RECAP >> Riding high after its first-round upset of Pocono Mountain West last Friday, the Emmaus girls basketball team was hoping that the momentum of that win would carry over last night as they faced rival Central Catholic for the third time this season in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinal held at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.
Having already lost twice to the Vikettes during the regular-season with the average margin of defeat being 24 1/2 points, the Hornets certainly had their work cut out for them and it showed in the first half as they trailed by nine (23-14) at the break.
But Emmaus, a team that has shown throughtout the season that they can play with anyone, certainly proved that after halftime as they trimmed as much as an 11-point deficit to a one possession game early into the fourth quarter.
The comeback, however, fell short and Emmaus’ hopes of reaching its first league title game since 2007 did as well as Central Catholic was able to pull away late for a 50-37 victory.
The Vikettes outscored the Hornets 19-11 in the crucial fourth quarter and were a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line as they won their 12th straight game and 13th straight over Emmaus to advance to Thursday’s championship final opposite top-seeded Easton, which defeated fifth-seeded Becahi 47-34 in the other semifinal.
Junior Sammy Roth led a balanced scoring attack for the winners as she scored a game-high 15 points. Classmate Molly Driscoll added 13 in the win, while senior Maddi Szoke and junior Milly Wolf each chipped in eight points.
For Emmaus, which dropped to 14-10 on the season, junior Taylor Griffith and freshman Olive Whitney each had three 3-pointers and finished with a team-high nine points. Junior Mya Cooper was next with seven for the Hornets who were without the services of freshman Gabby De Vita who missed her second straight game with a concussion.
Emmaus shot just 32 percent from the field (14 of 43) compared to Central Catholic’s 44 percent (16 of 36). The Vikings committed 14 turnovers in the game to just 11 for the Hornets. A big difference in the game was at the free-throw line where CCHS shot 90 percent (18 of 20) compared to the Hornets 43 percent (3 of 7).
Up next for Emmaus will the District XI Class 6A playoffs which get underway on Friday, February 24. The Hornets are likely to be the No.4 seed and face fifth-seeded Nazareth for the second consecutive year. The official pairings will be released this weekend.
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CCHS 50, Emmaus 37
Em – Paige Inman 2 2-2 6, Taylor Griffith 3 0-0 9, Mya Cooper 3 1-3 7, Sofie Laird 1 0-0 2, Cassandra Doemling 0 0-0 0, Olive Whitney 3 0-0 9, Sierra Stevens 0 0-2 0, Julia Adams 0 0-0 0, Emma Naccarato 2 0-0 4, Sylvia Sokolofski 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 15, FT 3-7, 3s – 6 (Griffith 3, Whitney 3)
CC – Molly Driscoll 3 7-7 13, Maddi Szoke 3 2-2 8, Sammi Roth 6 3-3 15, Milly Wolfe 2 4-4 8, Abbey Kofroth 1 2-2 4, Lauren Egan 0 0-0 0, Isabel Martinez 1 0-0 2, Mercedes Martinez 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 16, FT 18-20, 3s – 0
Em – 3-11-12-11 – 37
CC – 10-13-8-19 – 50