Matchup: No. 4 seed Liberty (15-9) vs No. 1 seed Emmaus (19-5)
When/Where: Wednesday 7:30 p.m./Shawnee Middle School, Easton
Coverage: LIVE www.easternpasportsnetwork.com (Pregame: 7:10 p.m.)
What’s on the line: A berth in the District XI championship game on Saturday vs winner of No. 2 Freedom/No. 3 Parkland
Coaches: Liberty – Nigel Long (3rd season); Emmaus – Steve Yoder (15th season)
Head to Head – Emmaus won 60-39 in the EPC Quarterfinals
Probable starters – Liberty: Fresh. Blake Hargrove (10.8 ppg), Fresh. Jake Pukszyn (10.3), Soph. Dwayne Chess (14.2), Jr., Sr. Axcel Kamanga (3.8), Sr. Nate Rivera (10). Others: Sr. Ziego Goodman (2.2), Jr. Caden Vermuelen (2.8)
Emmaus: Jr. Will Barber (17.3 ppg), Sr. Dylan Darville (12.3), Jr. Jametric Harris (11.7), Sr. Jake Fotta (7.4), Sr. Chase Muckey (4.4). Others: Jr. Teague McCourt (2.5), Soph. Jack Csensits (2.1), So. Mike Ekenyere (4), Sr. Jackson Lake (2.7)
GAME NOTES: Emmaus is in the District XI playoffs for the third consecutive season and for the 12th time in the last 13 years. A year ago, the Hornets lost to Nazareth 61-47 in the opening-round …Emmaus did defeat Liberty in districts back in the 2020-21 season, 60-55 in a game played at Liberty …The Hornets last reached the district finals back in the ’13-’14 season losing to rival Parkland 60-33 …Emmaus has won only one district title in program history, that coming back in 1986 … Liberty reached the semifinals with a 52-47 win over Allen in the quarterfinals on Saturday … Three teams from District XI will advance to the PIAA State Tournament, which gets underway on Saturday, March 11
Emmaus Coach Steve Yoder:
On facing Liberty – “It’s going to be a tough challenge. I’m sure they (Liberty) are going to be playing with a ‘nothing to lose attitude’ but we’ve put our work in our end and we feel we’re prepared.”
On the concern of a long layoff – “Zero (concern). It never came up in practice in the last 14 days and we focus on what we can control. All we worked on the last two weeks was getting ourselves healthy and getting ourselves in better shape and executing at a higher level. The layoff is what it is. We have no control over it. “
On the long District XI title drought – “Things don’t weigh on me during the season like that. After this season when I’ve had time to breathe and get back to a little bit of a normal life then I’ll look at things like that, but that’s not my mentality or the players mentality right now. We have an opportunity to win a district championship so let’s go win it.”