For the first time this summer, high school boys basketball returned to the outdoor courts after the first month-and-a-half of the Lehigh Valley summer league was played inside at the Whitehall School District gyms.

Rain on the first day last Thursday moved everything back inside, but the rest of the weekend was played at Cedar Beach as the Emmaus High School boys basketball team played in its first major tournament of the offseason at the Bash at the Beach Showcase last weekend.

The Green Hornets finished the weekend with a 3-2 overall record and played into the final day on Sunday, which is what head coach Steve Yoder always hopes to accomplish every year playing in the event.

“Anytime you make it to Sunday, that is a really good thing,” said Yoder. “You kind of base your overall performance on that day. If you’re still out there playing on Sunday, that means you were playing for a title and had a couple of wins to show for it. I’m happy with the weekend that we had.”

Emmaus started the tournament in a hole from the get-go, falling to Liberty 60-51 on Thursday night at Whitehall High School. But the Green Hornets, on the brink of elimination, bounced back in a big way Saturday, winning three games in-a-row on the day, over Northampton, Hershey and a rematch with the Hurricanes.

“I thought the guys did a really nice job of coming out and being competitive on Saturday and not bowing out early,” said Yoder. “How we played on Saturday is the type of team I believe we can be.”

Emmaus is 5-3 overall and tied for sixth in the league standings in the summer league. The Green Hornets fell in both of their games the last week before the tournament, by two points to Reading and by eight against Whitehall.

“For me it is a lot of evaluating,” Yoder said. “We have some pieces returning, but we also have a lot of players that will be looking to work their way into the rotation. Who is going to make that next step this summer and show that they are ready to physically play on this level and make the commitment it will take to do so. To this point they are pushing each other, supporting each other, and showing that they are all in for this upcoming season, and that makes this a great group to be around.”