12/9/18
The 2018-19 season couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Kelsey Gallagher and her girls’ basketball team on Saturday afternoon at home at ‘The Hive.’
Emmaus found itself down 11-0 in a blink of an eye from the opening tip as visiting Northwestern from the Colonial League came out firing on all cylinders while the Hornets struggled to find any offense after misfiring on 10 of their 13 field goal attempts and eventually finding themselves down 18-6 after the first eight minutes.
The second quarter wasn’t much better as Emmaus managed just a pair of field goals while Northwestern continued red-hot from the floor, outscoring the Hornets 14-4 and taking a commanding 22-point lead (32-10) into the halftime break.
As one would expect, the large deficit proved too much for a young and inexperienced Emmaus squad to overcome as they eventually dropped their season-opener for the second straight year by a 50-34 margin.
Despite all that, there were positives vibes afterwards from the Hornets second-year coach as she watched her team battle back in the second half as they outscored Northwestern 24-18, winning both the third and fourth quarters.
“A much better second half,” said a pleased Gallagher. “We were down 32-10 at halftime and the girls came back and won the second half and that’s huge. As a coach, I’m really proud.”
“We had a lot of good looks in the first half but they just weren’t falling and they made everything they put up in the first quarter and that’s always tough. We just told the girls at halftime that the game wasn’t over and there’s nothing we can do about the first half and it’s how we step out in the second half. I think we showed the fans and Northwestern that we’re going to be okay this season with the youth we have.”
Emmaus’ lineup consisting of two sophomores, two juniors and one senior, featured five new starters with all five making their first career varsity starts.
Junior Alyssa Burkhart wound up leading the Hornets in scoring with a career-high 12 points, nine of which came in the second half.
“She’s probably the most experienced one on the team minutes-wise and she’s the team leader out their and our veteran guard,” said Gallagher. “She didn’t take a play off. She did it offensively and defensively today.”
Two other players – senior Anne Glowacki and junior Brooke Wunderler – each scored six points while junior Lexi Brader came off the bench and added five.
Northwestern, which was coming off of a 51-42 win over Whitehall on Friday, had a balanced scoring attack led by junior Sydney Sevrain who scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half. Teammates sophomore Emily Sekerak and senior Sage Christopher added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Alex Lister added eight.
For the game, Emmaus shot just 35 percent from the floor (12-34), but 54 percent (7-13) after half. The Hornets were actually better from beyond the arc where they shot 42 percent (5-12). Northwestern finished the game at 47 percent (21-45), including a blistering 59 percent (13-22) in the first half.
The Hornets will look to bounce back on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as they hit the road for the first time travelling north up Cedar Crest Boulevard to take on rival Parkland in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener.
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NW – Lister 3 2-2 8, Sevran 6 0-0 15, Hess 1 0-0 2, Sekerak 4 3-4 11, Christopher 5 0-2 10, Subs: Betz 1 0-0 2, Ledeboer 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Grohotolski 0 0-0 0, Bleam 0 0-0 0. Totals: FG -21, FT 5-8, 3s 3 (Sevran 3).
Em – Bianca Rollins 1-5 0-0 2, Anne Glowacki 2-2 0-2 6, Alyssa Burkhart 3-7 4-6 12, Brooke Wunderler 2-5 1-2 6, Gabrielle Martin 0-5 0-0 0. Subs: Kayla Griffith 0-1 0-0 0, Lexi Brader 2-3 1-2 5, Ky Anthony 0-4 0-0 0, Marah Sisonick 1-1 1-2 3, Megan Petrizzi 0-1 0-0 0, Michelle Cox 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: FG 12-34, FT 7-13, 3s 5-12 (Burkhart 2, Glowacki 2, Wunderler)
NW – 18-14-10-8 – 50
Em – 6-4-13-11 – 34
JV – Emmaus 27-23
Fresh – Emmaus 41-26