of those games that you’ve got to learn from the mistakes of it, but you can’t let it linger. Instead, we get ready for South and we get back on the streak that we were on and have the confidence that we’ve had.”

CELEBRATION ... Pleasant Valley held its senior night ceremony for members of the boys basketball team before the game, which included Daniel Baker, Kellen Green, Quinn Kauffman, Jerael Moore, and Zach Prator.

PERENNIAL POWER ... Parkland has one the last three District 11 Class 6A championships.

PARKLAND

Taylor 1-0-0-2, Giegbefumwen 0-0-0-0, Borcoman 2-1-2-6, Adams 1-0-0-3, Porter 2-2-3-7, Jacobs 1-0-0-2, Lawrence 2-1-2-5, Hines 4-0-0-8, Nassry 3-4-4-13, Bauer 1-0-0-3, Kearney 2-0-0-4, Beck 0-0-0-0, Barrera 0-0-0-0, Ruisch 3-0-0-8, Bonner 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-8-11-61.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Haines 0-0-0-0, Loch 0-0-0-0, Kauffman 0-0-0-0, Solt 0-0-0-0, Moore 0-1-4-1, Green 4-2-2-10, Gearhart 1-0-0-2, Breuer 0-0-0-0, Prator 7-1-4-15. TOTALS: 12-4-10-28.

Parkland 16 25 12 8 - 61

Pleasant Valley 2 5 11 10 - 28

Three-pointers: Parkland - Nassry 3, Ruisch 2, Borcoman 1, Adams 1, Porrter 1, Bauer 1; Pleasant Valley - None.

Records: Parkland (7-5; 5-4); Pleasant Valley (6-7; 3-6).