The sting of losing the District XI Class 6A boys basketball final was unmistakable for Liberty, but the Hurricanes’ season will continue, even after falling to Parkland, 51-44, on Feb. 28 at Easton Area Middle School.

“I’m just proud of our guys. I’m proud of our kids. We gave ourselves a chance there,” said Liberty coach Nigel Long. “Credit Parkland. Every single time we responded, they did. But I just want to commend our guys. They battled their tales off, executed everything that we asked them to, and gave us an amazing opportunity at the end. It stings. It’s gonna sting, but we talked about we have a home playoff game on Saturday, so we’re gonna take a few days here, but then turn the page.”

The Hurricanes led for most of the first half until Parkland went on a nine-point run to bring the game to a 21-21 tie.

Liberty had possession for the last 43 seconds of the second quarter, but the Trojans had fouls to give and were able to stop the Hurricanes offensively.

“It was a game of runs,” Coach Long said. “We talked about taking each quarter as eight minutes and try to win each quarter. The biggest thing was the offensive rebounds, holding them to the one shot, and collectively, us, offensively, continuing to keep moving off the ball.”

Liberty went on its own eight-point run in the third quarter with a huge 3-pointer from Dylan Bilger and another triple from Jarrell Teague to take back the lead.

Quin Lucas-Bishop scored on a putback, and the Hurricanes were back in control until the Trojans tied the game again, 32-32.

Liberty forced a turnover in the fourth quarter, and on a pass that was heading out of bounds, Jake Pukszyn made an amazing save that ricocheted off a Parkland player.

Luke Heffernan then scored on the inbound play, followed by Heffernan’s clutch 3-pointer with 4:10 remaining in regulation.

Parkland’s Tyler Beck and Jude Ruisch combined for four points to tie, 41-41, and Liberty’s final shot of the quarter didn’t go, as the teams headed to overtime.

“Playoff basketball comes on possessions, and you can always look back at a few possessions where, OK, that was a key moment in the game,” said Coach Long, “and so you could sense that the team that would take advantage of those possessions there at the end would be the one that would get a little bit of a lead to then finish it off, and we just weren’t able to tonight.”

Parkland’s defense got the stops it needed in overtime, holding Liberty to three points.

The Hurricanes made a statement in the first quarter with 3-pointers by Teague and Bilger and six points from Pukszyn to take a 13-3 lead.

Pukszyn had a team high 17 points, and Parkland’s Blake Nassry had a game high 25 points.

The Hurricanes were awarded silver medals at the conclusion of the game.

The PIAA Class 6A boys basketball state tournament begins on March 7 when the Hurricanes will host Wilkes-Barre Area at 2:30 p.m.

Parkland will host Conestoga on March 7 at 1 p.m.