After battling rival Parkland in a competitive game less than 20 hours earlier, Emmaus had a quick turnaround on Saturday getting ready for their final non-league and home game of the season against Pottstown.
The game, which was originally scheduled at Pottstown but moved to Emmaus, was played at an early afternoon start time of 2:30 p.m. and before a very small crowd.
Despite the early start time and sparse crowd, that hardly seemed to bother head coach Eric Luckenbill’s team as they knew the importance of getting a win to keep their post-season hopes alive.
Emmaus, needing to win its final two games to clinch a berth in districts, jumped out to an early five-point lead after the first quarter and a 13-point advantage at the half behind a 3-point barrage, which included nine triples in the first half.
That lead, and the Hornets playoff hopes, seemed safe at the time.
Even after third quarter when they were outscored 16-11 by the visitors, Emmaus still was in control leading by eight.
But then came the final eight minutes.
And a fourth quarter the Hornets would like to forget as they lost not one, not two, but three starters to injuries and watched as Pottstown was able to rally for a 64-56 win ending Emmaus’ hopes of reaching the post-season.
“The message (after the game) is that I’m heartbroken for them and I feel like I should have done a better job today,” said Luckenbill after addressing his team.
Pottstown, who had also played last night and entered the game with a 10-11 record, outscored Emmaus 25-9 in the fourth quarter. After trailing by 14, the Trojans outscored the Hornets 31-9 the rest of the way.
“You have to give them (Pottstown) credit for coming out and doing what they did,” said Luckenbill. “I talked to the boys before the game how they are going to push the ball, hunt for threes and attack the offensive glass.
“We did a pretty good job in the first half of not letting them get second shots and we unleashed that 3-point barrage for the first time all season which we knew we were capable of. In the second half, we got just a little too content, but I thought we were turning that around at the end of the third and even into the fourth quarter. I thought we kind of settled into a rhythm, but when you have two of your best players walk off the floor when you don’t expect it’s hard to overcome and we weren’t able to overcome it.”
Sophomore Noeah Newsome left the game late in the third quarter and didn’t return; junior Matt Rooney got injured with a little under six minutes left in the final quarter; and senior Jayden Swan also left in the fourth quarter. All three had to watch helplessly from the sideline as their lead and playoff hopes were coming to an end.
Junior Jake Ross, one of the few remaining starters on the court, wound up leading Emmaus in scoring with a game-high 17 points, but only in two after halftime. Rooney added 14 before leaving the game.
Pottstown had a balanced scoring attack with four players reaching double figures. Senior Syncere Whitehurst led the way with four 3-pointers and a team-high 12 points, classmates Karmin Robinson and Yahsir Wood each added 11 points and senior Elias Butler added 10 for the Trojans who evened their overall mark at 11-11.
The Hornets will close out their season on Monday at 7 p.m. as they travel to Whitehall.
“We still have an opportunity to play one more game together and we owe it to ourselves and our seniors to show up and do everything we can to play hard to win a game on Monday and that’s what we are going to do,” said Luckenbill.
To stay up to date with Emmaus sports, follow on ‘X’ and like Emmaus sports on facebook.
Pottstown 64, Emmaus 56
Potts – Syncere Whitehurst 4 0-0 12, Kamrin Robinson 2 7-9 11, Malachi Robbins 0, Yahsir Wood 5 1-2 11, Elias Butler 2 6-11 10, Nyriece Joseph 1 0-0 2, Antwan Lofton 2 3-5 8, Rashawn Mines 0, Ikeem Wolloh 1 0-0 2, Amari Stillman 2 0-0 6. Totals: FG 20, FT 17-30, 3s (7 – Whitehurst 4, Lofton, Jones)
Em – Jayden Swan 2 0-0 4, Ben Grochowski 2 0-0 5, Matt Rooney 5 1-3 14, Noeah Newsome 2 0-0 6, Jake Ross 6 2-2 17, Kellen Hafner 0 3-4 3, Ty Laird 0, Tyler Leman 1 2-2 5, Othello Karto 0, Mitch Pisarcik 0, Janiel Pena 0, Ted Laird 1 0-0 2. Totals: FG 19, FT 8-11, 3s (10 – Ross 3, Rooney 3, Newsome 2, Grochowski, Leman)
Potts – 13-10-16-25 – 64
Em – 18-18-11-9 – 56