Following a disappointing loss at Liberty earlier this week in a game in which they suffered a 37-point defeat, and a season-low 28-points scored, Jerald Brown was looking for a better effort from his team last at ‘The Hive’ facing a winless Dieruff squad.
The Hornets responded in a big way, controlling play from the opening tap while putting together arguably their best defensive effort of the season in cruising to a 54-28 rout over the short-handed Huskies, marking their first win at home in three tries.
Emmaus, winners of two of its last three games, improves to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the EPC.
“We were really pleased with effort tonight,” said Brown, the Hornets first year coach following the game. “That’s the energy I thought the boys should bring and should be bringing all year long.
“They bounced back after that Liberty loss,” added Brown. “With any team, it could have been really easy for them to just tank it and give up, but we needed this victory today. It’s good for our morale. The boys played together. They played our tempo and at our pace, and they finally trusted in the system. I’m grateful for the outcome.”
Thirteen different players saw action in the game for Emmaus with nine figuring into the scoring column. Senior Jack Csensits, one of the team’s captains, led the offense with a game-high 14 points –12 coming in the first half. For his efforts, Csensits was named the Player of the Game on the LIVE broadcast on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network.
“We had a captain’s meeting a few days ago and he challenged me, and I challenged him,” said Brown of Csensits, his team’s leading scorer. “He stepped up on his side and his end of things and I think he took that lead today. I was happy to see him meet the challenge tonight.”
Classmate Owen Hafner also reached double figures finishing with 10 points, while senior Tyler Nunez provided a spark off the bench with a career-high eight points and another senior, Gabe Kabba, added a career-best seven.
“I think we finally started to buy-in to the collective,” said Brown. “We’re a team. Collectively if we pass the ball and collectively if we play defense, talk and communicate, we can hang our hat on our defense and the offense will come.”
Emmaus raced out to an 11-4 edge after the first quarter and built the lead to 30-8 at the break after limiting Dieruff to just three field goals in the first half. With a 43-17 advantage after three quarters, Brown emptied his bench early in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies, who were playing without two of its top scorers (Austin and Cameron Pearsall), remained winless on the season as they dropped to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the EPC. Senior Kareem White had a team-high seven points for Dieruff, which was held to a season-low for points in a game.
Emmaus will return to action on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. as they travel to Abington Heights for a non-league game.
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Emmaus 54, Dieruff 28
Die – Darnell Walker 3 0-0 6, Derwyn Deris 1 0-0 2, Kareem White 2 2-2 7, Doriel Lake 1 0-0 2, Jeremiah Camacho 2 1-2 5, Jayden Baez 0, Ameer Pineda 0 1-2 1, Lucas 1 1-4 3. Totals: FG 11, FT 5-10, 3s (1 – White)
Em – Chase Whitesell 1 1-2 3, Jack Csensits 5 4-5 14, Owen Hafner 4 1-1 10, Mike Rooney 2 0-0 5, Matt Deschenes 0, Matt Rooney 1 0-1 2, Tyler Nunez 3 0-0 8, Gabe Kabba 3 1-2 7, Jake Ross 0 2-2 2, Robert Edwards 0 0-2 0, Lucas Stephan 1 0-0 3, Tim Toles 0, Ethan Dublin 0. Totals: FG 20, FT 9-15, 3s (5 – Nunez 2, Mike Rooney 1, Hafner, Stephan)
Die – 4-4-9-11 – 28
Em – 11-19-13-11 – 54