Rising senior Matt Kachelries led the Emmaus boys basketball team in scoring with 11 points, but it was the play of an upcoming junior that may have led to the 33-30 win over Central Catholic last Thursday evening at Allen High School’s Sewards Gymnasium.

Leading 32-30 with under a minute remaining, a missed free-throw by the Green Hornets was rebounded by a diving Josh Artis to grab the loose ball before a Vikings player could get to it. He then hit one of two from the free-throw line.

Kachelries stole the ball on the ensuing possession to seal the Stellar Summer League victory.

“We’ve been trying to promote that all summer long,” said Emmaus summer league head coach Erik Farkas. “Matt and Daryn [Lewis] are seniors and are leading us with their energy.

“It just came to Josh there and he showed us a lot diving on the floor. We finally got someone to buy into it in a critical moment.”

Artis got the scoring going in the second half and gave Emmaus (5-2 overall) the lead after trailing 18-17 at halftime. He finished with seven points and five rebounds on the night, and was matched up with some talented Central Catholic big men.

“We mixed up some 2-3 zone and some man-to-man,” said Farkas. “We ask for a lot from the guys on the defensive end to pick things up quickly and play with a lot of energy. That will help us lead to our fast break scoring.”

The Vikings (5-3 overall) came back to take the lead, and led 24-23 midway through the second half. But the senior Lewis stepped up and hit a 3-pointer to give the Green Hornets the lead back for good. Lewis and sophomore Zach Sabol each had five points.

These two teams know each other well, and are always in competitive games. Thursday night was no different.

“It’s a great rivalry, Central and Emmaus, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Farkas said. “They’re well-coached and have great players returning. They see us on the schedule and they want to play hard, just like when we see them on the schedule.”

Senior David Kachelries is projected to return to the lineup this week after missing time with an injured hand.