Emmaus took the area by storm last season as first year coach Avon Mack and an experienced group of stars rattled off 22 straight wins on the way to the program’s first championship in 18 years.

That surge began at last season’s A-Town Throwdown as the Green Hornets unexpectedly raced to the tournament final before falling to Lansdale Catholic in the championship game. They aren’t sneaking up on anybody this season, which is what led to an early deficit against Dunmore on Saturday with a spot in Sunday’s playoff bracket on the line.

It’s a reality that Mack and a roster that lost four seniors and four starters will have to get used to, but his group responded like champions, battling back for a 36-31 victory.

“We know nothing is going to be easy for us, right? Everybody is going to be gunning for us, which is understandable,” Mack said. “But we know that we control what we can control. We can go in here, play the best game that we can play and clean up the mistakes that we should clean up. I just want effort.”

The two leading returning scorers and two incoming seniors, Gabby DeVita and Olive Whitney, carried that burden well against the Bucks with a spectacular second-half performance where they combined for 18 of the team’s 23 points after halftime.

Their coach sees a lot of himself when looking at how his two rising senior stars carry themselves on a day-to-day basis.

“They just go to work. They lead by example. It’s not a lot of rah rah with them, which I kind of identify with because I was that type of player,” Mack said. “I just go about my business and work hard, so hopefully you see my work ethic. And if you match me or aspire to be greater than me, work ethic wise, we should be all right.

“And I think all these ladies play hard, so you’ve got to love that about them. And I just love this group. They just give me ultimate effort game in and game out,” Mack continued.

DeVita, who was named EPC Tri-MVP last season, knows what it takes to be great and is enjoying the transition into a senior leader the rest of the team can look up to.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” she said. “We’re going to be a young team now, but I feel like I have enough experience that I can help my teammates through it. They play basketball, so they know the game, it’s just being supportive for them and just being there.

“I feel like we’ll go pretty far this season.”

Five local teams punch their ticket to Sunday

In a field littered with local talent as much as ever before, more than half of Sunday’s bracket will feature District 11 representatives on the girls side.

The tournament hosts, Dieruff and Executive Education, took care of business to advance while nearby powers Parkland and Emmaus won their respective pools to move on.

Easton knocked off Allentown Central Catholic in an elimination game late Saturday night to secure the final automatic spot out of Pool 3 and join the eight-team field.

Reading defeated Dunmore for the wild card spot out of Pools 1 and 2 while Audenried and Bensalem earned automatic bids by finishing in the top two of Pools 3 and 4.

The full list of matchups and Sunday’s schedule can be found below.

Sunday’s schedule
At Cedar Beach

9:30 a.m.: Pool 1 First vs. Pool 2 2nd (JV, Parking Lot Court 5); Pool 1 2nd vs. Pool 2 1st (JV, Parking Lot Court 6); Pool 1 3rd vs. Pool 2 3rd (JV, Parking Lot Court 7)12:30 p.m.: Emmaus vs. Reading (varsity); Dieruff vs. Bensalem (varsity); Audenried vs. Easton; Parkland vs. Executive

2:30 p.m.: Semifinals

4:30 p.m.: Championship (JV)

5:30 p.m.: Championship (varsity)

Derek Bast is a freelance sports reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.  

Originally Published: July 27, 2025 at 7:33 AM EDT