Never mind that eighth-seeded Liberty will have faced top-seeded Easton in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Girls Basketball Tournament because last Wednesday night’s 68-61 victory over Dieruff gave the Hurricanes the chance they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Liberty and Dieruff competed in a play-in game on Feb. 4 at Northampton where the Huskies fought for their lives after the Hurricanes’ third-quarter eruption.

“First of all, hats off to Dieruff and Coach (Cathy) Piston. She’s doing a great job with that group,” said Liberty coach Jarrett Carnes. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them because I knew that they were on the rise, and they’ve got some ballers over there.”

Dieruff jumped out to an 8-2 lead when Coach Carnes had seen enough and called a timeout.

“The stuff that we were going over last night at practice and the stuff in the locker room prior to the game, we came out and did the total opposite, so I had to call timeout and reiterate it one more time and it got us going,” he said.

Liberty guard Ava Kopetskie promptly scored five points to put the Hurricanes in the game, and Hurricane center Chloe Rumelhart scored six points on offensive rebounds.

But Dieruff was just as productive, led by Justyce McChristian, who had nine points in the first half.

The teams traded buckets early in the third quarter before the Hurricanes began to pull away on Kopetskie’s 3-pointer at the 4:15 mark.

“[Coach Carnes] is always talking about how we have to go and prove ourselves in the first four minutes of the third quarter,” said Rumelhart, “so we were scoring pretty well which helped us get our confidence up and being able to win tonight. We made [EPCs] last year and wanted to go back, so we really worked hard to get there. We’re just happy to be able to play.”

Liberty’s Juliet Broskey added two points on an offensive rebound, and Coach Piston called a timeout.

When play resumed, however, Liberty’s Addy Smith hit two 3-pointers while Dieruff’s shots wouldn’t fall.

“I think the whole start of the third quarter was the turning point,” Smith said. “I hit those two threes, but then they started guarding me a little bit more, and then DeLaney (Foster) and Emma (Miller) both hit threes, so they had to worry about every single girl on the court, and I think that was a big thing in the third quarter. We had to pass the ball around, get it to everyone and find the best shot that we could find, and I think we executed that very well and didn’t hang our heads when they got a point off of us.”

Smith finished the game with 11 points, and Kopetskie had a game-high 28 points.

“Addy started lighting it up, and then Miller too,” said Coach Carnes. “She was hitting it and was hot over here. Those shots were huge. If we get those shots from other players outside of Kopetskie, it’s a totally different team. Dieruff is hungry. They’re scrappy. I’m very, very happy.”

In the fourth quarter, Dieruff pulled within six points three times, but Liberty pulled away in response.

“I think that was a result of having six seniors that don’t want the season to end and being hungry,” Coach Carnes said. “Monday night, we got beat up down in Nazareth, so we knew we had to bounce back just to prove to ourselves that we could do it.”

Easton defeated Liberty in the quarterfinals 54-40. The Hurricanes will next play in the District 11 playoffs.

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Bethlehem Catholic’s girls got off to a quick start and cruised to a 65-13 win over Pocono Moutain West in the opening round of the EPC playoffs last weekend.

The Hawks scored 27 points in the opening quarter and added 18 more in the second quarter to take a 45-8 advantage into halftime.

Laura Lewis led the way with 14 points. Leah Ault added 11 points while Aliyah Brame and Alayla Davis both had ten points for Becahi.

Isabella Caligiuri led Pocono Mountain West with six points.

The semifinals took place Tuesday night at the PPL Center, after Bethlehem Press deadlines.

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PPL Center

schedule

Thursday, Feb. 12

EPC Girls Championship - 6 p.m.

EPC Boys Championship - 8 p.m.

Tickets for all three nights are on sale now at PPLCenter.com, the QNB Box Office at PPL Center. General Admission tickets can be purchased for $10. Senior Citizens (ages 65 and over) are free with a valid ID. Children, ages 4 and under, are free but require a complimentary ticket for entry, which can be secured with the purchase of a general admission ticket.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. each night. Only purchased tickets, EPC passes or credentials will be accepted for admission.