Big 3 = 200th
Green Hornets coach Steve Yoder collects career mark in victory over Canaries
Entering the 2022-23 boys basketball season, Emmaus had two known scoring commodities in Dylan Darville and Will Barber. Those combined to average 21 points per game a year ago in a 16-8 season.
However, the difference between a good team and a great one is often a third-scoring option. The Green Hornets seem to have that third scorer.
In a 67-57 victory over Allen Tuesday night in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener for both teams, Darville and Barber were joined in double figures by Jametric Harris.
Harris, a 6-foot-3 junior who can play inside or outside, scored a game-high 24 points to join Barber’s 18 and Darville’s 14.
The three standouts took turns taking over the game as Emmaus improved to 2-1 while Allen was playing not only its EPC opener but also its first game of the season.
Harris, who scored just 55 points last season, made five of his team’s six 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys in the third quarter when the Green Hornets began to pull away.
“We all knew it was coming,” Emmaus coach Steve Yoder said of Harris’ big night. “Things didn’t go his way in Philly in our season-opening tournament. He
got into foul trouble. But I told him before the game that it’s home sweet home and he’s comfortable with the rims in this gym.”
Harris was coming off a big
season in the SCBL fall league where he helped his team win a championship and earned praise from his coach Danny Hargrove.
“I was just trying to get open, move my feet, and set them, and I am lucky to have great teammates who found me in open spots,” Harris said. “I had the easiest part just getting open.”
Harris said he worked hard in the offseason and the team developed chemistry.
“We’re really strong,” Harris said. “We have good experience from last year and some new kids coming in who are really good.”
Allen fought through 11 firsthalf turnovers to stay within 39-38 with three minutes left in the third quarter. But Emmaus took over from there a 1-3-1 zone that held the Canaries to just two points over the next seven minutes.
By the time Adrian Figueroa ended the drought with a layup with 4:28 left, Emmaus had a double-digit lead.
“We pride ourselves on being a good third-quarter team,” Yoder said. “We keep it simple in the locker room [at halftime]. We identify anywhere from two to four significant things we need to work on and the kids came out and executed those things and we were able to extend that lead. That 1-3-1 helped us a lot and we were able to be pretty efficient offensively and put up a lot of points.”
Allen succeeded in its attempt to push the temp, but the Canaries were hurt by turnovers that led to easy Emmaus baskets.
Darius Brant led Allen with
13 points and 10 rebounds, while Aaron Schneider added 11 points, but the Canaries missed nine free throws. It was 65-48 at one point before the Allen reserves put together a little flurry to make the final score more respectable.
“We’ve got guys who are inexperienced and this is one of the toughest places to play in the EPC,” said Canaries coach Darnell Braswell. “They have two really good players in Darville and Barber and Jametric Harris turned the game around. I knew he was a great player and he capitalized on our mistakes. We had some self-inflicted wounds, but we give credit to Emmaus because they played a hard-fought game and they held serve on their home court.”
Braswell said his team got too passive against the 1-3-1 zone.
“Barber did a really good job at the top of that 1-3-1 and he got three tipped passes and they got some layups,” Braswell said. “From there we got defeated. We have guys who don’t have a lot of varsity minutes and we’re on the road. But we’re going to learn from it and move forward.”
Allen will play Cumberland Valley in a Hershey Tip-Off Tournament on Friday with another game to follow on Saturday and then return to league play at Parkland on Tuesday.
Emmaus will visit Dieruff (2-0) on Friday.
Yoder’s 200th win
The victory was the 200th in Yoder’s career at Emmaus. The Berwick native, who was a Parkland assistant for four years before coming to Emmaus in 2008, is in his 15th season and has an overall mark of 200-147 with a league title in 2012.
“Well, I know I won’t be around for 300, so I guess I’ll celebrate No. 200 tonight,” he said. “I didn’t say anything to the boys before the game because I always want it to be about them. But in the end, I guess
200 wins means I have a phenomenal staff and I’ve had unbelievable kids along the way. Hopefully we can keep this consistency going.”