Freedom may be enduring a trouble patch in their winter schedule, but it doesn't mean the Patriots have given up hope of qualifying for districts.

The Pates (5-11, 4-7) have lost six straight games following last Friday's 70-53 defeat to Allen that has them limping toward the finishing line of the season with six contests left on the calendar, starting with Tuesday night's city rivalry with Liberty (10-4).

Freedom needs to win four of their final six East Penn Conference contests in order to qualify for the postseason, which is something that head coach Joe Stellato is keeping his fingers crossed for.

"We still hope that we can turn things around and make a run," said Stellato. "We're struggling with scoring droughts in every game, where we'll go four or five minutes without scoring and then the opposition tends to open up a lead on us. We either need to stop having those spells or play better defense during those times."

With Easton (6-8), Bethlehem Catholic (3-11) and Dieruff (2-12) still on the schedule, Stellato looks at those contests as vital pieces for an end of season run. The Pates will need to get wins from each of those contests in order to give themselves a chance. Freedom defeated Easton and Dieruff during their 3-0 start to the year, but things have obviously changed for them since then, as their six-game skid got started on Jan. 5 during a 68-62 loss at Southern Lehigh, which saw them go scoreless in the second quarter. The Pates have lost five straight league games since then and were hoping to change that trend heading into Tuesday night's encounter with Liberty.

"We knew that was going to be a tough game as well," said Stellato of Liberty, who the Pates will play again on Feb. 6 during their season finale. "We just need to get better. Things really aren't different for us now in comparison to how we started the season. I just think we've been playing tougher competition and haven't been able to stop teams on defense when we get into scoring droughts."