Team Basketball is Why We Won these Games

Ankeny, IA - On Friday, January 9th, the Emmaus men's team traveled to Ankeny, IA where Faith Baptist hosted a pair of games: Calvary on Friday and Oak Hills on Saturday. Coming off of a rough outing on Tuesday, Coach Wilkerson was hesitant for the first time all season. "Not that I didn't know our guys could go out and win, but it was up to them to actually go out and do it."

Due to starting point guard Kyle Pikaart still sidelined with an ankle injury, junior Skyler Sandry was asked to step into his spot and lead the team, not with scoring but with distributing. It was evident from the start that both Sandry and the rest of the team were committed to sharing the ball. Looking like a real team for the first time all season, Emmaus showed amazing ball movement and unselfishness by continuing to pass up good shots in order to get great shots. Because of this, and despite open shots not falling, Emmaus entered into the half with a 17 point lead.

Spurred by both coaches to stick with the game plan and continue to trust their teammates, the Eagles came back onto the court eager to build on their lead. However, Calvary recognized the threat Sandry posed even when he wasn't scoring and switched to a box-and-one. Frazzled by this, Emmaus gave up some quick baskets due to turnovers and Calvary marched back. However, the Emmaus coaches called timeout and drew up a play that the team had not run in practice, but was very capable of executing. This opened up the floor, spaced out the players, and allowed Emmaus to right the ship. Sandry kept finding junior guard Caleb Ruter, who added onto to his spectacular first half and finished with a game high 27 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles played well down the stretch and walked away with a 75-54 victory. 

Proud of the way the team played, Coach Wilkerson praised the teamwork and willingness to make their teammates better. "I wanted to stress to them that if they played like that every game, we would compete in every game. Passing the ball like they did and trusting their teammates is much more impressive than a fancy highlight reel." The team would enjoy their victory, but would go to sleep knowing that another opponent awaited them on Saturday.

After such a successful game the night before, the coaches wanted to set some benchmarks that would allow their team to really limit their next opponent. They challenged their players to limit the other team to 5 offense rebounds and limit themselves to 10 or less turnovers, while not forgetting the other necessary components that allowed them to win the night before. 

Emmaus again started strong as their ball movement continued to look great. With the return of Pikaart, Sandry was able to go back to his original position at wing and he responded with 25 points to go along with 7 assists.  Emmaus again jumped out to a 17 point lead early on. However, Oak Hills never let up and kept pushing the ball into the paint. Late rotations and lack of intensity on the defensive end resulted in Emmaus going into the half with only a 5 point lead. Looking at the stat sheet, the Eagles had done exactly what the coaches had asked: allowed 0 offense rebounds and only turned the ball over 4 times. The lesson here was one that the coaches had been preaching all season long: It's not enough to remember to do one thing well. We must do all things well.

The Eagles again responded and came out sharing the ball and limiting Oak Hills on the offensive glass. Fueled by Trevor Donnelly's inspiring play on defense and his career high in points (16), Emmaus walked away with another dominating win 84-66 to improve to 5-3 in the season. Coach Wilkerson had this to say: "Team basketball is why we won these games and it will be the reason we continue to win. I am so proud of how the guys are coming together and playing as a team. They have always played hard, but now they are playing smart and playing together. I look forward to going back and watching the film and having the guys see how well they looked this weekend."

Emmaus will play next at Dayspring Bible College on Tuesday night at 7:00 in Mundelin, Illinois.