Freedom kept rolling over the holiday break, as the Pates won the Pine Grove Cardinal Classic with two decisive wins last week. The Pates knocked off Pine Grove 71-38 in the tournament opener and then had little trouble dispatching Pocono Mountain East 62-41 in the championship.

Freedom had four players in double digits in the title game, led by Nick Ellis, Jaden Tillett and Krishna Mangroo all coring 12 points apiece. Aaron Levy added 10 points for the Pates, who have won five of their last six games.

“We learned that when we play together and move the ball we can have a lot of success,” said head coach Joe Stellato. “We have been getting better and better every day and really got better on the defensive side. It’s just a one game at a time approach. Let’s not allow this early success to stop us from putting in the hard work.”

The Pates (7-3) get back in EPC action this week with Pocono Mountain West and Easton. Tuesday’s showdown with the Panthers (7-1) is one of the marquee matchups of the week across the conference.

Liberty (6-3) split their games at the Allen Holiday Classic, knocking off the hosts in the opener 54-41, but falling to Hazleton 55-53 in the championship.

Luke Gennaro scored 21 points for the Cougars and took home MVP honors. Liberty was led by Dwayne Chess in the title game, as he scored 14 points.

“I thought the holiday tournament was a great experience for our young team,” said Liberty head coach Nigel Long. “A takeaway that we had was that we have to limit turnovers and continue to share the ball offensively. Defensively, we must continue to finish possessions with a defensive rebound and hold teams to one shot.”

Liberty gets back into things this week with Pocono Mountain East and Bethlehem Catholic on Friday.

“At the halfway point of the season, teams are either getting better or worse,” Long said. “We are looking to continually get better over the course of the season. These next few weeks will be crucial.”

Becahi (6-2) did not play any games last week and open this week with East Stroudsburg North before Friday’s showdown with Liberty.