Playing Easton over the last decade plus has proven quite the challenge for most teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, including Emmaus.
It had been 12 long years since the last time that the Hornets have come out on the winning end against the Red Rovers, that being a 42-29 victory at Easton in the 2011-12 season.
Despite the long drought, that hardly fazed first year head coach Avon Mack’s team tonight playing on Easton’s home floor in the championship game of the 28th Annual Jack Bennett Easton Rotary Club Basketball Tournament.
Behind a spectacular 18-point effort from sophomore Kayla Snyder and a suffocating defense, Emmaus exacted for years of frustration against the Red Rovers with a dominating 42-23 win in the title game.
It was the first championship in three tries for the Hornets, who had lost to Easton last year 44-31 in the opening-round of the tournament and 54-24 two years ago when the two met in the finals.
Emmaus has now won six straight to improve to 9-1 overall on the season.
Snyder had a huge effort in helping lead her team to the victory as she drained four 3-pointers and scored 11 of her points in the first half as the Hornets built an 18-11 lead at the break.
Junior Gabby DeVita added eight points in the win, while senior Cassie Doemling had six for Emmaus, which won despite its lowest offensive output of the season.
DeVita was named the tournament’s MVP and Snyder was also named to the all-tournament team.
For Easton, which entered the game unbeaten at 7-0, senior Kourin Carew led the way with a team-high 13 points. The Red Rovers were held to just nine field goals in the game and well below their season average of 59 points per game.
Phillipsburg claimed third place in the tournament defeating Freedom 44-43 in the consolation game.
Emmaus will return to action after the new year when they travel to Stroudsburg on January 3 at 7 p.m.
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Emmaus 42, Easton 23
Em – Kayla Snyder 7 0-0 18, Gabby DeVita 3 1-2 8, Sylvia Sokolofski 1 0-0 3, Sofie Laird 1 0-0 3, Cassie Doemling 3 0-0 6, Olive Whitney 1 0-0 3, Emma Naccarato 0, Sierra Stevens 0 1-2 1. Totals: FG 16, FT 2-4, 3s (8 – Snyder 4, Whitney, DeVita, Sokolofski, Laird)
Ea – Natalie Amato 1 0-0 3, Gabby Wismer 1 0-0 3, Melina Cole 2 0-0 4, Ava Muhammad 0, Kourin Carew 5 2-2 13, Gurleen Tung 0, Asia Martin 0, Sarah Pulcini 0. Totals: FG 9, FT 2-2, 3s (3 – Amato, Wismer, Carew)
Em – 5-13-14-10 – 42
Ea – 7-4-5-7 – 23