It seems that every time the Emmaus boys basketball team plays in Rockne Hall, the best of the Hornets’ game comes out. In the historic venue, Emmaus has found a lot of recent success, and last Friday night was no different.

Under the bright lights in an important Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Skyline Division game, the Green Hornets stepped up on both sides of the court and took down a surging Central Catholic team 59-36 at Central Catholic High School.

The victory was the fifth straight conference win since falling to Parkland back on January 17. The Vikings had also come into the game on a winning streak, beating Bethlehem Catholic and Whitehall in consecutive league contests.

“It’s always big coming in here and getting a win,” said head coach Steve Yoder. “We were really good defensively tonight, and it’s well-documented how much I enjoy coming here. Central has been playing really well lately, so to come here and hold them to 36 points shows that we’re getting better [defensively].”

The win over Central was the second straight game in which Emmaus (17-3 overall, 13-1 EPC) held its opponents to 36 points. The Hornets beat Northampton 46-36 earlier in the week.

Emmaus led Central (10-10, 6-8) from the opening tip, and never trailed, holding leads of five after the first quarter and six at halftime.

“It all started on defense,” said Matt Kachelries, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We made some stops and forced some turnovers, which gave us good looks on the other end in transition. We were just trying to keep up pressure on the defensive end of the court, and that would make everything else easier.”

Kachelries, along with his brother David (12 points), led the team in scoring. The twins were catalysts in the fast break. Junior Josh Artis (9 points) was on the receiving end of two transition passes that led to dunks.

“We want to play fast and push the tempo when we can,” noted Matt Kachelries. “And that all starts with pressuring the ball and making stops.”

In the second half, Emmaus put the game away by outscoring the Vikings 34-17 over the final 16 minutes. Kachelries had three of his five 3-pointers, and Artis had all nine of his points in the second half. Senior guard Daryn Lewis contributed nine points, and sophomore forward Zach Sabol had two points and 17 rebounds in the win.

“A lot of kids get caught up in the number of points they score during the game, but us as coaches always tell them that you can influence a game in more ways than just scoring,” Yoder added. “Zach is a perfect example of that tonight.

“Seventeen rebounds, he had a huge impact with keeping possessions alive or the quick outlet on defense for transition scores. I’m proud of him for that.”

The Hornets finished off the week with an 87-65 victory against Pottstown. They end the regular season with games this week against Nazareth (Monday) and Whitehall (Wednesday).

The EPC tournament begins Friday, Feb. 10, and Emmaus will be slotted as a top four seed with a first-round home game.

Semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday Feb. 14 and finals on Friday, Feb. 17.