Both Emmaus and Whitehall entered their matchup last night with similar records in both The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and overall.
Both were 4-6 in league play and looking for a win to increase their chances of reaching the league tournament.
One, being the Zephyrs, were 6-9 on the season, and the other, the Hornets, 6-8.
So, on paper, you would have thought it would have been an even matchup between two teams who started the season with a combined 0-9 record — Whitehall 0-5 and Emmaus 0-4.
It never turned out that way.
The visiting Zephyrs made sure of that as they came to ‘The Hive’ and handed the Hornets a 53-39 defeat that was not as close as the final 14-point margin would indicate.
Whitehall, which led only by one (17-16) with 5:15 left in the second quarter, used a 15-3 run to close out the half and then upped the margin to 20 by the end of third quarter as they picked up an all-important win while handing Emmaus their second straight setback.
The Zephyrs used a balanced scoring attack in the win with three players reaching double figures. Junior Tanner Dogmanits led the way with 10 of his game-high 16 points coming in the first half. Senior Sudge Hoderewski added 15 points and classmate Jack Lloyd 14 as Whitehall won for the fifth time in their last seven games to improve to 7-9 overall and 5-6 in the EPC.
For Emmaus, turnovers and the lack of point production were key as the Hornets turned it over 20 times while being held to their second lowest offensive output of the season.
Sophomores Noeah Newsome and Ben Grochowski each scored seven points apiece for head coach Eric Luckenbill’s team, which is now 6-9 overall and 4-7 in the league.
Emmaus will close out the week on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. as they travel to Pottstown for a non-league game.
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Whitehall 53, Emmaus 39
Wh – Jack Lloyd 5 2-2 14, Tanner Dogmanits 6 1-1 16, Seth Hoderewski 7 0-0 15, Talon Dogmanits 0, Cole Rozycki 2 0-0 4, Omari Ratliff 0 2-2 2, Cole Richards 1 0-0 2, Clifford Lowe 0, Carson Strauss 0, Owen Gilfert 0, Abreau 0, Maxwell Hove 0. Totals: FG 21, FT 5-7, 3s (6 – Lloyd 2, Tanner Dogmanits 3, Hoderewski)
Em – Jayden Swan 1 0-0 2, Ben Grochowski 3 0-0 7, Matt Rooney 0, Noeah Newsome 3 0-0 7, Jake Ross 1 3-4 5, Cole Stuchko 0, Mitch Pisarcik 1 0-0 2, Mason Weber 2 1-2 5, Kellen Hafner 1 0-0 3, Lucas Stephan 0, Nathan Bottjer 0 2-4 2, Ryder Fiore 0, Ted Laird 0 1-2 1, Ty Laird 0, Janiel Pena 1 0-0 2, Cayden Dencler 1 0-0 3. Totals: FG 14, FT 7-12, 3s (4 – Grochowski, Newsome, Hafner, Dencler)
Wh – 17-15-11-10 – 53
Em – 9-10-4-16 – 39