At this time last year the Emmaus boys basketball team was heading into the District 11 tournament as the Lehigh Valley Conference champions. With the loss of some talented seniors, and a well-rounded conference, the Green Hornets missed the league playoffs by one game, but look toward a wide open Class 4A field.

Number 7 seed Emmaus (11-11) will face 10th-seeded Pleasant Valley (13-10) in the opening round Wednesday night at Emmaus. And head coach Steve Yoder has one main thing in mind going into the game.

"Our focus is definitely going to be to limit their touches in the post," the fifth-year head coach said. "They feed their two big guys inside exclusively. They're also good offensive rebounders. So we're going to look to try to limit post touches and keep them to one-and-dones."

The Green Hornets went 9-5 in the league, and in most, if not all, of the losses, Emmaus had chances to win. Also, the team's nonconference schedule, which includes games such as Bangor, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and McKeesport, will prove vital for the wear and tear that is the District 11 tournament.

"Liberty has shown itself as the team to beat, but there is still a lot of parody with the league," said Yoder. "We've shown we can play with anybody, beating Parkland, Central, and playing Liberty and Freedom to the wire. There's certainly nobody that we are scared of, but we know we'd have our hands full with any of those teams."

This season Emmaus has been led by a junior, Nate Feiertag (15.8 ppg), who was recently announced as a Lehigh Valley Conference All-Star before the league final last weekend.

"Nate is a really hard-working kid," Yoder said. "He's a really good student and I've really been proud of the way he's progressed throughout the year. Earlier in the year, he was going through the transition of becoming a varsity player. He understands and trusts the system, his shot selection is much better, he's lowered his turnovers and the coaches in the league recognized that."

Along with Feiertag, the Green Hornets get major contributions from seniors Derek Tannous (11.4 ppg), Dan Brndjar 7.1 ppg), Gabe Shankweiler (7.8 ppg), and Kane McGovern (1.3 ppg), along with junior big man Joe Nicolini (9.4 ppg).

A year after winning the leagues and failing to make the state tournament after falling in the third place game to Easton, Yoder is hoping for a bit of a role reversal in the postseason outcomes for his team this year.

"The kids were obviously disappointed that they didn't get a chance to defend their title, but they're in good spirits," said Yoder. "They know that they can play with anyone, and any given day we can get a win."

With a large group of players inexperienced to postseason play, Yoder may have a few growing pains, but it has been more of a smooth process.

"This season from a coaching standpoint has been easy because our senior leadership has been one of the best we've ever had," Yoder said. "These four seniors are phenomenal young men and they're not as experienced as the guys last year, but they work hard and enjoy each other. It's the type of group you root for."

Emmaus fans will be rooting for this team as they attempt to make a run at the school's first district title since 1985-86.