The Liberty Hurricanes had their share of ups and downs last week, including Maddie Capuano’s 1,000th career point and the Hurricanes’ loss to Whitehall, so their 58-53 victory over Bethlehem Catholic on Saturday was a must-win in their eyes.

“We know they’re the game,” said Liberty’s Taysia Snead. “Especially with our last two losses, we needed to be confident. We needed to win.”

The Hurricanes made it look easy enough to start, because Kaylin West, Kristina Polak, and Abbie Zerbe were hitting threes in the first quarter, aiding the Hurricanes in their 17-11 lead.

The Hawks were just getting started, however, with the consistent shooting of Tessa Zamolyi and Jordynn Jones. Becahi coach Jose Medina added Rebekah Recchio to the mix in the second quarter, and by halftime, it was the Hawks who had the lead 28-26.

Snead said, “At halftime, we focused on Jordynn Jones and how to make her shoot her jumper because she wasn’t.”

Coach Soto told the Hurricanes the rest of the game was up to them.

“I told them it’s your tempo, and you have to box out, and run the plays. I said that was your weakness, when people slow us down. It’s hard when you get momentum and don’t finish,” Soto said.

Becahi’s Morgan Orloski opened the third quarter with a three for the Hawks, but minutes later, the tide began to turn. Snead scored for the Hurricanes, and Capuano stole Beca’s inbound pass for two more points. Capuano had another steal and was fouled on her shot. West rebounded a Becahi miss, took it down court and passed to Capuano who was fouled again.

West said, “It’s just really frustrating, knowing what our team’s capable of.”

With a 40-36 Liberty lead to start the fourth quarter, another three by Orloski ultimately tied the game 44-44. At that point, Soto told her players she was going to trust them.

Enter Liberty forward, Jackie Arthur, who converted on her own rebound, Polak, who converted on a Hurricane miss, and Torie Zerbe, who scored on a Snead assist after West saved a pass, and the Hurricanes were back in the driver’s seat.

Capuano said, “We just did a good job finding open players and being patient. We needed a big win here.”

The Hurricanes are currently in the middle of another intense week, having played Freedom on Tuesday, past Press deadlines, with a game against Allen Friday.

“It was an emotional week, and now we’re looking at the bigger picture,” said Soto. “We’re in the meat of the season. It’s game time.”