While Saturday was the second straight trip to district playoffs for the Emmaus girls basketball team, it was the first time the team qualified for the tournament since 2013.

The Hornets played in last year’s district tournament when every team was allowed in because of the shortened season. This year, they qualified not only for districts but also for the East Penn Conference playoffs, which was a first for the program.

A loss to Nazareth Saturday ended the season for Emmaus, which went 12-12 overall this season.

“I’m very proud,” said Hornet head coach Kelsey Gallagher. “Just a couple years ago we were 2-20 (in the 2018-19 season). This year regular season we finished 12-10. Now we’re 12-12 overall. We said hats off to our seniors.

“One thing that made a difference this year is we were a team from the very first girl on varsity to the very bottom girl on JV. It rolled over onto the floor. We all bought into what we wanted to do offensively and defensively. Most importantly we played as a team. We were there for each other as a team and that’s where we saw the difference between a 12-10 season versus a 2-20 season a couple years ago.”

Emmaus entered districts as the No. 6 seed and faced the Blue Eagles Friday night at Whitehall High School in a quarterfinal game.

Nazareth jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter and took a 22-5 lead into halftime en route to a 47-25 win to advance to the semifinals.

“They are very tall and very aggressive,” said Gallagher. “They took a lot of options away from us. In the first half they were a little too fast. We did a much better job hitting the open girl [in the second half].”

The loss ended a season that saw the Hornets qualify for the EPC playoffs for the first time since the conference formed in 2014.

Emmaus will graduate four seniors from this team, but the Hornets will have a core of players returning next season.

Three-year starting point guard Kam Watkins, Sarah Hoch, Grace Oglesbee and Alyssa Brader will all graduate from this year’s team and all played key roles in this year’s success.

“They brought so much to the table,” said Gallagher. “They did a really nice job of making sure everyone felt belonged. They all brought something different. Kam has been a three-year starting point guard for us. She’s been our ballhandler. She’s been our main point on the defensive end. Replacing her is going to be tough. Sarah, Grace and Alyssa also have their roles and they did what they had to do for us to be successful.”

The Hornets will return two starters next season in junior Paige Inman and sophomore Mya Cooper, along with several other players who saw action in Saturday’s district playoff game.

“We graduate four seniors and three starters, but overall we’re a young team,” said Gallagher. “Our JV team is all freshmen and sophomores. We have a ton of freshmen and sophomores on our varsity bench. These kids want to compete. At the end of the day they want to win. They’re hungry to win. They’re ready to get back into the nitty-gritty of things.”