The Emmaus High School boys basketball team faced an up-and-down week last week. Following a double-digit victory over Northampton last Tuesday night, the Green Hornets had a surprise defeat on the road at Whitehall on Friday, a team they had beaten by 30 points in the middle of December.

But, the week did not end on a negative note, however, as Emmaus completed a huge comeback in taking down East Stroudsburg South the following day in matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Emmaus jumped on top of the Kids early, leading 23-6 after the opening quarter and never looked back, on its way to a 70-51 win. Will Barber finished with a game-high 19 points, followed by Jametric Harris with 15 and Dylan Darville with 11 points as the trio reached double figures in scoring. Jake Fotta and Chase Muckey both recorded seven points. Jacques Curley-Katrishen netted four points. Pacey Santos contributed three points and both Jack Csensits and Dominic Nunez added two points to round out the scoring.

Playing on the road can be tough, it doesn’t matter the opponent. That showed on Friday as the Green Hornets were upset by the Zephyrs 60-56 for just their second conference loss and just fourth overall this season.

Emmaus bounced back in a big way less than 24 hours later to avoid a second defeat in as many days. The Green Hornets were trailing by 20 points in the middle of the third quarter, but had a 33-point fourth quarter to earn a 70-66 victory and hand the Cavaliers their third EPC loss of the season.

Four Green Hornets reached double digits in scoring, led by a game-high 22 points from Barber. Fotta scored 18 points and both Harris and Mike Ekenyere added 11. Darville recorded six points and Jackson Lake rounded out the scoring with two points.

Emmaus sat atop the EPC standings heading into this week at 15-4 overall and 11-2 in the conference with three games remaining in the season. Four teams are 10-3 through last week’s games, including Emmaus division foes Parkland and Central Catholic, along with PM West and the Cavaliers in the North Division.

Emmaus took on Allen Tuesday and is scheduled to play at Parkland Thursday before finishing the season at home against Central Catholic on Monday, Feb. 6. League playoffs are slated to get underway on Friday Feb. 10.