The Emmaus boys basketball team surged in the first 10 minutes of the second half both offensively and defensively, but was unable to keep the momentum as it fell to Liberty 41-35 last Thursday night inside the auxiliary gymnasium at Whitehall High School in the Cedar Beach Summer League.

The young Green Hornets (1-5 overall) trailed at halftime 22-17, but stormed out of the intermission to take the lead and held it for the first half of the second half before the Hurricanes (6-0) took back control and held on for the victory. Liberty is tied with Reading for first place in the Large School Division.

“It truly was a great learning experience for our guys,” said assistant coach Eric Farkas. “Liberty is one of the top teams in the conference and we were able to play with them for the entirety of the game. We have a young group but they play hard and I’m proud of their effort tonight.”

It was a fast-paced, high-tempo game with both teams competing at a high level like it was a postseason game and not a game played in the summer in front of a handful of fans.

After a back-and-forth first half, Liberty was out in front 22-17 after it got eight points from Jovonnie Nunez and Emmaus received six first-half points from Mason Boyd. But the Green Hornets stepped up on both sides of the court once the second half began. The Hornets scored the half’s first nine points and held the Hurricanes without a field goal for a little over 10 minutes to go up 28-25 midway through the second half.

“That second-half surge was because of our intensity on defense and buying into doing the little things,” Farkas said. “We have a specific game plan each game and when the kids follow it they will be successful.”

After struggling from the floor for a majority of the second half, Liberty found its footing once again. But the Hurricanes tied the score at 28-28 after a three-pointer by Joseph Barnes, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half. The score was even at 33-33 when Liberty connected on 9-of-12 shots from the free-throw line, and Emmaus was unable to find a basket late when it needed it.

The Green Hornets had their entire starting five graduate after last season, so there are a lot of new faces with not a lot of experience. But a game like this is only a positive for confidence and experience.

“From the beginning of the summer league until now, we see a big difference,” said Farkas. “Our boys are learning what it takes to play at the varsity level and the speed they need to play at.”