After their game against Emmaus High School, Whitehall girls basketball head coach Dwight Repsher was left wondering what could have been.

With Ivanna Jones on the line with a chance to make it a one possession game with just under a minute remaining in regulation, Repsher was confident the junior could cut the lead to one, helping them mount a ferocious comeback after being down by as many as 10 points heading into the final period.

Jones arrived at the line after stealing the ball just before midcourt, and then got hacked under the basket as she attempted a lay-up. However, that foul call was negated after the trailing official ruled there was a foul on the steal.

That put the Green Hornets on the line with the chance to build on their lead after it seemed they were in jeopardy of getting overtaken by the hard-charging Zephs. After they made the first, the game was put out of reach once on the subsequent miss was rebounded by Kiyae White who was a demon on the glass the entire game, especially in the second half.

White got fouled on her put back attempt, and then sank her free throws to help close the door on the Zephs as Emmaus won 45-38.

That chain of events left Repsher exasperated and frustrated.

"We got the game taken from us," said Repsher. "I mean, you can't make that call on Jones' steal. It's a three-point game [at that point.]

"It was a great game. I mean maybe they'll fine me $10,000 but that ruins the game. That just takes a good high school basketball game and ruins it."

The loss, the fourth in a row for the Zephs, puts added emphasis on their final game against Parkland.

Simply put: Win and they're in. By virtue of the tiebreaker with Liberty, the Zephs hold their destiny in their own hands, and defeating rival Parkland for the second time this year will put them in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs as the final wildcard.

The Zephs were also hampered by early foul trouble. Both Karly Klein and Jillian Kreglow had to sit for extended minutes with three fouls apiece in the first half. Both players were effective early against the Hornets Twin Towers of White and Jenna Lessel as the Zephs took a four-point lead into halftime.

"I thought we did a really nice job on Lessel and White in the first half, and kept them off the boards, and really kept them in check which is hard for us. They really present some difficulties for us with their size.

"I mean, we're small. They're huge. And I thought we did a nice job with that, and then we got in foul trouble and there were some things we couldn't do and we had to go a little deeper into our bench."

Repsher also said that opposing coach Jeff Williams made some adjustments at halftime to their match-up zone, forcing Whitehall to switch to a man-to-man once they got deeper in their bench. That opened the door for White to do her damage, grabbing a number of rebounds as well as points from the paint and charity stripe.

For the Zephs, the first half was defined by crisp ball movement, with Jill Rex, Klein, Kreglow, Jones, and Taylor George each getting buckets. Klein was especially adept at finding her stroke on a number of midrange shots, finishing with nine points.

But after the Hornets went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter, it appeared the Zephyrs strong first half was going to be erased. During that run, White was a force in the paint and ended up getting to the foul line five times in that period en route to a game-high 18-point performance.

However, the Zephs rallied thanks to the pressure applied by senior LeAnna Cruz whose energy helped spark the comeback on senior night. She caused a number of turnovers on defense and then attacked the glass on offense, one of those resulting in a three-point play to trim the deficit to three with 59 ticks left.

While the loss may stick in the craw for a time, they'll have to focus on the Trojans who stand in their way of an EPC berth. Repsher doesn't sense any panic, however, realizing his team has been through peaks and valleys all season.

"It's been like that all year, we win four in a row, we lose four in a row," Repsher said.

The Zephyrs also said good-bye to three seniors, with Kelsey Munn, Klein and Cruz most likely playing their final game in Zephyr Gymnasium.