Last Tuesday, Freedom and Liberty’s girls basketball teams met for the third time in one week when the Patriots beat the Hurricanes, 45-28, in the first round of District XI Class 6A playoffs at Freedom.

“After a motivational pep talk at halftime, Coach (Dean Reiman) said play free and have fun because we do best when we play free,” said Freedom guard Corrin Gill, who had eight points. “We also know we can’t settle because we haven’t had the season we would have liked, and we have to go out there and prove we’re the team we know we are.”

Days earlier, Freedom posted a 56-42 win over city rival Bethlehem Catholic.

“I thought that game could propel us. Beca was a great game to get ready, and we had two days of practice. For me, that was like hitting the lottery, just getting back in the gym practicing and having a game plan,” Coach Reiman said. “But I want them to know we’re at that point- if we play a bad half or we don’t come with energy, season’s over.”

Liberty coach Andy Wescoe’s halftime pep talk to the Hurricanes encouraged them to be aggressive, as they trailed by six points and were having trouble scoring on good shots that just wouldn’t fall.

“We tried to talk to them about taking it to the basket, having crisper cuts off the ball, and when we did create the opportunity, we had too many kids pass up shots, and that led to some costly turnovers, some runouts, which were the difference in the game,” Wescoe said.

For most of the third quarter, it was Gill and Brenna Ortwein trading buckets totaling 14 points between them and extending the Pates’ lead by 10. Kailey Turpening intercepted an inbound pass and scored, prompting a timeout by the Hurricanes.

Liberty’s Emma Pukszyn sank back-to-back threes, and Hurricane guard Jess Farrell had seven points in the third, but the fourth quarter ended scoreless for the ‘Canes.

“Our losses aren’t because of effort; that’s for sure. We compete hard. As a team, we’ve grown quite a bit,” Coach Wescoe said. “We’ll have everybody back, but as I told them, seize the moment and be ready for the opportunity that was tonight. Don’t wait for tomorrow, and I felt we came ready to play. We got beat by a pretty good team.”