The fifth-seeded Liberty girls basketball team knocked off fourth-seeded Pocono Mountain West with a convincing 50-36 victory in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinal on Feb. 9 at Pocono Mountain West.

Liberty held West to five points in the third quarter while scoring 14 points and taking a 36-23 lead.

Ava Kopetskie led the Hurricanes in scoring with 13 points. Jordan Thompson had 9 points, and Iysis Nickens added 7 points.

Liberty will have faced Emmaus in an EPC semifinal on Feb. 13 at the PPL Center, Allentown, with the EPC final scheduled for Feb. 15, also at the PPL Center.

Bethlehem Catholic’s girls were unable to achieve a similar outcome when the top-seeded Lady Hawks hosted eighth-seeded Emmaus in another Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinal, won by the Lady Hornets, 52-40, on Feb. 9.

“We worked so hard this week preparing for such a really good, well-coached team with really good players, and our kids executed,” said Emmaus coach Kelsey Gallagher. “Our message right now is set the tone, keep the tone, and we did that today.”

Despite a triple from half court by Becahi’s Aliyah Brame at the first quarter buzzer, Emmaus led after each frame.

Coach Gallagher explained the Hornets’ game plan for the Golden Hawks.

“They’re known for shooting, so 22 (Ella Bincarosky) shoots the lights out, so making sure we’re not helping off her. Cici Hernandez, in my opinion, is probably the best player in the league, so we tried to pick her up full court, limit her touches, and Mya Cooper did a fantastic job matching up on her. Sylvia (Sokolofski) stepped in, gave a different height against Hernandez, and I think it frustrated her. But hats off to both teams. That was a really great game. The kids played so hard and in an atmosphere you expect in the playoffs.”

In the second quarter, Becahi was called for three straight fouls, and Emmaus capitalized with five points.

Brame hit her second 3-pointer of the game after teammate Akasha Santos shook her fists in frustration when being fouled in the paint and not converting on free throws.

Emmaus’s Taylor Griffith had the hot hand early in the third quarter with nine straight points.

“We played a great first half and we had to keep fighting. We really wanted this,” Griffith said. “We were all moving together, we were very unselfish, moving the ball, running the plays, and when we find that opening, we get into a rhythm.”

Becahi’s Mekhyla Britt hit a much-needed triple with 2:50 remaining in the third, and Bincarosky had a 3 with 1:00 left, but Emmaus owned a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

“Defense was our main point coming into this game,” said Emmaus guard Mya Cooper. “They had a lot of 3s the last game, and that was something we focused on all week during practice. Our aggressiveness pushed them from that, and it worked in our favor. Cici’s an excellent player, and today, our focus was to not even let her touch the ball.”

The Hornets used the clock in the fourth to secure their lead, but Bincarosky came up with a steal that resulted in a 3-pointer from Hernandez with 3:23 left in regulation.

“I think in the second half we did a nice job of trying to slow things down, run our offense, work the clock a little bit, work for the best shot we can get, and the girls listened,” said Gallagher. “They adjusted, they adapted, and we were able to come out of here with a win.”

Emmaus out rebounded Becahi in the fourth quarter, and Cooper’s steal with 1:00 left on the clock sealed the win for the Hornets.

“Knowing us being the eighth seed and them being the one seed, it’s a big game, and beating them is really good,” said Cooper.

For Griffith, seedings are simply numbers.

“Everybody is really good. Everybody in this league is very talented,” she said. “I think it was the effort we put into practice.”