Sometimes it takes a few postseason games before a young team can get over its nerves and learn to succeed in playoff basketball.

Last week Emmaus took a team with just one senior into Allen's gym for an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys quarterfinal playoff game.

When their only senior got into early foul trouble, things went south quickly for the Hornets, which fell 53-41 to the Canaries.

"All year we've been a Jekyll and Hdye team," said Emmaus head coach Steve Yoder. "We've been good enough to beat anybody and we've been bad enough to lose to anybody. And that's not to take anything away from Allen. Doug [Snyder, Allen's head coach] does a great job. But we could have given them a much better challenge tonight."

The Hornets grabbed an early lead, 6-2 behind three baskets from sophomore guard David Kachelries.

But when Tyler Prescott, the team's leader and only senior, went to the bench after picking up two fouls early in the first quarter, the Hornets looked like a different team.

Prescott, who picked up his second foul when helping on defense, didn't return until late in the first half when Allen had built up a double-digit lead.

"We weren't disciplined defensively," said Yoder. "Tyler is [disciplined defensively]. Tyler helps and we get in some early foul trouble. I thought that was one of the big differences in the game.

"He's our heart and soul. He's our catalyst. He does everything for us. And we didn't have him for big minutes. He just makes really good decisions when the ball is in his hands and he's one of the best defenders I have ever had at Emmaus."

A Joey Polczynski basket helped the Hornets take an 8-6 lead after one quarter. But Allen opened the second period with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.

The Canaries built a nine-point, second-quarter lead and Emmaus had a chance to cut into it with the final shot of the first half. But an Allen steal and a quick three-pointer at the buzzer pushed its lead to 28-16 at halftime.

"I told one of our players to screen for David [Kachelries] on the ball over halfcourt," said Yoder. "He screens [short of half-court]. David gets over half court and he has two guys waiting for him.

"It was a bad night. We were very undisciplined. We put five or six things on the board for our game plan tonight and we didn't follow one of them. Usually there's one or two. On a good night there's five or six."

Despite his dissatisfaction with his team's shooting and defense, one positive that came out of last week's playoff loss to Allen was the play of junior Jake Feiertag, who got his first quality playoff minutes in the game and scored 10 points for his team.

"Jake Feiertag was nervous," said Yoder. "We took him out and talked to him and he was fine after that. He played hard. He played full speed. He scored for us. He rebounded. I was really proud of Jake. He learned a lot tonight."

Allen's lead never got into single digits after halftime.

The Canaries went on to lose to eventual league champ Parkland in the semifinals. The Trojans beat Liberty in Friday's finals.

Emmaus, which missed several lay ups and went 3-for-12 from the foul line against Allen, moves on to play in this week's District 11 Tournament.

The Hornets (11-11) earned the No. 5 seed in Class AAAA and will host No. 12 Easton (12-10) in a first-round game on Wednesday.

"The nice part is we have a long week of practice," said Yoder. "Like most teams, we're better when we get to practice."

If Emmaus gets by Easton, it will earn a rematch against No. 4 seed Allen in a quarterfinal game scheduled for Saturday afternoon.