FLYERS KNOCK OFF NO. 1 ETHAN
For Cami Fransen and Ashlin Jacobsen it was a senior night to remember.
For the rest of the Freeman High School girls basketball team and their fans it was a night they won’t soon forget.
Facing Class B No. 1 Ethan at home on Tuesday night, Feb. 13 the Flyers overcame a 26-23 halftime deficit by outscoring the Rustlers 19-11 in the third period and holding them off late in the fourth en route to a 57-52 upset win.
Freeman led 53-52 with under 30 seconds to play and sealed the deal thanks to two free throws from Jacobsen and another two from junior Peyton McCune.
The victory improved the Freeman girls to 14-5 while Ethan dropped to 17-2, its only other loss coming in the season opener against Hanson.
“It’s huge for this team,” said head Flyers coach Jenny Peters, thinking back on last week’s tough losses to Hanson (14-5) and Wall (15-3) in which Freeman couldn’t hold a lead in the second half. “In a weird way, that put some confidence in them, knowing that we had them.
“We knew that if we can fix the small things and put together four good quarters of basketball, we will be right there at the end of these big games,” Peters continued. “And tonight I saw something in them that I have never seen in them before. There was fire in their eyes.
“I’m just so proud of them. It feels like a state tournament win.”
The Flyers connected on 10 three-pointers, shot 45% from 2-point range and 90% from the free-throw line. McCune led the team with 16 points, Vaida Ammann went for 15, Rylee Peters had 11 and Jacobsen added 10.
Freeman’s victory over Ethan will be excellent for additional seed points because the Rustlers’ record was over .750 and will almost assuredly secure the Flyers’ spot as the No. 2 seed in Region 4B.
The Flyers close out their regular season Thursday night at Gayville-Volin, Region 4B’s third-seeded team.
