Freedom trailed most of the night in last Friday’s cross town rivalry tilt against Liberty, but in the end they were the ones that came out on top in a pivotal EPC divisional clash.

Led by senior Nick Ellis’ 26 points, the Patriots overcame a 29-19 halftime deficit and a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter to come back for a 54-49 win.

The Pates (10-4, 5-0) outscored Liberty 22-7 in the final period to grab sole possession of first place in the EPC East Division.

“The crowd helped us win that game,” said Freedom head coach Joe Stellato. “What a great high school atmosphere. This is what you get in a public school rivalry game. Nothing better than that for kids. That kind of game can be turning the point for the season. We have been looking for a signature win, and this was it.”

Ellis was recognized before the game for scoring his 1,000th point on the road against Pocono Mountain West, helped lead the Freedom charge, scoring 20 of his 26 points in the second half.

However, it was Joe Dew’s go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds left to push Freedom ahead 50-49 that was the ultimate back-breaker for Liberty (9-4, 4-1).

Freedom has won three straight games and have two league contests this week against Whitehall (9-6) and East Stroudsburg South (11-2). Staying on pace for the division lead will be critical for the team this week.

“That game puts us in the driver seat, if we continue to win league games,” said Stellato of the Liberty win. “That game will not mean as much if we come up short this Tuesday and Friday. Whitehall and East Stroudsburg South can beat anyone.”

Liberty has a three game slate this week with Central Catholic (9-6), East Stroudsburg North (6-7) and Quakertown on Saturday.

Bethlehem Catholic (10-3, 3-2) has won nine of their last 10 games, but will be tested on Tuesday in a pivotal clash against Parkland (8-5).

“Parkland is a good team every year and this year is no different,” said head coach Scott McClary. “Going on the road against a top team is going to be a great challenge and definitely the type of game you like to be in. It will teach us a lot about where we are and where we need to get to.”

Alex Cercado has led the Hawks by scoring in double digits in eight of the last 10 games, including 20, 22 and 23 points in each of last week’s wins over Nazareth, Dieruff and Ridley. McClary will need that again this week against the Trojans, Stroudsburg (4-10) and Brandywine Heights.

“We got a really good week from Alex, and our team really feeds off him when he is playing well,” McClary said. “Additionally, we have continued to perform well defensively and winning the game at the rim, especially rebounding. Part of our success is that different guys have started to step up in different ways on different nights. Especially on some key defensive assignments.”