The last time the Emmaus boys basketball team entered the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs as the top overall seed was back in the 2016-17 season.
Playing at home in the friendly confines of ‘The Hive’, the Hornets were stunned in their opening-round game as eighth-seeded East Stroudsburg North dealt Emmaus a crushing 52-49 loss and an early exit from the tournament.
History wasn’t about to repeat itself last night for the 2022-23 squad in their opening-round game.
Earning the No.1 seed after an outstanding 14-2 regular-season, Emmaus withstood some early challenges from an upset-minded and a youthful Liberty squad, the No. 8 seed, but the elder Hornets experience in the end proved to be too much as they rolled to 60-39 win before a standing-room only crowd at ‘The Hive.’
“We’ve had 23 games now this season and the message from Day 1 has been stay in the moment and focus on what we can control,” said Hornets 15th year head coach Steve Yoder. “We had some growing pains this season, but we’ve certainly grown and matured and I think our maturity tonight was the difference.”
Emmaus pulled away from just a seven-point lead at the halftime break (26-19) by outscoring the Hurricane 34-20 in the second half as they remained unbeaten at home (11-0) winning their fifth straight game and improving to 19-4 overall on the season. The win was also the first in the EPC playoffs for the Hornets since the 2018-19 season.
With the victory, the Hornets earn a date in the semifinals on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the PPL Center in Allentown against rival Central Catholic, the No. 4 seed, which pulled away for a 56-44 victory over fifth-seeded Freedom.
The two teams will be meeting for the third time this season with each team winning on its home floor. The game will be broadcasted LIVE on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network beginning with the pregame show at 7:40 p.m.
Junior Jametric Harris led a balanced scoring attack in last night’s win for the Hornets draining four 3-pointers and finishing with a team-high 18 points. Junior Will Barber added 13 points, while senior Dylvan Darville had 10 and classmate Jake Fotta just missed double digits with nine points.
“If you watch our team enough we’re always prepared,” said Yoder. “It doesn’t necessarily mean we execute on the level we have to win, but we were prepared tonight. We knew their tendencies and sets and we put in a few wrinkles offensively ourselves; subtle stuff and it worked out.”
“The boys were going to finish the season 11-0 in this crazy place of ours. I’m not so sure any team in school history, at least on the boys side, has gone undefeated at home. We’re trying to celebrate all the things along the way.”
Liberty, which was making its first appearance in the league playoffs since the 2019-20 season, was paced by sophomore Dwayne Chess Jr. who matched Harris with a game-high 18 points. The Hurricane dropped to 14-9 overall and will now await the upcoming District XI Class 6A playoffs.
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Emmaus 60, Liberty 39
Lib – Jake Pukszyn 0 1-4 1, Blake Hargrove 0 1-2 1, Nate Rivera 2 0-0 6, Dwayne Chess Jr. 6 5-6 18, Axcel Kamanga 3 0-0 6, Caden Vermuelen 1 0-0 2, Ziego Goodman 0 0-0 0, Angel Holguin 1 0-0 3, Bryce Fenstermacher 1 0-0 2, Chance Edwards 0 0-0 0, Chase Dusseau 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 14, FT 7-12, 3s – 4 (Chess Jr., Rivera 2, Holguin)
Em – Will Barber 5 2-2 13, Dylan Darville 4 2-5 10, Jametric Harris 7 0-0 18, Jake Fotta 3 3-4 9, Chase Muckey 2 1-1 5, Teague McCourt 1 0-0 2, Jackson Lake 1 1-2 3, Jack Csensits 0 0-0 0, Dom Nunez 0 0-0 0, Daniel Rohlsen 0 0-0 0, Matt Volquez 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 23, FT 9-14, 3s – 5 (Harris 4, Barber)
Lib – 5-14-7-13 – 39
Em – 11-15-17-17 – 60
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy Nathan Lewis)
