With the offseason coming to a close soon, the Emmaus High School boys basketball team wants to continue to improve and play good basketball with just a couple more games left this summer.

The Lehigh Valley Summer League regular season is in its final week before playoffs start at the end of the week, and then the last major tournament of the summer, the Atown Throwdown, takes place at Cedar Beach July 29-Aug. 1, which will bring a close to summer action.

Hornet head coach Steve Yoder is pleased with how his team has played in the offseason and hopes it can end it on a high note.

“We don’t necessarily look at wins and losses during the summer months,” said Yoder. “We just want the kids to get better with every game and every practice. I’m happy with how the summer has gone and how well we’ve played. A lot of younger guys have stepped up and really proved themselves to our coaching staff. I’m hoping we can end the summer with some momentum and make noise in the playoffs and Throwdown tournament.

“We always play to win, but all of the teams are managing the boys’ work and vacation schedules. You never know who you will have from week to week, so we just look at it as an opportunity for the boys to play together and build some cohesiveness.”

The Green Hornets are coming off a 50-40 defeat at the hands of Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opponent Nazareth last Thursday night. It was their first loss in nearly two weeks. Emmaus sits at 6-5 in the Big School Division standings, good for eighth place. The Green Hornets were victorious against Bethlehem Catholic in the game prior.

“It has been a good summer for a lot of reasons,” Yoder said. “We have been very competitive, and the boys have been fully committed to improving. They have also been a really fun group to coach and be around.”

Emmaus finishes off the regular season portion of the schedule Tuesday against defending District 11 Class 6A champion Allen before beginning the playoffs at the end of this week.

“I am sure the boys are looking to make the playoffs, but it is not a specific goal for the coaches in the summer,” said Yoder. “While it would be nice to get some more opportunities to compete, we as a staff really just look at it as an opportunity to work on our game a bit and further learn how to play with each other on the court.”