Dancing in their seats, the Liberty Hurricanes knew it was only a matter of seconds before they officially clinched a berth in the District 11 girls basketball playoffs, as they sailed past the Freedom Patriots by a score of 52-30 last Friday night at Freedom.

"It's awesome. I'm relieved," said Liberty guard, Kaylin West.

What was still in question on Friday night was whether the Hurricanes would have a spot in the East Penn Conference Tournament, which begins and ends this week. As long as Parkland did their job and defeated Whitehall, Liberty would be in.

By the end of the night, that was official too. Parkland defeated Whitehall, 35-26. The Hurricanes are the eighth seed in the EPC Tournament and will have faced top-seeded Allentown Central Catholic on Tuesday, past Press deadlines. Games were moved back from Monday to Tuesday because of wintery weather.

If anything set the tone of Liberty's game against Freedom, it was the first quarter. West, Madison Capuano, and Reyna DeJesus combined for nine points, but the Patriots came up empty. Good shot after good shot, rebounding by Kaitlyn Swint, and even an intercepted pass by the Freedom sophomore forward resulted in no points for Freedom.

West said, "I was really shocked and a little scared, but then, after the first quarter, we didn't worry."

The Patriots even handled Liberty's full-court pressure well, creating some hope. Freedom sophomore guard, Erica Heaney, scored five consecutive points, and Swint saved a turnover in the second quarter, when each team scored eight points.

Between Capuano's threes and Taysia Snead's consistent shooting, however, the Hurricanes were able to pull away comfortably.

"We are a push-and-go team. We don't score off of plays," said West.

West also had her share of jump shots and lay-ups to contribute to the win.

"I can kind of tell [it's going in] if I hold my follow through," she said.

On Freedom's side, the Patriots did have their moments in the second half.

Senior guard, Autumn Washington, intercepted a pass, and Gia Erie scored two points. Erie then intercepted another pass, and Jaiden Coyne scored. Taylor Garza intercepted a third pass, and Erie scored again, all in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Hailey Silfies added seven points for Freedom, and senior guard, Jennifer Capuano scored two.

Throughout the regular season, Liberty had its ups and downs, enough that a spot in district playoffs came down to the final game of the season.

"We could have done better," said West, "but we pulled it out in the end."

Also last Friday night, Bethlehem Catholic defeated Easton, 60-38. The Hawks are the second seed in the EPC Tournament and will have taken on Pocono Mountain West on Tuesday.