The Emmaus boys basketball program reached new heights last Thursday night. In defeating Harrisburg, District 3’s top seed, the Green Hornets advanced to the PIAA CLass 6A state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

And although Emmaus has been led all year by senior guards David and Matt Kachelries, it was the supporting cast that contributed in a big way during the final few minutes of the 64-61 victory at the Geigle Complex in Reading.

The Kachelries brothers combined for more than half of the team’s points, it was the contributions of lesser heralded players that helped Emmaus hold on in a tightly contested game in front of a raucous crowd.

With the Green Hornets hanging on to a two-point lead, junior forward Corey Riegel delivered 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to make it a three-point game with nine seconds remaining. Even though it was still just a one-possession game, the Cougars offense was not proficient from long range all year, and their scoring mostly came from the inside. It was also the first free throw of the season for Riegel.

“Corey Riegel just has ice in his veins,” said head coach Steve Yoder. “To be able to come in like that in that kind of situation in the game, step up and hit a big shot. Our bench was huge for us all game. Guys like Corey, and Bryce Diehl, and Daryn Lewis all stepped up, and that’s what we needed. It was all hands-on-deck.”

Early on in the game it did not even look like it would be close. Emmaus jumped out to a lead with the first basket scored, and led by as much as 12 points in the first half. The Hornets took a 32-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

But Harrisburg did not go down lightly. They opened the third quarter on a 6-0 spurt, and trailed by just two heading into the final quarter.

The Cougars took their first lead midway through the fourth, and then the teams began trading baskets.

With the score tied at 58 with 1:09 to go, Matt Kachelries stepped to the line. Not only was the game on the line, Kachelries was on the cusp of a milestone. He needed one point to reach 1,000 for his career.

With two consecutive misses at the line on his previous trip in the back of his mind, Kachelries drained the first shot. After a hug from Yoder and a quick trip into the stands to deliver a specialized ball to his parents, Matt calmly sunk the second, and the Green Hornets never trailed again from there.

“I was thinking about it a little bit,” said Matt Kachelries while he was on the free-throw line. “But I was more concerned about getting the win for our team, and I knew it would eventually come throughout the course of the game. Our coach has us shoot at least 50 free-throws a day at practice, so I knew I was comfortable at the foul-line at the end of the game.”

Yoder is not only happy to get the win, but that Matt was able to accomplish the feat.

“Outside of our team goals, everyone wanted to see it happen before the end of the season,” said Yoder. “While David and Matt can get celebrated individually, it has been team celebrations with the milestones that the twins had this year. The kids are close and were so supportive of each other.”

After a wild and thrilling ride, the Emmaus season came to an end last Saturday evening in the same gym where they won just two nights earlier.

Carlisle, also out of District 3, took down the Green Hornets in two overtimes 78-74 on Saturday to end Emmaus’ season.

Emmaus finished the season 22-7 overall, qualified for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, District 11, and state tournaments. The two wins at states was the most ever by a Green Hornets team. The Hornets will graduate four seniors in Lewis, Eric Cichocki, David Kachelries and Matt Kachelries.