Endings are never easy and Tuesday night’s loss by Emmaus in their second round PIAA State playoff game vs Dallastown was especially difficult and at the same time painful.
The Hornets and their fans that made the 1-hour 20-minute trek to Ephrata Middle School probably thought late in the game that it was going to them and not the Wildcats advancing to the ‘Elite 8’ in the state.
Emmaus, the District 11 runners-up, had a seven-point lead (48-41) entering the fourth quarter, built the advantage to as much as a nine early in the final period, and even with a little over two minutes to play, still lead by six.
But costly turnovers, which at times have plagued the Hornets in the post-season, allowed Dallastown to rally as they forced overtime.
In the extra session, a quick 5-0 run by Emmaus put them on top, but after that it was the Wildcats that used a 9-1 run to close out the game as the District 3 runners-up escaped with a 68-85 overtime win in a very entertaining game that was marred by questionable officiating on both sides.
With 19.2 seconds left on the clock and trailing by three, the Hornets had one final opportunity to tie the game but never got a 3-point attempt. Instead, they had to settle for baseline jumper by sophomore Eva Glover that fell short as the Wildcats celebrated while Emmaus’ season came to a heartbreaking end.
The Hornets, who were coming off of their first state playoff win in 19 years over Central Bucks East last Friday, ended the year at 21-8. Not a bad season for second year head coach Avon Mack’s squad that loss three starters to graduation and a fourth that transferred off of last year’s team which finished with a 25-3 overall record.
Meanwhile, for Dallastown, their season continues as they advance on to the Elite 8 on Friday and a date with District 7 champ Canon-McMillan which defeated District 8 champ Allderdice 49-37.
In the loss, senior Gabby DeVita closed out her stellar high school career with her second straight 21-point effort in the state playoffs. DeVita wound up with 1,360 points placing her fourth on the all-time scoring list for girls’ basketball players at the school.
Classmate Olive Whitney had three 3-pointers and 13 points, while sophomore Eva Glover chipped in 12. Off the bench, sophomore Gracie Ervin added seven and Olivia Haberl provided a spark playing one of her best games of the season as she also added seven — all in the second half.
For Dallastown (26-4), they also had a balanced scoring attack with four different players reaching double figures. Senior Ava Jamison, a 1,000 career-point scorer, and freshman Natalie McLane, who drained six 3-pointers in the game, each had a team-high 20 points, while talented freshman Denyla Handy added 15 and senior Sophia Scovitch 11 for the Wildcats.
Dallastown had a 16-15 lead after one quarter and built as much as a 10-point advantage (28-18) in the second before Emmaus was able to rally cut the deficit to four (31-27) at the break. In the third quarter, the Hornets dominated outscoring the Wildcats 21-10 setting up the wild fourth quarter and overtime period.
Last night’s game marked the final one in the high school careers of Emmaus’ four seniors — Gabby DeVita, Olive Whitney, Sierra Stevens and Kaitlyn Grochowski.
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[Editor’s note: This story will be updated later with comments from Emmaus head coach Avon Mack]
Dallastown 68, Emmaus 65 OT
Em – 15-12-21-11-6 – 65
Dal – 16-15-10-18-9 – 68
Em – Olive Whitney 4 2-2 13, Eva Glover 5 2-2 12, Gabby DeVita 9 0-0 21, Sierra Stevens 2 1-2 5, Gabby East 0, Gracie Ervin 3 1-2 7, Olivia Haberl 3 0-0 7. Totals: FG 26, FT 6-10, 3s (7 – DeVita 3, Whitney 3, Haberl)
Dal – Olivia Cleaver 0 0-2 0, Sophia Scovitch 3 2-4 11, Denyla Handy 6 3-4 15, Ava Jamison 8 2-3 20, Natalie McLane 7 0-0 20, Riley Gentzler 1 0-0 2, Camryn Strouse 0. Totals: FG 25, FT 7-13, 3s (11 – McLane 6, Scovitch 3, Jamison 2)