Similar to last year’s historic season for the Bulldogs, the girls basketball team keeps steady with racking up an impressive record. They are top of their section and looking at making a playoff run this year. As of Jan. 20, their record stands at an impressive 12-1, their only loss of the season being against Keystone Oaks on Dec. 22, by a close score of 47-60. In this game, Julia Mohrbacher scored 30 points, and Shaye Bailey scored 15 points. 

The team holds practices almost every day of the week, which helps them have time to prepare for their upcoming opponents. They run different drills each practice, each one sharpening their skills in specific scenarios. These practices reflect their record of 12-1 and show how much work the team is putting in to be the best that they can be. As the team advances to playoffs in a few weeks, their practices will run for slightly longer and they will practice their important plays on the court. 

On Jan. 5, the Bulldogs took on the Rochester Rams at home. This game was a rivalry game, so the gymnasium was packed with fans and families from both teams. Early in the first half, the Bulldogs took the lead, and they held control of it until the end. Mohrbacher scored 24 points respectively, and Bailey scored 13 points in the game. The Bulldogs came out on top with a final score of 46-33. Both Bailey and Mohrbacher are captains this season and have been very successful so far. 

Another notable game so far this season was on Jan. 17 against the New Brighton Lions at home. The Bulldogs beat the Lions with a dominating score of 68-11, improving their record that day to 11-1. In this game, both Mohrbacher and Bailey each scored 21 points respectively. In this match, Mohrbacher surpassed her 1000th point milestone during her career in basketball at Freedom. This is a monumental accomplishment for a high school basketball career, and Mohrbacher’s family, friends and teammates rallied around her. 

“It was an incredible experience for me, a surreal moment after all the years of hard work that I put in,” Mohrbacher said. “It was pretty incredible, and it was amazing for all my friends and family to support me. It is something that I will never forget.” 

Last year in the playoffs, the girls team won games until the WPIAL finals against North Catholic, where they fell short by a few points. They automatically qualified for PIAA state playoffs, and the Bulldogs kept winning games until the state final, also falling short by a few points against Neumann Goretti. 

As the team heads towards the end of the regular season, all the staff members and players are getting prepared for action and hopefully another similar deep playoff run like last season. Even though the team lost most of their starting lineup since they were mainly composed of seniors, the girls have played well so far this season, and look to better themselves every day moving forward with their new lineup. 

“I enjoyed spending time with my teammates and bonding over the season this year, especially with all the new members that joined and all of the underclassmen,” senior Megan Evans said.