On February 8, the boys’ varsity basketball team prepared themselves for their game against Western Beaver which took place at home court for senior night. They took turns taking warm up shots to practice before the big game. The rest of the season had gone well, and the boys played their hardest. This was the last time for the seniors, Evan DiCerio, Hunter Giles and Eric Borgman to shine.

The clock started its countdown and the ref threw the ball into the air, marking the start of the final game. Giles soon received the ball and made his way onto the other side of the court.

In the middle of the court, Giles took a shot and made the basket, earning his team their first three points of his last game. The cheers, claps and screams of joy that thundered through the bleachers were almost deafening. Giles’ teammates cheered and clapped, smiling at him and congratulating him on the court.

Coach Cercone quickly called a timeout, allowing the rest of the boys to join Giles and congratulate him on the basket while the crowd continued to clap.

Once back onto the court, Junior Zach Greene immediately made a shot and gained three more points, earning another round of applause from the fans.

At the beginning of the game Borgman, DiCerio, Juniors Avery Sayre, Nick Henderson and Greene and Sophomore Santino Guandolo all scored baskets. Before the third period, many more players had taken shots and the team was now on a roll.

At the end of the first two periods, Freedom was leading 27-25 against Western Beaver, neck and neck, fighting for the win.

The cheerleaders performed their half-time performance with Seniors Rachel Mazzetti, Lea Gualtieri, Lara Pavlick and Emily Hawk also cheering at their last game.

After halftime, the boys returned back to the court and warmed up for a few minutes before the horn sounded, resuming the game.

Quickly, Henderson was passed the ball and made a shot mid-air, earning two points for the Bulldogs and Borgman made another basket not even 20 seconds later.

Henderson made a break away, and was the first one to Western’s basket, earning even more points.
At the end of the game, Freedom overtook Western Beaver 64-40.

A few minutes before the end of the game, fans could walk down the halls and hear the growing cheers. Claps were thundering and echoing throughout the hallway. The roars of the fans overtook the gym and the building and surely made the night one to remember.