If anyone told Hornet fans that junior guard David Kachelries would score just four points in last Friday night’s game against Nazareth, most people would think that Emmaus was going to lose the game. Kachelries has been the leading scorer for the Green Hornets early on in the season, and is the catalyst for the team’s offense.

The junior picked up two first-half fouls in a quick succession with just a little over four minutes left in the opening quarter. He had only two points at that time and went to the bench until halftime.

But the Hornets looked to their seniors to step up and to remain unbeaten as they took on another undefeated team in the Blue Eagles in a Skyline Division battle in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

“Throughout the season thus far we’ve struggled a little bit from the free-throw line,” said Joey Polczynski. “But at practice we’ve hit them. It was kind of weird for us to be doing that. But tonight just showed us that we can do it and we can win big games against good teams like Nazareth. They’re a good team, but I just feel like we out-executed them down the stretch with free-throws. Our toughness and confidence really came out.”

Polczynski scored nine of his season-high 15 points in the first half, while classmate Cameron Widdoss scored eight of his career-high 12 points in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers, as Emmaus (6-0 overall, 4-0 EPC) remained perfect on the season with a hard-fought 49-45 win over Nazareth.

Both teams struggled with possession and with scoring. There were 18 turnovers apiece.

“This was a typical Emmaus-Nazareth game,” said head coach Steve Yoder. “It was a physical, blue-collar game. I told my coaches before the game that 50 was going to be the magic number if we played well and executed. We didn’t quite get there but it was enough. The game kind of went as I expected. A close game in the 40s and we had just enough.”

Widdoss and Polczynski picked up their game in the absence of Kachelries.

The Hornets led throughout the first half. They were ahead 11-9 after the first quarter and maintained a one-point advantage (21-20) at the break. The only time Nazareth led in the game was at the end of the third quarter, 30-29, when Kevin Wagner drained a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go.

In the fourth quarter, Emmaus outscored Nazareth 20-15, with Widdoss scoring eight of his points including two NBA-range three-pointers. He also made a pair of key free-throws down the stretch. He, along with Polczynski and classmate Brandon Rapose, went 2-of-4 from the charity stripe to add to the lead.

The Blue Eagles (5-1 overall, 3-1 EPC) got to within two twice at 43-41 and 47-45, but did not score again.

To go along with the theme, Nazareth had two chances to tie the game with a 3-point attempt, but turned it over both times.

“It was a huge win for us,” noted Polczynski. “I remember hearing chatter before this game about who’s real and who’s not. Well we’re real. We’re here, and we’re ready to play. We want to have a great season, and wins like this on our home floor are big.”