There’s nothing like a good ol’ rivalry game that goes into overtime, and in the end, the home team pulls through like Freedom’s Lady Pates did against Liberty with a 50-45 victory last Thursday night at Freedom.

“I think we matched up really well and played the full 36 minutes. That’s how we won today,” said Freedom guard Allie Sena, who sent the Pates on their way to a win when she drained a corner three at the start of overtime. “It felt really good, especially in overtime, to put us in the lead. It felt like we were gonna win.”

With :24.7 left in OT and possession belonging to Freedom, the Pates had a one-point lead, and Liberty was forced to foul, putting Kailey Turpening on the line who converted both free throws.

The Hurricanes attempted a three pointer, missed, and this time, fouled Ciana Feliciano, who also made both free throws.

“I try to be in the right spots. That’s one of my goals to be really aggressive every game and get rebounds. I think we focused better, kept our composure, and didn’t rush anything,” said Feliciano, who also had a three in the first quarter. “That made me feel good the rest of the game. It was definitely closer than we wanted it to be, but it was super exciting, especially against Liberty, our rivals.”

The Hurricanes tallied seven three pointers, three in the first quarter by Layla Orth, Jordan Thompson, and Emma Pukszyn, who had a game-high 17 points, that caused the Patriots to make some changes at the half.

“Once we switched back to our match zone, we were closing out to the corners,” said Turpening. “We also adjusted where we told our five to go out to the corner, and normally we tell her to go to the inside, so once we made that adjustment, it worked a lot smoother.”

The Patriots scored eight straight points by Turpening, Natalie Stannard, and Keturah Stewart to open the third quarter, and Sena entered the game, hitting a three off the bench.

“[Coach Raysely] wanted me to be more aggressive on offense, and I really had to show him I could shoot, so I went in and shot right away,” Sena said. “It felt really good. I was hyped right after it.”

Liberty took the lead on Thompson’s three pointer with 5:45 remaining in regulation, but the Hurricanes were called for two offensive fouls.

“That to me, that’s like gold,” said Freedom head coach Steve Raysely. “Those were two big, big fouls for us, and definitely were pivotal in the game.”

Freedom took back the lead on a bucket by Jordan MacIllroy, and the ‘Canes took a timeout.

“We realized we needed to work the ball a little bit more,” said Turpening. “We were getting good shots off, but we felt like we could reverse it one or two times to get an even more wide open look, so our switch flipped and we were looking for better shots. It didn’t matter who was taking it because all of us can shoot. We were passing it to the middle, and then those kick outs were wide open.”

The crosstown rivals traded buckets as time wound down, resulting in overtime.

“I really pinged us as a second-half-of-the-year type team because it’s been a work in progress, but it’s been enjoyable so far and a good start to the second half of the year,” said Coach Raysley. “It’s our 11th game, and the second half is here.”