By Kyle LoJacono
The Freedom girls basketball team showed it is more than a two-player team in a 63-40 blowout of Clearwater at home Feb. 7 in the Class 7A regional quarterfinals.
The Patriots (23-3) had four players score in double digits, led by senior forward Faith Woodard’s 21 and sophomore guard Taylor Emery’s 15. Senior guards Whitney Ivey and Monet Williams added 13 and 10, respectively.
“We can all score the ball,” Williams said. “We don’t rely on just two people because we can all score, and we need to in case anyone falls down. We got to rely on everyone to pick us up, and that’s what we did.”
The balanced attack comes six days after Freedom won the Class 7A-District 9 championship with Woodard and Emery scoring their squad’s first 48.
“We work on that every day in practice, spreading the ball around, and we’re getting back into it in the game,” Ivey said. “We’re showing people it’s not just two people. Everybody can play.”
The Patriots put that practice into play against the Tornadoes (23-5), who opted to double Woodard in the post while leaving the perimeter mainly unguarded.
“That’s what people fail to realize about that,” said Freedom coach Laurie Pacholke. “Yes, Taylor and Faith are going to put up their points, but you can’t just focus on them. Everyone else I put out there can go off, and that’s exactly what happened. Really, we’re a dangerous team. We’re not a two-headed monster that everyone says that we are.”
Ivey quickly shattered Clearwater’s strategy by hitting 3-pointers on the Patriots’ first two possessions.
“By her hitting the early 3-point shots opened up the middle on me,” Woodard said. “They tried to collapse on me, and you just can’t do that. We’re a well-rounded team.”
Pacholke said it was good to see Williams “come out of her shell” and score her season high, especially considering she was forced to the bench for much of the first half with three fouls.
“She really stepped up,” Woodard said. “She didn’t even let the three fouls affect her. She came in the second half and really got the job done and did what we needed.”
Woodard picked up an offensive milestone with 2:03 left in the game by hitting a free throw to reach 2,000 career points. She picked up her 1,000th rebound earlier this season.
“I’m happy to have 2,000 (points) and 1,000 rebounds, but I’m even more happy that I was able to do it with such a great team,” Woodard said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Freedom’s press defense frustrated the Tornadoes into many poor decisions, wild passes and shots from way behind the 3-point arc.
“Our key coming in was to disrupt them,” Pacholke said. “The key is to get kids to understand that when you’re putting a lot of defensive pressure on them, you might not get the steal right there, but you’re going to get a rushed shot, a travel, a bad pass, because they’re not accustomed to facing that. It’s great that it happened tonight because we can go back and watch it, and I can show them what consistent defense will do.”
The Patriots also won the rebound battle by pulling down 31, 11 from Woodard and five from Williams. Emery added four boards and four steals.
The victory comes a year after the Tornadoes eliminated Freedom from the playoffs in the regional quarterfinals 42-39. Emery said that shows the progression they’ve made the last 12 months.
“We got new people, the people we had coming back developed and we got a lot better working as a team,” Emery said. “We showed them what we’ve been doing the last year.”
Pacholke said it wasn’t a perfect game, but she was happy with the outcome.
“We had some ups and downs, but to come into a regional quarterfinal and win by 23, that’s a pretty big deal,” Pacholke said. “You don’t normally see games like that.”
The Patriots host district rival Steinbrenner Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. It is the fourth time the squads will meet this year, with Freedom winning the first three.
“Both teams will be ready, and this gym will be packed,” Pacholke said. “It’s great for Hillsborough County to have this matchup.”
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
