It is a difficult thing to go undefeated in high school basketball, but at the holiday break, there were two teams that had the opportunity to continue along that path. Unfortunately for Emmaus, it was on the losing end of a tournament final, dropping their first game of the season against the No. 1 ranked team in the state at the 6A level Allen.

But with the new year, the Green Hornets (7-1 overall, 5-0 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference) turned the page and continued their winning ways from the end of 2016, with a 77-61 victory at home against Whitehall (8-2 overall, 4-1 EPC) last Tuesday night at Emmaus. Because the holiday tournament game against Allen wasn’t a conference game, Emmaus still is unbeaten in the EPC, and with the win over the Zephyrs, took sole possession of first place in the EPC Skyline Division.

Seniors David and Matt Kachelries, along with sophomore Zach Sabol were the catalysts behind the win. The three combined for 67 of the 77 points. Sabol was a force inside the paint. He showed the footwork and shooting ability that will scare any opposing defender in going 9-for-13 from the field, scoring a career-high 20 points, and also grabbing 14 rebounds.

“We love the big fellow,” said head coach Steve Yoder. “He’s getting better and better. It’s almost scary how good Zach can be.”

Sabol and Matt Kachelries did most of the scoring in the first half for the Green Hornets. Sabol had 12, and Kachelries had 13 of his game-high 27 points as Emmaus, who trailed most of the first half, took a 33-32 lead into halftime.

But the Zephyrs came out of the locker room to the tune of an 8-2 run to take a 40-35 edge.

A 3-pointer each from the Kachelries brothers put Emmaus back in front 46-45 late in the third quarter, and they never trailed again from that point.

David had 18 of his 20 in the second half, and Matt added 14 in the final two quarters, while drilling four shots from beyond the arc and pulling in 13 rebounds.

“I was just feeling it tonight,” said Matt Kachelries. “Every time I shot the ball, I thought that it was going to go in. And defensively I knew Zach needed help down low with Josh [Artis] being out, so I had to get in on some rebounding.”

The Green Hornets finished the third quarter on an 18-5 spurt, and led a majority of the fourth quarter by double-digits, and took a one-game lead over Whitehall in the Skyline division.

“It was a big win for us coming back like we did,” Matt Kachelries said. “We both came into the game undefeated in the league, so whoever won this game was going to take a step in the right direction. We knew how important this one was, and we came out and played like it.”

Emmaus has games this week on the road at Freedom (Tuesday) and at home against East Stroudsburg South (Friday).