Freeport girls lock up 2nd place in Section 1-4A with win over rival Knoch

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 4, 2019 | 11:21 PM

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Several times during Monday’s Section 1-4A girls basketball game between rivals Knoch and Freeport, the visiting Knights made a run to close or erase a deficit and put pressure on the Yellowjackets.

But Freeport answered each Knoch push, and the final response at the midpoint of the fourth quarter lifted the Yellowjackets to a 44-32 victory.

“Knoch is always going to battle us,” said Freeport coach Fred Soilis, who saw his team close the game on a 14-6 run after the Knights trimmed the score to four at 30-26.

“They were not going to roll over. This was a good win for us. Right now, what we’re fighting for is playoff positioning. We have four games this week, and this is one of them. We just need to take care of business the rest of the week.”

With the win, Freeport (15-3, 10-2) clinched second place in the section with games remaining at Indiana (Thursday) and Apollo-Ridge (Friday).

The Yellowjackets also play Wednesday against Fox Chapel, a playoff-bound team from Class 6A.

Despite Monday’s loss, its fourth straight overall, Knoch (8-11, 6-6) still is alive for one of the four WPIAL playoff spots from the section.

Apollo-Ridge improved to 7-5 and is in third place in section play after its win Monday over Highlands. Indiana edged Greensburg Salem, 54-51, and the Indians and Golden Lions both are 6-7.

Knoch hosts Burrell on Tuesday before taking on North Catholic on Thursday.

A Sidney Shemanski layup with 5 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter put Freeport ahead 9-4, but Knoch responded with an 8-2 run take a 12-11 lead at the 1:46 mark.

The Yellowjackets answered in the final minute of the half on back-to-back 3-pointers from Shemanski and Grace Soilis to grab a 17-12 advantage at the break.

Knoch opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run on the strength of a 3-pointer and two fouls shots from sophomore guard Neveah Ewing to take a 19-17 lead, but 3-pointers from Haley Graham and Madeline Clark put the Yellowjackets back in front at 23-19.

Freeport led 27-19 at the end of three.

Skyler Burkett opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for Knoch, and that started a mini 7-3 spurt that brought the Knights to within four.

Shemanski then drained another 3-pointer, Soilis connected on two from the free-throw line, and Shemanski followed with a pair of foul shots to extend the Yellowjackets’ advantage back to 11 with 2:41 left.

“We hit some big shots at key times,” coach Soilis said. “But we missed some shots that we would normally make, and we have to cut out some of the turnovers. We were a little rusty with not playing for a whole week. But we battled back in the second half with our defense and some steals.”

Shemanski scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. Samantha and Madeline Clark each added eight points for the Yellowjackets.

Lauren Cihonski and Abbey Shearer each tallied eight points to lead Knoch, while Burkett finished with a pair of 3s for six points.

Knights starting junior guard Madilyn Boyer went down with an ankle injury late in the first quarter and didn’t return to the game.

She was assisted from the court and later returned the bench with the aid of crutches.

Freeport’s Harley Holloway aggravated an existing knee injury late in the third quarter. Holloway, who wears a brace on the knee, left the game and didn’t return, but coach Soilis said she will be OK.

Graham and fellow Yellowjackets seniors Lydia Bouch and Ally DeJidas were recognized and celebrated before the game.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Freeport, Knoch