The Emmaus High School girls basketball team was back at Easton Area Middle School during the week between Christmas and New Year’s for the Red Rovers’ annual Jack Bennett Rotary Tournament, the 27th annual edition of the event.

The Green Hornets were defeated by host Easton in the opening game last Wednesday afternoon, 44-31, but bounced back the next day and earned a 20-point victory over Freedom, 47-27, in the consolation game on Thursday. The Patriots fell to Phillipsburg 57-49, in the other game of the event.

Against the Red Rovers, it was Emmaus that was the team that looked destined to win and reach the championship game. The Green Hornets started fast in the opening quarter and outscored Easton 14-8 and held its six-point advantage into halftime, on top 19-13. The Red Rovers, however, responded after leaving the locker room and outscored Emmaus 31-12 in the second half, including 12-5 in the third quarter to take the lead heading into the final frame.

The Red Rovers (9-0 overall) remained unbeaten with the victory. Gabby DeVita and Kayla Snyder both finished with nine points to lead Emmaus.

In the win over the Patriots, Emmaus once again jumped out ahead early and had leads of 10-7 after the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime. Unlike in the game the prior day, the Green Hornets were able to hold onto their lead to pull out the win. They outscored Freedom 14-0 in a dominant fourth quarter to finish off the game. Cassandra Doemling and Snyder led the way each with a game-high 16 points. Sofie Laird tallied six points, DeVita recorded five points and both Emma Naccarato and Sierra Stevens added two points to round out the scoring.

Emmaus gets back to Eastern Pennsylvania Conference action this week as it hosts Stroudsburg on Wednesday. The Green Hornets are 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the conference heading into the new year.