When Emmaus girls basketball head coach Carl Scheitrum spoke to his team before last Tuesday night’s against Stroudsburg, he told the players that night’s game was a must-win if the Hornets want to be a good team and reach their goals this year.

“I told them that I think they are a great team,” said Scheitrum. “But if they want to prove to everyone that they are a good team, and reach the goals of a District 11 tournament, this is a game they have to win.”

The Hornets proved just that. They overcame first- and second-half deficits to pull out a one-point victory, 50-49, over the Mounties at Emmaus High School last Tuesday night.

Senior Destanee Watkins hit two free throws with less than 10 seconds left to give Emmaus a 49-48 lead.

“Those were very important shots that Destanee hit for us,” said Scheitrum. “She’s a senior and I had confidence in her to step up to the line and make them. It was great for our team to get a win like this.”

The game was close for nearly the entire 32 minutes. There were four lead changes and six ties. The largest lead of the game was 11 points by the Mounties midway through the third quarter.

“It was one of those games that you were just excited to be a part of,” said Scheitrum. “Anyone of us could have come out as a winner, but it came down to who made the big shots on offense and who made the big stops on defense.”

Watkins and Cayley Grabowski had big first quarters with six points each. But it was Jenna Lessel who had even more of an impact early on. The senior tallied eight points, a block, a steal and a rebound in the first couple of minutes. She was the focal point of the offensive attack as Stroudsburg struggled to defend her.

But the Mounties knew if they wanted a chance to win, they had to do it with Lessel off the court. So on their offensive end, they continued to take the ball to the basket and try to force a whistle. Lessel wound up getting into early foul trouble, as her second foul kept her out for most of the second quarter, and her third kept her out until the game’s final eight minutes.

After Emmaus (3-2 overall, 2-1 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference) led for most of the first quarter and held a 20-15 heading into the second, Stroudsburg began scoring much easier without Lessel defending in the paint. They held six-point leads after both the second and third quarters.

In Lessel’s absence, Watkins and Grabowski stepped up and kept the Green Hornets in the game. They combined to score 14 in the second half, and force turnovers on defense to get Emmaus back in it.

“Destanee and Cayley really stepped up when we needed them most,” Scheitrum said. “Jenna was playing really well, but when she got into foul trouble we started to fall behind. But those two kept us in striking distance.”

Down 48-47 late in the fourth quarter, Watkins was fouled and advanced to the charity stripe for a one and one. She connected on both to give Emmaus its first lead since the second quarter, and then after a Mounties turnover, Lessel hit made one of two free throws to give her team a 49-47 edge.

The Mounties had a chance to tie when Natalia McClaren was fouled grabbing a rebound from a missed Stroudsburg shot. McClaren missed the first shot and hit the second. Emmaus inbounded the ball and ran out the time for a big, come from behind victory.