RECAP — It’s no secret that the Emmaus boys basketball team likes to get up and down a court and play fast all the time.
It’s when they are at their best.
Midway through the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game against upset-minded Whitehall at home, the Zephyrs were controlling tempo and held their largest lead of the game at five (31-26) with 4:02 left to play.
That would be the last time you would here from visitors the rest of the night.
Using a 28-2 run at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, Emmaus dominated Whitehall outscoring the Zephyrs 41-16 in the second half on their way to a 66-40 rout on Senior Night.
” We wanted to speed them up, make it a full court game and make them work and our boys just weren’t committing to it for the longest time,” said Emmaus coach Steve Yoder following the win. “Once we committed to making it a full court game and speeding them up good things happened.”
Did they ever.
Bryce Diehl, one of eight seniors honored prior to the game, scored a game game-high 21 points in the second half to lead all scorers, while classmate Zach Sabol added 19 as the Hornets won their fourth straight game and improved to 9-2 in the EPC and remained just one game behind Bethlehem Catholic for the No.1 seed in the upcoming league playoffs.
Emmaus’ overall record is now 14-3, matching their entire win total from a year with still five games remaining in the regular-season.
“Senior nights are really difficult for a lot of reasons,” said Yoder. “The coaching staff wants to try and get everybody in but at the same time we have to win. This game was huge. The biggest game of the year. It can be tricky but it’s a great group of seniors and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Diehl matched his season-high for points in a game and did most of his scoring in the second half pumping in 14 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter where Emmaus outscored Whitehall 28-7. The 6-5 guard/forward finished the night 8-for-11 from the field.
“The last three, four or five games he’s really been picking up his offense big time,”said Yoder of Diehl. “We feel good about Zach getting his 20 and Mark (Swedberg) been scoring the ball really well and now you roll Bryce in there as a third scorer putting up as many as they are, that’s fantastic. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
“He had a tough beginning of the year with the ankle injury and everybody knows our offense goes through Zach, but that can also open up opportunities for Bryce. “
Swedberg added 11 points in the win, while another senior Stefan Rollins, scored his first career varsity points with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Emmaus had one of its best shooting nights of the season as they shot 55 percent from the floor (26 of 47), including a blistering 71 percent (15 of 21) in the second half and an incredible 91 percent (10 of 11) in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Holobowski led the Whitehall (4-7, 7-10) with a team-high nine points. The Zephs managed just four field goals in the second half in dropping its third straight game and four of its last five.
Prior to the game, Emmaus honored its eight seniors along with their parents. This year’s senior group includes: Zach Sabol, Bryce Diehl, Mark Swedberg, Ethan Parvel, Cameron Brooks, Devon Boyko, Josh Moyer and Stefan Rollins.
The Hornets will be back at home on Friday at 7 p.m. in their final regular-season game at ‘The Hive’ as they’ll host Northampton (5-6, 9-7).
Whitehall – Ricky Melosky 1 0-2 2, Tyler Holubowski 3 3-4 9, Joe Herman 2 0-0 6, Aidin Hodorewski 1 0-0 3, Dylan McGinley 1 -1 2. Subs: Joey Lisicky 2 0-0 4, Namirr Boatwright 2 0-0 4, Shyhiem Foster 1 0-0 3, Luke Gilbert 1 3-3 6. Totals: FG 14, FT 7-12, 3s (5 – Herman 2, Hoderewski, Foster, Gilbert)
Emmaus – Zach Sabol 8 3-6 19, Bryce Diehl 8 2-2 21, Mark Swedberg 5 1-2 11, Cam Brooks 1 0-0 2, Devon Boyko 0 0-0 0. Subs: Ethan Parvel 1 2-3 4, Josh Moyer 0 0-0 0, Stefan Rollins 1 0-0 3, Danny Bohman 1 0-0 2, Demetrius Stephanides 1 0-0 2, Mason Boyd 1 0-0 2, Patrick Tulio 0 0-0 0, Ryan Todd 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 26, FT 8-13, 3s (4 – Diehl 3, Rollins)
Wh – 8 – 16 – 9 – 7 – 40
Em – 17 – 8 – 13 – 28 – 66
JV – Emmaus 61-45.
