The Emmaus High School boys basketball team has to be extremely happy not to see Central Catholic on its schedule anymore this season. After losing twice to the Vikings during the regular season, the Green Hornets were matched up against them again in their first game of the 2022 postseason.

Second-seeded Central Catholic did more of the same against seventh seed Emmaus last Friday night, beating the Hornets 38-24 in an East Penn Conference quarterfinal at Rockne Hall.

Emmaus head coach Steve Yoder was pleased with how his team handled Central’s high-powered offense, but his offense struggled to get going once again, after scoring just 18 points in their last meeting two weeks ago.

“While we were able to keep the pace where we wanted it, we did not knock down enough shots in the end,” said Yoder. “They were a bit more efficient on the offensive end and that was the difference in the game.

“We’re not into moral victories in this program, but I couldn’t be prouder of the boys. Central, they’re defending state champs. We don’t particularly match up well with them. But we were in the ball game. Central made some shots. We didn’t quite have enough in the end. I know the boys are disappointed, but there’s a lot of things to feel good about going into districts.”

After senior Jadis Brevitt hit a three-pointer and sophomore Will Barber added a layup to cut the Vikings’ lead to 23-16 at the end of the third quarter, Central’s Griffin Patridge made back-to-back corner three-pointers to push the lead to 13 points with 6:15 left in regulation.

Barber scored 12 points to lead Emmaus (16-7 overall). Dylan Darville added seven points.

“The boys should be very proud of the success they had in the regular season,” Yoder said. “When you consider how competitive our league and division are, qualifying for both the EPC and District 11 tournaments shows the consistency they played with throughout the season.”

The Green Hornets will have some time off before districts begin, which should be next week sometime. They will look to get better but also healthier to be as close to full strength as they can be. When they’re on top of their game, they can beat anyone in the district.

“During this two-week down time we will work on getting our bodies back to 100 percent,” said Yoder. “The grind of the season definitely wears you down. This time also gives us an opportunity to work on some things we have not been able to since before games began, and hopefully focus on a lot more detail in our system.”

Central Catholic advanced to face Parkland in Monday’s semifinals when the Trojans upset the Vikings. Nazareth beat Pocono Mountain West in the other semifinal Monday. Parkland and the Blue Eagles will square off for the league title Thursday night at the PPL Center.