Stop No. 5 on the preseason boys basketball tour: Being off the radar is fine for Emmaus

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Some coaches beg me to pick them low every year. They hate the favorite role.

Others embrace the No. 1 label whole-heartedly and want their kids to feel like they have a chance to do something special.

And then there are others who simply don't care where they're picked.

Count Emmaus coach Steve Yoder in that last category.

With Central and Allen loaded and Dieruff now suddenly very formidable with the addition of Tyler Kohl, his Green Hornets may be picked to finish last in the four-team LVC West this season.

But Yoder isn't worried about that.

He knows he has a very talented team loaded with solid, coachable players and knows that when it's all said and done, his team could be one of the area's biggest surprises.

Considering that Emmaus always seems to win the JV tournaments of the summer events as Cedar Beach, any success they have might not be a shock.

At the same time, being in what has to now qualify as the LVC's toughest division won't be a picnic.

Here's a look:

EMMAUS

Coach: Steve Yoder (sixth season, 66-53).

Last year: 12-12, 9-5 LVC.

Postseason: Beat Pleasant Valley 55-45 in District 11 4A opener, lost to Liberty 52-49 in quarterfinals. 

Scrimmages: Today at 1 p.m., tri-scrimmage at Blue Mountain including Pottsgrove; Sat. Nov. 30 at Scranton.

Openers: Friday, Dec. 6 vs. East Stroudsburg South; Saturday Dec. 7 at Liberty in Yasso-Rothrock Classic; Saturday, Dec. 14 vs. Allen on John Donmoyer ceremony day.

Key date:Tuesday, Dec. 10 vs. Stroudsburg.

Who's new: Brock Bilger, a former Parkland player, and Carl Scheitrum. Ryan Wehr has left staff to become Brandywine head coach.

Players to watch: Sr. F Joe Nicolini; Sr. F Nate Feiertag (shown in photo at right taking a shot against Liberty in last year's district quarterfinals); Jr. G Tyler Prescott; Jr. G Claude Bradshaw; Fr. G David Kachelries; Fr. G Matt Kachelries; So. F Brandon Rapose; So. F Joey Polczynski.

What's to like: When listing his roster, Yoder gave me three guys in his first eight who are 6-foot-4 or 6-5. This team has size and perhaps two of the best freshmen in the area in the Kachelries twins, both of whom will either start or see significant minutes. Yoder said he will have an eight-man rotation and has about 13 sophomores vying to fill out the rest of the roster, many of them moving up from a successful JV program. Yoder said Polczynski could take the league by surprise. This is going be an athletic, quick team that will get after teams defensively.

What's to worry about: Just the leap from the JV level. Even though the Green Hornets had a lot of success as 9th or 10th graders, there's generally a learning curve in this league which has always been dominated by juniors and seniors. "How quickly some of these kids acclimate themselves to the speed and the physicality of the varsity level will be a key," Yoder said. "But these kids are used to winning and they expect to win."

Quotable: "We've got great kids. They're the best kids you could ask for," Yoder said. "There's no place I'd rather be. We've had some great practices and they're all like sponges right now. They like the fact that everybody is talking about Parkland and Central, and rightly so. We're fine if everybody looks elsehwere. We let our play on the court do our talking. I just like my team a lot."

Four months from now: The Green Hornets could be looking back on a memorable season and ahead to an even brighter future.