As many of the winter sports teams’ seasons came to an end during the month of Feb., the Freedom Girls’ basketball team’s season didn’t. Their regular season, ending on Feb. 6, took them to the first round of WPIAL playoffs and after roughly two weeks of waiting to see who their opponent would be, they were finally matched up and ready to play.

With this playoff position in the 2014-2015 season, it allowed the girls to make back to back playoff appearances.

“We’re playing the same teams this year that we did last year, so our chances are high [in playoffs] but we’re hoping for the best,” Sophomore Ashley Gaus said.

With another chance in the running, the team has been trying to improve themselves for playoffs. On the court, the team has attempted new techniques during their warm ups and during practices to try to enhance their performance.
Freedom, has a section record of 6-6, and an overall record of 11-13. The team has an average PA (point average) of 46.6. Being an AA school, puts the team in section 5 of WPIAL. This allows them to play schools that are roughly the size of Freedom.

At the start of playoffs, the girls played their first game in the preliminary round with a game against Brentwood at Hampton on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. The girls won with a final score of 43-38.

After this game, they were moved into the next round of playoffs, and they played North Hills at Burrell on Feb. 17.

The game ended with a final score of 60-19, North Hills .

“I think [Senior Madi Daubenspeck] is the unsung hero of our team because she always scores a lot of points and she has a great outside shot,” Gaus said.

Daubenspeck’s hard work payed off when she was awarded athlete of the week.

“It was an honor to get awarded with athlete of the week. I worked very hard and I’m glad my hard work paid off and got noticed,” Daubenspeck said.

The team ended their season with a record of 11-13. With a total of four seniors leaving, the underclassmen will have to step up to fill the shoes of these missing players.

“This year we have played teams that are a challenge to us; especially teams that are out of our section. Doing that makes it better, because it makes us work harder,” Gaus said.

As the seniors say farewell, the underclassmen get the opportunity to step up and continue to strive for the next years season.

“I think [the girl’s] will be better than we were this year with the talent that is on our team. The eighth graders coming up are also extremely talented; next year’s season has a great outlook,” Daubenspeck said.