If the Emmaus girls are going to make districts this season, it will all come down to the final game of the year against the Central Catholic Vikettes. Initially, this would have been a road game, but thanks to a bomb scare at Emmaus High School earlier this season, the two schools switched their home games, giving the Hornets a home game to end the season.

If it does come down to that final game, senior Kelsey Bacon is ready.

"It would be great. We just have to play the rest of our games like we're already in districts, because we can't afford a loss," said Bacon after a second-half rally against Bangor came up short over the weekend, leaving Emmaus on the down side of a 45-37 score.

With the loss, Emmaus fell to 6-11 overall on the season, meaning it needs to win the last five games to make districts. The schedule features winnable games against Freedom, Allen, Dieruff and Pottsgrove before that showdown with Central Catholic. Winning out would give Emmaus the 11 wins it needs to qualify for districts and would also give the team a .500 record in the Lehigh Valley Conference.

While Bacon would love to end her career at Emmaus with an appearance in districts, she has already accomplished a lot both athletically and academically. Bacon, who also plays soccer at the school, was a nominee for Lehigh Valley Soccer Scholar Athlete and currently ranks 44th academically out of 626 in her class.

"It was really good and it was a great honor to be nominated for something like that. I enjoyed getting to see everyone else and it was a great time," said Bacon of the nomination..

Bacon admits that playing two sports makes it difficult to do well in school, but she has always found a way to be successful in the classroom.

"It's hard. You just have to adjust how things are going that week, especially with basketball, it's a lot harder, because the practices are a lot longer and we have some Saturday games," said Bacon, who will attend the University of Scranton this fall and major in exercise science.

Bacon plans to play soccer in college and pursue a career in physical therapy.

"Initially, I wanted to do athletic training, but then I did my shadowing for my senior project with a physical therapist and I really enjoyed it," said Bacon.

The girls basketball team has lost four straight and was down early to Bangor, but battled back in the second half to get themselves back into the game. Coach Billy Dunn was disappointed with the loss, but wasn't surprised that his team went down battling.

"They've never been one to give up; that wouldn't be characteristic of them," said Dunn.

Dunn isn't making excuses for the recent slide, pointing out that his team has had to battle against some of the better teams in the league and with the exception of a loss to Bethlehem Catholic, the Lady Hornets have been in every game during the streak. Against Bangor, Emmaus fell behind by 10 early in the game, but was within four late in the game.

"Anytime you lose to Parkland and Beca, Northwestern and Bangor and their combined record is something like 50-6, you have to look at that," Dunn said. "But losing is no fun and the quickest way to solve that is to go out and win a game. Our losing hasn't been because the girls weren't prepared or didn't work hard."