There were “no worries” for Liberty’s girls basketball team despite their season-opening loss to Bethlehem Catholic, as they returned to the hardwood two days later to defeat Whitehall, 54-27, on Dec. 8 at Whitehall.

“I told the girls we have 21 more games left, at least, before playoffs, and we knew it was the first game, first game jitters, we had to figure out some lineups, and we knew they were looking for revenge,” said Liberty coach Jarrett Carnes. “So we wanted to make sure we were cleaning up some things and having fun with it. It wasn’t the end of the world. Twenty-four hour mindset.”

Liberty had a 38-14 lead over Whitehall at halftime, after the pace picked up in the second quarter, and as the Hurricanes spread the wealth on points, the Zephyrs’ shots weren’t falling.

“I think we defended well, rebounded well. Our offense is still a work in progress,” Carnes said, “but we played well together, came out with some energy, and moved forward and got the W.”

Whitehall outmatched Liberty on height, but the return of Julia Medaska and the addition of Shanna Beatty is adding length to the Hurricanes’ roster.

“Height was an initial challenge,” said Liberty senior starter Abby Thompson (9 points) of the Zephyrs. “We expected a zone, so when they came out in man, we were a little flustered in the beginning, but we went back to our offenses and just rolled with it, and it worked.

“We have some big girls now, so we can play some bigger teams and size up with them, so it’s about playing together. It’s a lot more of an aggressive take... I think team basketball was important, good passing, good shots, and I also think, hustling and keeping our energy up on the bench and on the floor.”

The Zephyrs did present an additional challenge for the Hurricanes.

“The pressure Whitehall showed us late in the game, I felt maybe they should’ve come out with that to start. I know sometimes we get a little rattled and whatnot, but once we had the comfortable lead, we could just break the press and work our offense, and we aren’t in a rush to do much,” Coach Carnes said. “But they’re young. First-year coach James Middleton is a buddy of mine, we played against each other in high school, and he played with my assistant in college, so it was nice. I’m just happy for the girls. We got the W to get past that loss against Beca because that stung.”