Following a successful showing at the first major summer tournament, the Emmaus High School boys basketball team has set its focus back to the Lehigh Valley Varsity Boys Summer League schedule.

The Green Hornets are near the top of the standings and reached the final day of the Bash at the Beach Tournament, so head coach Steve Yoder has been pleased with what he has seen out of his group the last two months.

“It has been a good summer with some success in summer league and in the first summer tournament,” said Yoder. “Between working in the weight room, getting some gym time and playing in summer league, the boys have had some great opportunities to work on their bodies and their game.”

Emmaus went 3-2 overall at the Bash Tournament and were playing for a championship by advancing to Sunday’s playoff elimination.

“For us, our goal is always to be hanging around until Sunday,” Yoder said. “This year, both JV and varsity were able to play well into Sunday, with JV making it to the finals and varsity playing five games. That is a lot of basketball and a lot of opportunities to work on our game.”

When asked about the results from the games recently, Yoder said he is just happy to see his guys out competing and enjoying playing basketball.

“For me, I still feel blessed to see a sense of normalcy returning to our program, post-COVID,” said Yoder. “Just being able to get in the gym and have these tournaments is something that I hope everyone appreciates. This is a great group to be around, and I could not be more excited about this winter.”

This week is the final week of the regular season for summer league action. The Green Hornets are in sixth place in the Large School Division at 6-3 overall and have a shot at the playoffs.

“To be honest, I want to see the boys have a good end to summer league,” Yoder said. “And then to enjoy some success in the A-Town Throwdown, and then go on vacation with their families, get away from basketball for a week or two, and hopefully come back rejuvenated for the fall.”

Yoder is looking forward to finishing out the summer and seeing how his team uses this offseason when December rolls around.

“What excites me about this group the most is what a great bunch of young men they are to be around,” said Yoder. “Like last year, I fully expect this team to be the type of team that will always give an incredible effort in everything they do. They just love to compete and do not care who gets the credit, and I cannot think of a better type of team to coach and be around, win or lose.”

LV Boys Varsity Summer

Basketball League

Scores from July 7

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Saucon Valley 53 (Cydae Joseph-Davis 20), Bethlehem Christian 35

Lehighton 34 (Joe Roth 9), Salisbury 22

Roberto Clemente 50 (Darrell Monroe 23), Northwestern 33

Kutztown 39 (EJ Miranda 19), Catasauqua 36

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Reading 49 (Yadiel Cruz 24), Southern Lehigh 36

Notre Dame Green Pond 44 (Zach Rodgers 16), Central Catholic 41

Muhlenberg 43 (Joshua Alcantara 10), Easton 37

Allen 42 (Robert Johnson 12), Whitehall 39

Freedom 51 (KJ Mangros 16), Liberty 50

Service Electric Big School Player of the Week: Yadiel Cruz (Reading)

St Luke”s Small School Player of the Week: Darrell Monroe (Roberto Clemente)

Standings

SMALL SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Northwestern 10 - 1

Saucon Valley 8 - 2

Roberto Clemente 7 - 4

Kutztown 6 - 4

Upper Perkiomen 6 - 4

Lehighton 5 - 6

Catasauqua 3 - 7

Bethlehem Christian 1 - 9

Salisbury 1 - 10

BIG SCHOOL DIVISION

Team W-L

Muhlenberg 11 - 0

Parkland 10 - 0

Freedom 9 - 2

Central Catholic 7 - 3

Executive Education 7 - 3

Emmaus 6 - 3

Northampton 7 - 4

Notre Dame GP 7 - 4

Reading 7 - 4

Quakertown 5 - 5

Wilson West Lawn 5 - 5

Liberty 5 - 6

Pocono Mt. East 5 -6

Palmerton 4 - 5

Whitehall 5 - 7

Nazareth 4 - 7

Phillipsburg 3 - 5

Dieruff 3 - 8

Bangor 2 - 8

Allen 2 - 9

Southern Lehigh 1 - 10

Easton 0 - 11