Heading into its Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys basketball playoff game with Central Catholic earlier this week, Steve Yoder said his team was prepared, like they’ve been on most nights this season.
After an outstanding 18-4 regular season, which included a 14-2 mark and the tournament’s top overall seed, there weren’t many reasons to believe that Emmaus wouldn’t be ready for its third go-around against rival Central Catholic with a trip to the championship on the line.
But they weren’t, and that’s what makes what happened at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown difficult to understand and at the same time, disappointing.
Looking to get back to its first league championship game since 2018-19 and searching for the program’s first title since 2012, Emmaus dropped its semifinal to Central Catholic as the Vikings controlled play from the opening tip in defeating the Hornets 64-52.
The loss marked the second consecutive year that the Vikings have ousted the Hornets from the tournament and it was also two wins in three meetings for Central Catholic, which went on to capture the EPC Championship with a 61-54 victory over Pocono Mountain West.
“It’s disappointing because before the season we set goals for ourselves and one of our goals was to win the post-season tournament,” said Yoder, the Hornets 15th year coach by phone following his team’s loss.
“They (CCHS) didn’t surprise us. We were completely prepared, but for some reason it just didn’t translate from practice to the game. It’s on me and the kids will own it as well.”
The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Emmaus, which was coming off an impressive 60-39 quarterfinal round victory last Friday at home against Liberty.
In a building that’s been known in the past to give teams fits when it comes to shooting percentages, Emmaus had one of its worst of the season as they shot just 41 percent (19 of 46) and just 24 percent (6 of 25) from beyond the arc. Defensively, the 64 points was the third most this season for a team allowing just 49 per game.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well and we own that,” said Yoder. “It did appear to me, however, that a number of the shots rattled in and out. You also have to give credit to their defense because they were great.”
The Hornets, uncharacteristically, were also sloppy taking care of the basketball.
“We were out of sorts from the opening tip and we got sloppy, but it’s all fixable,” said Yoder. “I’m more disappointed that we had 16 turnovers because normally we only average around nine. Our team has really taken good care of the basketball all season, but credit goes to Central Catholic because they are lanky and athletic and pose problems for a lot of teams and we didn’t handle it well.”
Junior Will Barber led Emmaus in scoring with a team-high 14 points, but just three coming in the second half. Seniors Dylan Darville and Chase Muckey added 13 and 12 points, respectively, while classmate Jake Fotta chipped in eight.
Central Catholic, which improved to 16-8 on the season, was paced by a pair of sophomores who combined for 33 points. Jahrel Vigo led all scorers with a game-high 21 points while Lucas Mushrush drained four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points. Off the bench, junior David Fridia grabbled 14 rebounds and five points.
Emmaus will now be off for almost two weeks before its next game in the District XI Class 6A playoffs on March 1. Similar to its ranking in the EPC, Emmaus will once again be the No.1 seed and will receive a first-round bye before taking on the winner of No.4 Liberty or No.5 Allen.
“For some reason we were not able to ring the bell and we are going to learn from this,” said Yoder, “but we’re excited for the opportunity to compete in districts and do something that hasn’t been done here in 37 years.”
And that is to win a District XI Championship, which has only been done once before in program history — that coming way back in 1986.
“We’re 19-5 and we’ve had a great season,” he added. “The fact that we didn’t win a league championship is a missed opportunity and those things happen in life, but let’s learn from it.
“This group doesn’t worry me. I love everything about this team. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out but we have enjoyed the journey and hopefully we can continue celebrating this team and make a run in districts.”
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CCHS 64, Emmaus 52
CC – Nico Puleri 2 4-4 8, Anthony Jones 2 4-6 8, Griffin Patridge 3 2-4 9, Jahrel Vigo 9 3-4 21, Lucas Mushrush 4 0-0 12, David Fridia 1 4-4 6, Alistair Stewart Smith 0 0-0 0, NaSean Davis 0 0-0 0, Jakeir Ensley 0-0 0, Cole Cook 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 21, FT 16-22, 3s – 6 (Mushrush 4, Patridge 2)
Em – Will Barber 6 1-1 14, Dylan Darville 4 4-6 13, Jametric Harris 1 0-0 3, Jake Fotta 3 0-0 8, Chase Muckey 4 3-4 12, Jackson Lake 1 0-0 2, Teague McCourt 0 0-0 0, Mike Ekenyere 0 0-2 0, Dom Nunez 0 0-0 0, Jack Curley-Katrishen 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 19, FT 8-13, 3s – 6 (Fotta 2, Muckey, Barber, Darville, Harris)
CC – 15-14-11-24 – 64
Em – 10-14-8-20 – 52