RECAP >> Don’t look now, but Emmaus is playing some of its best basketball of the season, and their doing it with a lot of young talent.
Head coach Kelsey Gallagher’s team, with two freshmen, two sophomores and just one senior in her starting lineup , pulled away from a tight game with Liberty at the half to earn a 53-45 victory on Tuesday night at ‘The Hive.’
Emmaus, which had snapped a 26-game Eastern Pennsylvania Conference losing streak with a win over Pocono Mountain East last Saturday, won its second straight league contest and they also picked up their third win in the last four contests. They also avenged a 34-31 loss to Liberty a year ago and defeated the Hurricane for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
“Our energy, our motivation to want to come out and compete and make a difference, that’s what we talk about all the time,” said the Hornets third year coach following the game on Penn Sports Radio. “We want to put Emmaus girls basketball back on the map and that is what’s making our girls hungry. “
“We have a couple of girls that play two sports and they want to be part of turning a program around, and they’ve really latched on to that and their committed to doing what they need to do.”
Freshman Paige Inman scored 10 of her career-high 15 points in the second half, and for her efforts, she was named the Penn Sports Radio Player of the Game.
“Paige brings so much to the table defensively as a coach it’s hard to take someone like that out of that game,” said Gallagher of Inman who’s also a standout soccer player. “Tonight, she played more that just defense. She stepped up on the offensive end and she made some big time shots that really put the momentum on our side. ”
Another ninth-grader, Keziah Brantley also had a solid game despite getting into some early foul trouble as she reached double figures for the fifth time this season finishing with 11 points.
Two seniors – Alyssa Burkhart and Brooke Wunderler – also were key contributors in the win with both having big second halves. Burkhart had a pair of 3-pointers and scored all 8 of her points in the third quarter, while all of Wunderler’s damage came in the final quarter as she scored six.
” For someone like Brooke, she’s been a starter for the last two years and the last three games she’s first off the bench and she hasn’t let that affect her play,” said Gallagher. “She always plays hard she did exactly what she needed to do. She executed and she was confident in her shooting.”
“For Alyssa, she didn’t score in the first half, but she did a lot of nice things. She’s our veteran out on the court with two freshmen and two sophomores in our lineup.”
After jumping out to a 12-5 lead after one quarter, Emmaus was outscored 14-7 in the second and found itself in 19-all tie at the half. The second half, however, belonged to the Hornets as they were able to outdistance themselves from the Hurricane, scoring a combined 34 points in the third and fourth quarters.
Meanwhile, defensively, Emmaus was stout as they forced 23 Liberty turnovers in the game. In three of their last four games, the Hornets are allowing just 36 points per game to their opponent.
“Liberty was led in scoring by freshman Jessica Farrell who had a game-high 19 points. Classmate Layla Orth added 11 for the Hurricane who were hurt with 23 turnovers in the game. Liberty dropped to 2-8 in the EPC and 4-8 overall.
Emmaus will look to extend its win streak to three games on Friday when they make the long road trip north to take on East Stroudsburg North at 7 p.m. The matchup will be a battle of siblings as Gallagher takes on her sister, Carly, the head coach of the Timberwolves.
Like Emmaus girls basketball on facebook, follow @Emmaussports.com on twitter for continued updates on the team throughout the season.
Liberty – Kathryn Wescoe 0 3-5 3, Jessica Farrell 7 5-9 19, Julia Curti 0 0-0 0, Erin Eisenhart 0 1-2 1, Layla Orth 3 4-6 9, Morgan Bokan 3 0-0 8, Alondra Cruz 1 0-0 2. Totals: FG 14, FT 12-22, 3s – 3 (Bokan 2, Orth)
Emmaus – Keziah Bantley 3 3-6 11, Paige Inman 3 7-10 15, Kam Watkins 1 1-2 3, Alyssa Burkhart 2 2-3 8, Grace Oglesbee 2 0-0 4, Subs: Bianca Rollins 0 0-0 0, Marah Sisonick 0 0-2 0, Sarah Hoch 1 0-0 2, Brooke Wunderler 2 2-2 6, Steph Klemick 0 0-0 0, Gabrielle Martin 0 0-1 0, Ella Quiggle 1 2-4 4. Totals: FG 15, FT 17-31, 3s – 6 (Brantley 2, Inman 2, Burkhart 2)
Lib – 5-14-17-9 – 45
Em – 12-7-20-14 – 53
JV – Emmaus 52-35 (Emmaus undefeated on the season)