The Lady Pates went the Freedom Way and pulled out a 60-54 overtime victory against Bethlehem rival Bethlehem Catholic last Wednesday night at Freedom.

“Finding ways to win is what this program’s all about: the 50-50 plays, the Freedom Way plays, tipping the ball to a teammate, diving on the floor, and that’s how we have to play,” said head coach Dean Reiman. “We’re a small, scrappy team that has to play harder than the other team, so I’m always pleased with their effort. When the game’s on the line, you have to find a way.”

One of the biggest dives came near the end of regulation when Patriot forward Kailey Turpening’s steal prevented a potential basket by the Golden Hawks and sent the game to overtime.

“We wanted a steal really quick off that possession because we only had five seconds left, so we had to apply pressure, especially on Kourtney Wilson,” Turpening said. “This game showed how much we wanted this to work out and I think we played to our potential. Now we’re back and ready to go.”

That dive was one of many throughout all four quarters.

“All around, we played tough,” said Freedom guard Corrin Gill, whose three pointer ended the second quarter. “Zara (Martin) had an amazing day on the boards. Brenna (Ortwein), Kailey, everyone was rebounding, diving on the floor for balls. Keturah (Stewart) came in and got a huge [deflection] off their player, so it was an all-around team effort.”

Becahi took an early but short-lived lead in the first quarter, scoring eight straight points, four by Cici Hernandez, who later hit a three in the last two minutes.

Freedom led 29-20 at halftime and added to that lead when Ortwein hit a three pointer to open the third quarter, and then scored off an inbound pass from Gill.

Hernandez continued to have the hot hand for the Hawks with seven points in the third as Becahi inched its way to within six points of the Pates.

That’s when Becahi’s Wilson stepped up, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter, two of them on a forced turnover.

“Kourtney did a great job in the fourth quarter, and we’re telling our girls we’ve got to bring that from the very beginning. Everybody...for four quarters. We had to match their intensity, and I believe through quarters one through three, we didn’t,” said Becahi head coach Jose Medina. “We’re proud of the effort, but I’ve got to do a better job of helping these guys come down the stretch, but give credit to where it’s due. It was Freedom’s day.”

In the overtime period, Gill said that the Patriots’ goal was to get to the free throw line and make the Hawks stop them on drives.

Martin, Gill, Turpening, and Ortwein all made it to the free throw line for seven points, and Turpening saved another possible Becahi bucket when she tipped the ball to Elsa Martin under the Hawks’ basket.

“We’ve been working a lot on physical toughness, but in games like this where they’re coming back, it’s mental toughness, and even into overtime, we trusted each other,” said Ortwein. “At the beginning of the season, we thought about, are we gonna use [some bad breaks] as an excuse or as motivation? And when you come out, you start slow, you start thinking, it’s not our fault we had that stuff working against us, but we’re still a good team, whether we practice or whether we don’t. It’s just a matter of getting our chemistry. Playing at home and getting a win like this is a great feeling.”