The Emmaus High School boys basketball team recently had its 2025-26 season end.

The Hornets finished 9-13 overall and 3-7 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and missed out on the postseason tournaments.

While it didn’t go the way they had hoped under first-year head coach Eric Luckenbill, the future is bright with the young and energetic head coach.

“It is a privilege to be back at Emmaus and have the opportunity to lead this program,” said Luckenbill. “I am proud of our team for what we accomplished both on and off the floor this season.”

There were plenty of positives from the season, both on and off the court.

“We had a number of great achievements this season,” Luckenbill said. “We raised money for our EPSD Therapy Dog program, Coaches vs. Cancer, and the EPSD Angel Network. We won nine games this season, nearly double the year before, and six of the games we won were against teams with winning records at the time. Our come-from-behind victory over Central at home was a major win for our program. Also, very proud that Jake Ross was named to the All-EPC Third team and Second team Lehigh Division.

“Our players and coaches worked hard this season. We overcame many challenges and when faced with defeat or hardship overcome situations every time and grew stronger together and as team and program.”

Emmaus will graduate five seniors from the team, who left their marks on the program, including Robert Edwards, Othello Karto, Mitchell Pisarcik, Cole Stuchko and Jayden Swan.

“Our five seniors gave us all they had this season,” Luckenbill said. “We were led with amazing leadership from our captain, Cole Stuchko, who set the tone for our team in practice every day. Jayden Swan, Mitchell Pisarcik, Othello Karto and Rob Edwards were a pleasure to coach. They helped us to establish a culture here at Emmaus that will live on for years.”

There is a lot to look forward to for next season already for Luckenbill and his program.

“We were one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams in the EPC this year, and we played the toughest EPC schedule in the conference,” said Luckenbill. “We are looking forward to returning our core group of scorers from this year and seeing our JV team, which went 17-2 this season, to step up into varsity roles. We anticipate having a great summer where we will continue to group our program, culture, and team philosophies.”