Freeport girls edge Apollo-Ridge in defensive battle

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 7, 2019 | 10:45 PM

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The Freeport girls basketball team entered Monday’s Section 1-4A game against Apollo-Ridge averaging 66.9 points.

The Yellowjackets didn’t come close to that mark against the Vikings, but they made plays when it counted down the stretch and produced a 34-26 victory.

“The important thing is to keep winning and control our own destiny in the section and for the playoffs,” Freeport coach Fred Soilis said.

“I’m not happy with the way we played, but tomorrow is another day. It’s a section win, and that’s what counts.”

Freeport, No. 4 in the latest Trib HSSN rankings, improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in section play. The Yellowjackets bounced back from last Thursday’s loss to Class 4A No. 1 North Catholic and remained one game back of the Trojanettes at the top of the section standings.

Freeport turns its focus to a key section matchup at rival Knoch on Thursday. The Knights topped Burrell on Monday to also improve to 4-1 in the section.

Both the Yellowjackets and Vikings struggled from the field over the first three quarters. Freeport took a 17-16 lead into the final stanza.

Rylee Eaton hit one of two free throws 18 seconds into the final frame to tie the score, but Freeport responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Harley Holloway and Samantha Clark to put the Yellowjackets up six.

“Defensively, we did everything right for most of the game. We mixed things up and played several defenses,” Apollo-Ridge coach Jim Callipare said. “But there was that one stretch. We got undisciplined offensively and rushed a couple of shots. They got the long rebound and hit a couple shots from outside. You can’t do that against a good team. They will make you pay.”

Apollo-Ridge switched to more of a man defense after the Freeport flurry from the outside.

Morgan Gamble cut the Freeport lead in half with a 3-pointer at the 4:19 mark, but Haley Graham answered for the Yellowjackets with a three of her own 20 seconds later.

Maddy Moore converted a layup for the Vikings to make it 26-22 with 2:53 left, and then Freeport went to work from the foul line.

The Yellowjackets sank eight free throws in as many attempts in the final minute of play. Clark and Holloway each were 4 for 4. Those eight points countered a 3-pointer from Apollo’s Liz Penrose.

“That (early fourth-quarter spurt) gave us some breathing room,” Soilis said. “I knew at some point they were going to have to foul.”

Freeport finished 10 of 12 from the line.

“We practice foul shots 10 to 15 minutes every day, and we know how important they are, especially in a close game like this,” Freeport junior Sidney Shemanski said.

Clark led Freeport with 14 points, and Holloway finished with 12.

Shemanski, who Soilis said was under the weather for the game, was limited to four points, but she pulled down 11 rebounds.

“We just didn’t shoot well,” Soilis said. “We got shots, but they just weren’t falling. This was probably our worst shooting night of the year. But you’re going to have that. Apollo-Ridge slowed us down and prevented us from running.”

“We set a goal to keep them under 33, and we did that. But we also had a goal to score at least 10 a quarter, and we didn’t do that.”

Apollo-Ridge, now 7-3 overall and 2-3 in the section, slowed the game down when it had the ball. One second-quarter possession lasted almost two minutes. The Vikings led 7-6 after one quarter, and the game was tied at halftime.

Gamble scored nine to lead Apollo-Ridge, and Moore added eight.

“We saw some more good things. We’re getting closer,” Callipare said. “We just haven’t put a full game together. Once we do that, we should be in pretty good shape to make a run.”

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

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Freeport