Freeport uses pressure defense to defeat Highlands, earn spot in playoffs
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Monday, February 3, 2025 | 9:36 PM
Applying consistent pressure and constantly sprinting left Nia DiSanti, a 5-foot-7 guard for the Freeport girls basketball team, a little tired Monday night.
But after losing seven of eight games to start the season, the Yellowjackets became accustomed to having to turn up the energy to dig out of their hole.
Freeport melted Highlands with its defensive pressure at Freeport Middle School. The Yellowjackets forced 32 turnovers en route to a 49-29 Section 1-4A win that punched Freeport’s ticket to the WPIAL playoffs.
“Running like that shows how much you can compete,” said DiSanti, who finished with a team-high 11 points. “It makes us feel like we can compete against better teams.”
All the turnovers gave Freeport (5-15, 5-8) plenty of extra opportunities to score, but the Yellowjackets had trouble getting their shots to go in. Freeport shot 31.4% (22 of 70) from the field.
The Yellowjackets were 2 of 18 from the field in the first quarter, including 0 for 6 from the 3-point line. Thanks to Freeport’s slow start, Highlands surged to an 8-0 lead.
“I had a feeling we would come out tight,” Yellowjackets coach Jason Kerr said. “I knew the way they were moving and attacking that we would get back into it.”
Jasmine Owen made a layup with 2 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter to close out the Golden Rams’ opening run. Freeport’s Macy Stivenson scored the Yellowjackets’ first basket with 1:47 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 8-2. Stivenson finished with 10 points.
Highlands coach Dan LaGamba said the Golden Rams missed the opportunity to extend their lead in the first quarter. Despite building a lead, Highlands had difficulty getting the ball past midcourt.
“With having a young team like we have, playing four freshmen, we knew they were going to come at us,” LaGamba said. “We were making some of the adjustments trying to get to the middle of the floor and open things up for our veteran players. Everywhere we turned, Freeport was there.”
The Golden Rams (5-14, 4-9) beat Freeport, 63-53, during the teams’ first meeting. Kerr said he thought the Yellowjackets were more healthy heading into this matchup.
“The first time we played, we were missing some players, and it was a day after a tough Burrell game,” Kerr said. “We weren’t ready to play. Today, we had two good practices before this and knew what we had to do to win the game, which was pressure.”
Freeport took its first lead, 16-14, on a 3-pointer by Lillian Holloway with 28 seconds left before the half. The Yellowjackets never gave the lead back.
Highlands shot 1 of 8 from the field in the third quarter, and the deficit grew to 12 by the end of the frame.
Tyarah Woody scored a game-high 19 points for the Golden Rams.
DiSanti was proud of how the Yellowjackets have improved since their rough start to the season.
“There’s a ton of progress,” DiSanti said. “We weren’t shooting well and weren’t getting more rebounds. We’re crashing the boards, getting more turnovers and putting up more shots. We’re scoring more points.”
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