On most nights, Emmaus boys basketball head coach Steve Yoder knows what to expect from his two senior leaders in Will Barber and Jametric Harris.
The two combine for nearly 34 points per game or 60 percent of the team’s offense.
Last night at home at ‘The Hive’ on Senior Night facing a surging Northampton squad, both Barber (game-high 20 points) and Harris (17) once again put up big numbers.
The player, however, who may have had the biggest impact in the game and the one who drew a lot of attention afterwards was Owen Hafner.
The junior, averaging less than three points per game, poured in a career-high 14 points and he also grabbed nine rebounds, providing the spark Emmaus needed off the bench to defeat the Konkrete Kids for the second time this season, 59-44.
For his efforts, Hafner was named the SportClips Player of the Game on the LIVE broadcast on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network.
“My teammates were finding me in the open spots tonight,” said Hafner who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second quarter. “I was just cutting without the ball and constantly moving.
Hafner bested his previous career-high of 10 points he scored in last week’s 54-40 win over Becahi.
“Last week’s performance really helped with my confidence and being positive and it was a great effort by our team tonight because Northampton is obviously a good team,” added Hafner.
Yoder was more than pleased with the effort from Hafner.
“I challenged Owen and some of the other players to be more active without the ball and Owen is totally doing that and I couldn’t be more happier for him.
“We’re getting five, six and sometimes even seven guys scoring and that’s been a focal point in our program for the last month or two. We know what we’re going to get from Will and Jametric and they were great again, but these other guys have opportunities to put points up as well and it was great to see Owen do that tonight.”
With the victory, Emmaus has now won three straight and four of their last five as they improve to 9-2 in the EPC and 12-3 overall. They have also qualified for the District XI Tournament for the 14th time in the last 15 years with last Saturday’s win over Whitehall.
Northampton, which entered the game winners of four of its last five, was led in scoring by seniors JJ Kolumber and Tristen Pinnock who each scored 12 points. The Konkrete Kids dropped to 6-5 in the EPC and 11-5 overall.
Prior to the game, Emmaus honored its nine seniors: Will Barber, Jametric Harris, Teague McCourt, Jack Curley-Katrishen, Aidan and Pacey Santos, Matt Volquez, Daniel Rohlsen and Lawson Vasquez.
“I love this senior group, maybe my favorite group ever,” said Yoder. “I just hope the season never ends with them. We are a tight group and hopefully we’re still getting better.”
Emmaus will return to action on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. as they travel to Southern Lehigh (7-9) for a non-league game. The Hornets will close out the week Friday with a road contest at Allen (2-14) at 7 p.m.
For the most complete coverage of Emmaus sports, follow @Emmaussports.com on ‘X’ and like Emmaus boys basketball on facebook.
Emmaus 59, Northampton 44
No – JJ Kolumber 4 2-2 12, Tristen Pinnock 5 2-5 12, Brody Graff 1 1-2 3, Noah Walakovits 1 2-4 5, Brady Simock 2 0-0 5, Shakim Dunbar 0 0-0 0, Mason Haupt 0 0-0 0, Trent Moyer 2 2-2 7. Totals: FG 15, FT 9-15, 3s (5) – Kolumber 2, Walakovits, Simock, Moyer
Em – Matt Volquez 0 0-0 0, Jametric Harris 4 6-8 17, Aidan Santos 2 0-0 4, Jack Curley-Katrishen 0 0-0 0, Will Barber 8 2-2 20, Jack Csensits 1 0-0 3, Owen Hafner 5 4-6 14, Mike Rooney 0 0-0 0, Pacey Santos 0 1-2 1, Rafael Terrero 0 0-0 0, Lawson Vasquez 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 20, FT 13-18, 3s (6) – Harris 3, Barber 2, Csensits
No – 9-12-9-14 – 44
Em – 16-12-14-17 – 59