RECAP >> Emmaus closed out its regular-season tonight by avenging for an earlier-season loss to Central Catholic as they defeated the Vikings 59-49 before a standing-room only crowd at ‘The Hive.”
The Hornets, who fell to Central Catholic 51-39 on January 20 at Rockne Hall, jumped out to a big early lead in the game and then withstood a couple of comebacks by the Vikes before pulling away for the victory as they improved to 10-0 at home.
“Can you name a better environment in high school basketball in the Lehigh Valley,” asked Emmaus head coach Steve Yoder. “It doesn’t take much to fill this place and it was loud and ruckus.”
“It’s a great rivalry between the two schools and I guess we were due to win. It had been a little while and the boys stepped up.”
With the victory, Emmaus closes out the regular-season with an EPC-best 14-2 mark and 18-4 overall. The Hornets will be the No.1 overall seed for the league tournament and will likely host Liberty, the No. 8 seed at home on Friday in the quarterfinals. The official matchups will be announced on Tuesday.
Emmaus also snapped an eight-game losing streak to Central Catholic which dates back to the 2018-19 season.
Senior Jake Fotta led Emmaus in scoring with a team-high 15 points, including eight in the crucial fourth quarter. Classmate Chase Muckey scored all of his career-high 12 points in the first half, while senior Dylan Darville, who missed the first meeting due to a college visit, also added 12 points.
“Teams like to focus in on Jametric (Harris), Will (Barber) and Dylan and I understand that so there are going to be a lot of great opportunities that those three are going to create for both Chase and Jake,” said Yoder.
“Jake had some huge 3-pointers tonight and Chase created a little bit of it on his own so I was really proud of him. It’s nice to have some momentum heading towards the playoffs.”
CCHS was led in scoring by sophomore Jarel Vigo who scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second half. Senior Nico Puleri added 10 for the Vikes who have lost two straight and dropped to 11-5 in the EPC and 14-8 overall.
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Emmaus 59, CCHS 49
CC – Nico Puleri 3 4-4 10, Anthony Jones 3 0-0 8, Griffin Patridge 2 1-2 5, Jarel Vigo 7 0-0 15, Lucas Mushrush 2 1-1 5, David Fridia 1 0-0 3, Cole Cook 0 0-0 0, Nasean Davis 1 0-0 3, Jakeer Ensley 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 19, FT 6-7, 3s – 5 (Jones 2, Davis, Vigo, Fridia)
Em – Jake Fotta 6 0-2 15, Chase Muckey 5 2-2 12, Jametric Harris 3 0-1 6, Dylan Darville 3 6-9 12, Will Barber 2 3-4 7, Mike Ekenyere 0 0-0 0, Jack Csensits 0 0-0 0, Teague McCourt 2 1-2 7. Totals: FG 21, FT 12-20, 3s – 5 (Fotta 3, McCourt 2)
Em 18-18-7-16 – 59
CCHS – 12-11-14-12 49