Staring at a potential seventh straight loss and a seven-point deficit late in the third quarter, Emmaus was able to rally and pick up a hard-fought win on Friday night on the road at East Stroudsburg North, grinding out a low scoring 44-40 victory over the Timberwolves.
It was the first win of the season for the Hornets after an 0-6 start, and the first for new head coach Jerald Brown.
“I’m really, really proud of the boys,” said Brown outside his team’s boisterous locker room. “It took resiliency tonight to get this win.”
“I told the boys at the end of game that all of those one-point and two-point losses prepared them for this moment. There’s nothing like learning on the job and we had been battle-tested. From the beginning of the season until now, and I’m really proud of the boys for stepping up and beating the moment.”
And Emmaus did just that, celebrating its first win after two one-point losses (to Holy Redeemer and Nazareth) and one-point two defeat (to Wilkes-Barre). There were also three lopsided affairs, including a 26-point blowout loss at Allen just three days earlier in a game in which the Hornets gave up a season-high 78 points.
In the win over ES North, Emmaus had arguably its best defensive effort allowing a season-low 40 points, including just 17 in the second half.
They also did just enough on the offensive end, including outscoring the hosts 13-7 in the fourth quarter.
For the game, the Hornets shot a season-best 83 percent from the free throw line (15 of 18) with seniors Mike Rooney, Owen Hafner and Jack Csensits, along with sophomore Jake Ross all contributing from the line down the stretch.
“We’re a team that sometimes struggles at the free throw line, but again the experience of being in those tight games early in the season I thought really helped us tonight,” pointed out Brown.
“At the end of the day, we are a team that averages 51 points per game so that means we need to hold opponents under 50 to get wins. We’re going to continue to have to play discipline defense and value every possession and if we do that, we will be in games.”
Emmaus couldn’t have gotten off to a best start against the Timberwolves, racing out to a 13-2 lead after the first quarter. The advantage, however, was short-lived as the Hornets were outscored 21-11 in the second resulting in just a one-point lead (24-23) at the break.
After trailing by seven (33-26) with 1:53 left in the third quarter, the Hornets were able to outscore the hosts 18-7 down the stretch and then watch in the waning seconds a potential game-tying, three-pointer by East Stroudsburg North fall short.
Ross, a talented 10th grader who scored a career-high 14 points against Freedom earlier this season, came off the bench and led the Hornets in scoring with a team-high 13 points, 10 in the first half. Senior Chase Whitesell also played well with three 3-pointers and a career-high 11 points, while Mike Rooney added eight.
East Stroudsburg North was led in scoring by Ozias Washington, who came off the bench and scored a game-high 18 points. Teammate Jatoine Draughton added eight for the Timberwolves who remained winless in the EPC (0-4) and dropped to 1-5 overall.
Emmaus will return to action on Monday at 7 p.m. as they travel to Bethlehem to take on Liberty (4-2 overall/4-0 EPC).
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Emmaus 54, ESN 50
Em – Chase Whitesell 4 0-0 11, Jack Csensits 0 5-6 5, Owen Hafner 1 1-2 3, Mike Rooney 2 2-2 8, Matt Deschenes 1 2-2 4, Jake Ross 4 5-6 13, Tyler Nunez 0, Gabe Kabba 0, Matt Rooney 0. Totals: FG 12, FT 15-18, 3s (Whitesell 3, Rooney 2)
ESN – Chris Samuels 1 0-1 2, Piotr Drozd 2 0-0 4, Bernard Bowen 0, Wayne King 1 0-0 2, Brandon Jeffers 2 0-0 5, Jatoine Draughon 3 1-2 8, Ozias Washington 8 0-0 18, Keegan Montuori 0. Totals: FG 17, FT 1-3, 3s (5 – Jeffers 2, Washington 2, Draughon)
Em – 13-11-7-13 – 44
ESN – 2-21-10-7- 40