Freedom comes up short in PIAA opener, falling to Bishop McCort, 64-58
FREEDOM — Julz Mohrbacher took a moment and looked around the gym. Everyone with “Freedom” on their white shirts stood and applauded, recognizing the senior guard’s talent on the basketball court — and the person she grew into at Freedom.
Mohrbacher received the standing ovation from the crowd, along with her coaching staff and bench of teammates, after fouling out in overtime of Freedom’s PIAA Class 2A first-round loss on Friday night to Bishop McCort, 64-58. Mohrbacher looked at the score and reality started to set in. Freedom would not be moving on, and her high school basketball career would be over.
However, Mohrbacher doesn’t leave Freedom with any woes or what-could-have-been’s. Instead, Freedom’s star senior leaves with gratitude.
“I love basketball. That’s simply it,” Mohrbacher said. “I love the game. It’s just about having as much fun as possible, and I definitely did that this season. The way we came around each other and overcame so much this season, I’m just so grateful to sports in general. They were my first love, my whole life. I’m just so thankful to have competed, and do what I love, for the past four years.”
Freedom’s start to the PIAA Tournament ended quickly, but not without dramatic fashion. In fact, against Bishop McCort, Freedom compiled three major comebacks. However, the Bulldogs could not hold onto a lead and watched as the Crushers nailed free throws and three-pointers to punch their ticket to the second round.
Despite the loss, Freedom coach John Kaercher said he’s proud of the no-quit effort from his side.
“It was the true slogan of our new shirt this year – all grit, no quit,” Kaercher said. “It was that all the way to the end. We came up a little bit short. Our Achilles heel this year has been those early missed layups and those missed free throws. That was another factor here tonight. In the first two and half minutes, we missed four layups. They had the eight-point lead. Then, I lost track, we missed seven or eight free throws, so you’re looking at 23 points. But these girls battled hard all year.”
Kaercher said that Freedom exceeded plenty of expectations to make it to the WPIAL Final – where the Bulldogs dropped a close contest with Shenango – and punch their ticket to the state tournament.
“Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short,” Kaercher said. “All in all, it was a great season. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
Freedom’s biggest comeback came in the fourth quarter. Entering the final eight minutes, Freedom was down by 10 points, 44-33. Olivia Henderson nailed a three-pointer early in the quarter, with Mohrbacher adding another and six additional points. Brianne Casto and Megan Evans added buckets in the paint, and Morgan Keller converted two foul shots.
“We made three amazing comebacks. We took the lead, but ultimately, we fell short,” Keller said. “Our coach told us to get the ball back, push it and score. We needed the easy shots.”
The biggest play from that comebacker period came from Henderson in the waning seconds, with Freedom down by three points with 19 seconds on the clock. Kaercher said that he called a timeout and drew up a play for Henderson to attempt a three-point shot.
“We set that play up for Olivia,” Kaercher said. “We told her to get the ball into Julz, and then Julz would dribble to the left or the right. Wherever Olivia went, we wanted to get her the ball. She was either going to send that game into overtime, or we were going to lose going down. There wasn’t enough time to get a two and get a steal to get another two. It was a three-or-nothing, and she came through.”
Henderson said that she was feeling confident after a big performance at the Petersen Events Center, where she nailed four three-pointers.
“I knew if we came in strong, we’d be good. I had to keep my confidence up on my shots and keep shooting,” Henderson said. “When I hit a couple, I knew I was good.”
Mohrbacher said that she’s confident in the program’s direction after Kaercher drew up a play for a sophomore instead of the star forward. She said that everyone on Freedom’s team has potential to win titles in their high school careers.
“I love all of them. They all just have so much potential,” Mohrbacher said. “This season, they’ve grown so much, not only as players, but as people and as a team. We’re a family together. I’ll be back to watch them, for sure. I want to support them. They’re going to do great things.”
Kaercher said that he’s sad to see seniors like Mohrbacher, along with Megan Evans, Jersee Melvin and Kaylee Ostrowski, depart the program, but told them to keep their heads held high after four successful seasons.
“They built something special here. They all worked hard to get us to this point,” Kaercher said. “They have a lot to be proud of. If they give that same effort in life, that they gave right here on the basketball court, then every single one of our seniors is going to be successful, no matter what they do in life.”
Mohrbacher closed out her high school career with 28 points. With her usual shy smile, Mohrbacher said she’s simply proud of her team and their effort all season.
“I was just proud of our team,” she said. “We fought until the very end. It was tough coming from being down in the first half and having to work hard to tie or get the lead the whole game, so I was proud of us for pushing to get to that point.”
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Freedom comes up short in PIAA opener, falling to Bishop McCort, 64-58
