It’s not often that in a high school basketball game where one team can turn the ball over at an alarming high rate and still come out on the winning end.
But that’s nearly the way that it played out for the Emmaus in their season-opener on Saturday afternoon at home against a very talented Wilson squad from Berks County.
Despite committing an incredible 33 turnovers, the Hornets actually led by eight points with over a little over four minutes left in regulation with an opportunity to start the season on a positive note.
But some costly turnovers late in regulation allowed Wilson to rally and tie the game and force overtime where the Bulldogs eventually wound up defeating Emmaus 51-46.
It was the first defeat of the season for the Hornets and a game they probably feel they should have won.
Considering the opponent and the talent that the Bulldogs brought to ‘The Hive,’ Avon Mack wasn’t all too disappointed with his team’s effort.
“I just told the girls after the game that I was super proud of them,” said the Hornets second year head coach on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network’s LIVE coverage of the game. “To come out here and play probably one of the tougher teams that we are going to have on our schedule and to play like that, I’m proud of our girls.
“You’re going to have to account for turnovers in your first game, but we can’t have over 30,” he added. “To say that we had that many in the game and we were still in says a lot. This is a game we can grow from.”
It certainly is.
Coming off a historic season a year ago where they went 25-3, had a 22-game win streak and captured the program’s first league championship in 18 years, the Hornets took the floor with just one returning starter in senior Gabby DeVita and four new faces in the lineup, including two talented sophomores and Eva Glover and Gracie Ervin. Emmaus also lost a talented point guard and scorer in the offseason in Kayla Snyder who transferred out of the program.
Wilson, on the other hand, had an experienced squad returning all five starters from a team that qualified for states a year ago and heads into this season as the favorite in Berks County.
One of those starters, junior Kailani Hardy, once again proved to be a tough matchup for Emmaus as she scored a game-high 21 points, 15 of those coming after halftime. Hardy also had a game-high 25 points a year ago when Emmaus went to Wilson and handed the Bulldogs a 55-48 defeat.
For Emmaus, DeVita led the way with a team-high 19 points. Ervin, making her first career varsity start, added eight points in the defeat while Glover was a force on the boards with 20 rebounds.
“We had one returning starter out there today, ” said Mack. “Everybody else that was in our starting lineup is a new role so it’s going to take some time to figure what to do on the court and help this team.”
Neither team shot particularly well from the free throw line with Wilson shooting 56 percent (9 of 16) compared to Emmaus’ 50 percent (7 of 14). The Bulldogs also had trouble taking care of the basketball committing 23 turnovers of their own.
Emmaus will look to bounce back when they return to action on Monday at 7 p.m. hosting Allentown Central Catholic in their EPC opener.
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Wilson 51, Emmaus 46 (OT)
Wil – Violet Houck 1 3-6 5, Laila Jones 1 0-0 3, Ryan Leaman 2 0-0 4, Laura Crocona 2 1-2 6, Kailani Hardy 7 5-6 21, Janai Tisdale 2 0-0 4, Jade Lee 4 0-2 8. Totals: FG 19, FT 9-16, 3s (4 – Hardy 2, Jones, Crocona)
Em – Olive Whitney 2 0-0 6, Eva Glover 1 1-2 3, Gabby DeVita 8 1-5 19, Gracie Ervin 2 3-4 8, Sierra Stevens 3 0-0 6, Kaitlyn Grochowski 0, Olivia Haberl 1 2-3 4, Makayla McGinnis 0, Gabby East 0. Totals: FG 17, FT 7-14, 3s (5 – Whitney 2, DeVita 2, Ervin)
Wil – 10-9-9-14-9 – 51
Em – 7-12-9-14-4 – 46
GAME REPLAY: https://easternpasportsnet1.mixlr.com/recordings/2964478