By Lenny Dale, Emerson Athletic Director and Physical Education Teacher
The Emerson boys basketball teams closed out 2016 with an away date at St Paul, followed by a game at home for the JV against Steiner.
Against St Paul on Monday, word has it, the JV won a pretty hard-fought battle, while the cold-shooting varsity dropped their game 26-20.
Wednesday’s JV game with Steiner was not so hard fought, and, as I witnessed it, I can give a much more complete picture than just the brief summary I relayed of the St Paul games. The boys got off to a sluggish start offensively, unable to put points on the board through the first 3 minutes, though they did only allow Steiner 2 points in return. Midway through the first quarter a lineup change got things moving a bit faster, with Idrys Cotton leading the way. Idrys drove to the basket, drew a foul, and sank both free throws to tie things up, then scored two field goals to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead at the break. The offense matched the defense in the 2nd quarter, putting up 12 while Steiner could again only muster 4, and Emerson went into half-time up 18-8. In the 2nd half the defense really went to town, and, save for one bit where an Eagle who shall remain nameless did what the great Ernie Harwell would describe as ‘he stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched it (sic) go by’ – it being the person he was supposed to be guarding in this case, not a fastball – allowing an uncontested layup, Emerson very nearly put up a shutout for the whole half. As it happened, the Eagles outscored their opponents 20-2 over the last 2 quarters to go into the holiday break with a 38-10 victory.
