RECAP — Now Emmaus can start thinking about Bethlehem Catholic and focusing on a goal it set out prior to the start of the 2018-19 high school basketball season: winning a championship.
Ever since suffering a 80-67 setback to the Golden Hawks a month ago in a matchup of the EPC’s top two teams, the Hornets have waited patiently for an opportunity to atone for one of their four losses in which they gave up a season-high for points in a game.
Thanks to what head coach Steve Yoder called a ‘total team effort’ in last night’s EPC semifinal win over Allen, Emmaus will get that chance with much more than revenge on their minds.
Seniors Ethan Parvel and Bryce Diehl each scored a team-high 14 points as No.2 Emmaus led wire-to-wire and advanced to their first-ever EPC Championship game after defeating the stubborn Canaries, the No. 6 seed, 61-55 for the second time this season at Parkland High School.
“A complete team effort,” said Yoder, the Hornets 11th year head coach. ” I said to the boys in the locker room this might have been offensively our most balanced night of the year. Obviously, their focus was to take Zach (Sabol) and Mark (Swedberg) away because they both had big games the last time we faced Allen and they did a pretty good job of doing that.”
“I told our guards ‘it’s your time to shine tonight.’ They (Allen) are banking on you not stepping up and I thought Bryce and Ethan along with Danny (Bohman) and Cameron (Brooks) were all great tonight. A wire to wire win, we’ll take it.”
And with it, Emmaus advances to Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game at Easton Area Middle School to face the defending EPC champs and top seed Golden Hawks who got a scare from fourth-seeded Nazareth before prevailing in overtime 57-55 in the nightcap.
The Hornets, who improved to 20-4 on the season, will be aiming for their first league championship since 2012 when they defeated Freedom 47-44 at Allen High School in the old Lehigh Valley Conference (LVC).
With the victory, Emmaus also clinched the No.1 overall seed in the upcoming District XI Class 6A playoffs.
The Hornets got out to a quick start as they led 17-8 after the first quarter and still held a 12-point advantage at the half (29-17), despite being outscored 12-9 by the Canaries in the second quarter. Parvel scored 10 of his points in the first half to lead the Hornets.
Allen totalled their first half output as they outscored Emmaus 17-13 in the third quarter to cut the lead to eight (42-34) and were able to cut the deficit to as few as five points early in fourth quarter, but the Hornets were able to withstand one last comeback attempt by the Canaries and hold on for the win.
“They are not in the Final 4 by accident,” said Yoder of Allen who was making their fifth straight appearance in the semifinals. “That’s a really good team that’s well-coached and very, very athletic. I thought our boys responded after every timeout which was critical.”
Senior Mark Swedberg was the third Hornet to reach double figures finishing with 12 points, while Sabol, who scored a game-high 24 points in the team’s first meeting against Allen – a 71-66 victory – managed just six points, marking only the third time this season that he’s been held to single digits.
Emmaus also got strong play from its bench as senior Josh Moyer (six points), Bohman (five) and senior Devon Boyko (four) combined for 15 points.
“We played our nine guys and we’ve done that all year and I didn’t deviate from that tonight.” said Yoder. “Danny has come into games and given us double digits and let’s give a big shout out to Josh. Mark and Zach were in a little bit of foul trouble and Josh went in there and took care of business.”
Allen, which dropped to 14-9 on the season, was led in scoring by freshman Nate Ellis and sophomore Emmanuel Ozuna who both scored 14 points apiece. Senior Alexis Adames had nine and teammate senior Allen Young came off the bench and added seven.
Now, it’s on to the championship for the Hornets as they’ll turn their attention towards a second meeting with Bethlehem Catholic.
“Within our locker room that was our goal since Summer, ” said Yoder. “All the credit to the boys . They’ve put themselves in that position for Saturday. We’ve been knocking on the door a lot. It’s time to pound that door down and get a ‘chip’. That’s what this group wants and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”
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Emmaus 61, Allen 55
Emmaus – Zach Sabol 2 2-3 6, Mark Swedberg 5 2-5 12, Bryce Diehl 6 2-3 14, Ethan Parvel 4 5-9 14, Cam Brooks 0 0-0 0. Subs: Devon Boyko 1 2-3 4, Danny Bohman 2 0-0 5, Josh Moyer 2 2-3 6. Mason Boyd 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 22, FT 15-26, 3s (2 – Parvel, Bohman)
Allen – Nate Ellis 4 3-4 14, Alexis Adames 4 0-1 9, Emmanuel Ozuna 5 3-5 14, Quinton Stewart 0 2-2 2, Aquelle Adderly 1 4-6 6. Subs: Allen Young 3 0-1 7, Melkia Copeland 1 0-0 3. Totals: FG 18, FT 12-19, 3s (7 – Ellis 3, Adames, Ozuna, Young, Copeland)
All – 8 – 9 – 17 – 21 – 55
Em – 17 – 12 – 13 – 19 – 61