Freedom's woes on the basketball court have continued to grow, but that hasn't changed the mindset of the team. The Patriots have lost seven out of their last eight games, including a 1-3 stretch last week that was capped by a 73-61 Saturday defeat to Harrisburg.

Freedom also lost to Allen and Parkland last week after kicking things off with a 61-35 victory over Northampton.

The positive aspect of the recent dismay is that the Patriots are still in the hunt for the playoffs, which has kept things upbeat for Joe Stellato's crew.

The Pates 5-8 overall record might look troubling, but their 4-3 Lehigh Valley Conference mark has them on the cusp of district potential.

"I love our kids attitudes and work ethic and we're still fighting," said Stellato. "We just need to keep moving forward. We're a young and inexperienced team, but we just aren't finding the consistency we need on a nightly basis and that comes with a young team."

Another issue for the Patriots this season has been the battle of the third quarter. The Pates have struggled out of the halftime break, getting outscored in their last seven losses by a 115-63 margin.

If Stellato could remove the third quarter from contests, his team could find themselves in a different predicament, but that's not reality. Working through these struggles is what the Pates have to deal with as they enter another week of packed action.

"We have been getting killed in the third quarter this year," he said. "We just go ice cold from the field. We've tried everything we can as coaches, but sometimes it just doesn't work."

With Whitehall (9-5), Dieruff (6-6) and Central Catholic (14-0) on this week's slate, the Pates will be put to the test again to try and inch their way closer to clinching a district berth, as their magic number is three league wins. They have two good shots at closing that gap against the Zephyrs and Huskies, but those outcomes can easily go against their favor as well.

"I believe we can win any of these games this week," he said. "With us still being in the hunt, the kids still believe they can get it done, but we need to get a win. We're just focusing on one game at a time."