Emmaus High School junior Shep Henseler has had his role within his team change recently.

He began the 2019-20 season coming off the bench without a high minutes per game total. Toward the middle of the season then his minutes started to increase.

Over the last few games Henseler has entered the starting lineup and has shined for head coach Steve Yoder and his program.

Last Friday night he had a career-best night, as he recorded his first ever double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in leading the Emmaus boys basketball team to an 80-60 victory against East Stroudsburg North in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference action at Emmaus High School.

“I just try to make the best out of any situation I’m put in,” said Henseler. “I didn’t start the year with as much playing time as I would have hoped, but I just try to have fun with it and encourage my teammates if I’m not playing.

“When I do get the chance, I try to make the most of it.”

The 80 points was a season-high total for the Green Hornets (5-9 overall, 4-5 EPC), who are now 2-2 in the conference during this calendar year.

Three other Emmaus players scored in double-figures. Danny Bohman and Mason Boyd each finished with 12 points, and Jayden Walsh recorded 11 points for the Green Hornets.

The energy and atmosphere in the Hornets’ Nest was alive, as a near sellout crowd, due to Youth Night, gave the players for both teams a little something extra.

Emmaus jumped all over the Timberwolves (1-12, 0-8) early on, scoring 28 of the game’s first 41 points and leading 28-13 after the opening quarter of play.

It was more of the same in the second quarter.

With Emmaus ahead 37-23 midway through, ES North finished the frame on an 8-4 run and trailed 41-31 at halftime, after cutting its deficit to single-digits before the Green Hornets ended the quarter with a basket by Patrick Tulio.

The Timberwolves started the second half scoring the first four points and found themselves down by just six. But Emmaus went the rest of the quarter on a 20-7 run and led 61-42 heading to the final stanza.

The Green Hornets continued to push the needle and hovered around a 20-point lead for the entirety of the fourth until the final buzzer sounded.

“It’s been an interesting season so far,” Henseler said. “We lost a lot of guys to graduation and we’ve had a lot of us that have had to learn throughout the season how to win at this level. We’ve all been doing our best, working hard, and competing each game.”

Ryan Todd finished with eight points against North. Tulio and Jameel Sanders both had seven points. Jadis Brevitt tallied five points and Demetrius Stephanides added two to round out the scoring for Emmaus.

Emmaus has two games this week, both on the road, as it faced Allen this past Tuesday and will travel to Stroudsburg to take on the Mounties on Friday.