Emmaus used the middle quarters to pull away from Southern Lehigh in its season-opener as the Hornets outscored the Spartans 30-13 on their way to a 61-40 win before a nice-size crowd on Friday night at ‘The Hive. Senior Zach Sabol led all scorers with a double-double, scoring a game-high 18 points, while classmates Mark Swedberg added a career-high 17 off the bench and Ethan Parvel made his Emmaus debut with 12 points as head coach Steve Yoder’s team got its much-anticipated 2018-19 season off on the right foot with a 21-point win over the Colonial League foe.
“Defensively I thought we were pretty sound and that’s the first thing that stands out,” said the Hornets 11th year coach following the win. “Our half court offense is still under construction and that’s to be expected. You’re not got to play your best basketball in December. We got a lot of contributions tonight with three guys in double figures, but on the bad side too many turnovers and too many missed free throws.”
“I said to the boys after the game and they agreed that it was a good win, a lot of good things in the stat sheet, but I just feel that we could be so much better and they were like ‘yeah, we could be better.’ I like that they’re not content and I’m definitely not content and I’m going to keep coaching them up. We didn’t have out best night tonight but it was good. I’ll take a 1-0 start. “
Sabol finished 8-for-11 from the floor and scored 10 of his points in the first half, including eight in the opening quarter. He also hauled in 10 rebounds.
“He was great on both ends of the floor,” said Yoder of his 6-8 center. “They were doubling him and he did a great job of spinning out of the double and finishing around the rim. Defensively, his baseline help was awesome.”
Swedberg, who missed both pre-season scrimmages, finished 6-of-8 from the field and came off the bench in the second quarter making his presence known as he scored eight points in helping Emmaus build a 12-point lead at the break. He added nine more points in the second half
“We saw it this summer. We know Mark can score and that’s what he did tonight,” said Yoder. “What a luxury it is to have him come off the bench.”
And for Parvel, the Whitehall transfer, it was quite a debut as he scored his team’s first five points of the game and scored eight of his 12 points in the first half.
“I thought he was arguably the best player on the floor tonight along with Zach,” said Yoder. “He’s so unselfish with his passes. It’s like he’s been playing with us for four years. You can see the quarterback in him. He just see the floor so well. I’m really proud of Ethan tonight.”
Emmaus led by just four at the end of the first quarter (14-10) before outscoring the visitors 19-11 in the second stanza to take a 33-21 advantage into the break. The lead grew to as much as 20 (44-24) as the Hornets outscored Solehi 11-3 in the third quarter and held the Spartans to just one field goal.
Senior guard Trey Trevis led Solehi (0-1) with a team-high 15 points
Emmaus will be back in action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at ‘The Hive’ when they face rival Parkland in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener.
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Emmaus – Cam Brooks 1-6 0-0 2, Ethan Parvel 4-8 2-2 12, Danny Bohman 0-2 0-0 0, Zach Sabol 8-11 2-3 18, Devon Boyko 1-2 1-2 3. Subs: Bryce Diehl 1-4 1-3 3, Josh Moyer 1-2 4-6 6, Mark Swedberg 6-8 4-6 17, Mason Boyd 0-0 0-0 0, Stefan Rollins 0-0 0-0, Ryan Todd 0-0 0-0. FG 22-43, FT 14-22.
Solehi – Quinn Schmitt 1 2-2 4, Daryl Coleman 2 1-2 6, Chris Andrews 1 3-4 6, John Coyle 0 0-0 0, Kyle Hoff 1 0-0 2. Subs: Liam Gaughan 0 0-0 0, Jaskaran Grewal 0 0- 0 0, Trey Trevis 5 3-3 15, Matt Tankred 1 2-3 4, Dylan Welsh 1 0-0 3. Totals: FG 12, FT 11-14.
Sol – 10 – 11 – 3 – 16 – 40
Em – 14 – 19 – 11 – 17 – 61
JV – Emmaus 66-44
Fresh – Emmaus 58-35 (Crawford 13, Bova 8)