The Emmaus boys basketball team has had a tough time lighting up the scoreboard during the 2019-20 season. That theme continued last week when the Hornets fell to Parkland 66-47 last Tuesday night in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Skyline Division contest at Emmaus High School.

The Green Hornets (5-14 overall, 4-9 EPC) lost their third straight game and second to the Trojans (12-7, 9-4) this season in their fourth-lowest scoring output of the year.

“Everyone knows that we have struggled to put the ball in the basket at times this year,” said Emmaus head coach Steve Yoder. “In order to stay in games, we need to value the basketball and keep things in the 40’s-50’s. That slow start really put us in a tough position.”

Parkland was firing on all cylinders right out of the gate.

The Trojans scored the game’s first nine points, all on three-pointers, and netted 14 of the first 16 to take a commanding 21-7 lead after the first quarter. They then outscored Emmaus 20-8 in the second quarter and were ahead 41-15 at halftime. The Hornets shot 3-for-11 in the first quarter and 3-for-8 in the second.

“I don’t think it was as much about what they did well, as it was what we did not,” Yoder said. “We did not closeout effectively on shooters, and allowed them to get comfortable quickly.”

Emmaus’s deficit grew to as much as 30 points, trailing 59-29 after three quarters, but the Hornets kept competing to the final whistle. They nearly cut their deficit in half, but only got to within 61-42.

“Despite our trials and tribulations this year, the boys do continue to compete,” said Yoder. “We talked about not laying down in the second half and competing more aggressively, which I believe the boys did. It just wasn’t our night.”

Junior Jameel Sanders finished with an Emmaus team-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting overall and 3-of-4 at the free-throw line. Seniors Ryan Todd and Mason Boyd just missed out on double-figures, finishing with nine and eight points, respectively.

Danny Bohman tallied five points and tied a team-high with seven rebounds. Paddy Tulio recorded four points and seven boards. Alec Ward, Jayden Walsh and Jadis Brevitt all had two points and Jaden Gallagher rounded out the scoring for the Green Hornets with one point.

Emmaus will conclude its season with a home game against Central Catholic on Friday, and then the season-finale at Whitehall next Monday.