Stroudsburg was defeated by Emmaus High School, 56-48, in the District 11 6A consolation game Saturday afternoon at Easton Area Middle School.
After a slow first half, Stroudsburg rallied back to take a 42-38 lead heading into the 4th quarter. That was all they were able to muster as they would fall flat in the final quarter, only scoring 6 points to Emmaus’ 18.
Kamoni Smith-Johnson, 12, led all scorers with 21 points, while Richard Gilmore, 12, added 11 points for the Mountaineers. Emmaus was led by Will Barber, 12, who had 20 points, his thirteenth 20+ point game of the season. Jametric Harris, 12, and Jack Csensits, 11, had 13 and 16 points respectively.
Emmaus has become the 3rd District 11 6A team to clinch a state tournament berth, joining Liberty and Parkland who played each other in the 6A championship game Saturday night.
Stroudsburg’s season ends in disappointment despite having their best season in decades, posting 14 wins and 11 losses. They also finished one win short of their first state tournament appearance in 25 years – when head coach Tarik El-Bassiouni was playing.
With the season coming to a close, eleven seniors: Micaiah Brown, Mekhi Clair, Chris Desimone, Richard Gilmore, Duke Inniss, Denzel Key, Kevin Polonia, Anthony Quezada, Zachary Smith, Kamoni Smith-Johnson, and Tymel Welcome will depart Stroudsburg High School this summer.
With so many varsity players graduating, coach Tarik El-Bassiouni will have a lot of roster spots to fill going into his 3rd season as head coach. This past season leaves the Stroudsburg Boys’ Basketball program some space for improvement, but this team has changed the outlook of the program for years to come with their success.