FREDERICKTOWN – The Fredericktown girls basketball team’s turnaround season came to an abrupt end with a 52-45 loss to Baltimore Liberty Union in the second round of the Division III district tournament on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Liberty Union featured a talented sophomore in Abbie Riddle, who scored all seven points during a 7-0 rally in the second quarter to give the Lions the lead for good.
Riddle poured in 29 points and added seven rebounds and four steals to lead seventh-seeded Liberty Union. She did it on the strength of a 15-for-17 effort at the free-throw line.
“She can play anywhere on the floor for us,” Liberty Union coach Andy Schmitz said. “She had a huge impact for us in the second half — making plays at the top of our defense, making steals that led to some breakaways.”
“I gotta give (Riddle) credit,” Fredericktown coach Tim Maceyko said. “She’s a heck of a baller. We fouled her left and right and she made everything, and that really put us in a bind.”
The Lions led 21-17 and 34-28 through three quarters. Riddle led a 13-2 run in the fourth period that ultimately put the game out of reach, scoring six points during the rally. Caroline Berlekamp added a put-back and a pair of free throws, and Emilee Powers was fouled shooting a 3 and converted all three free throws during the run.
“(We) did a great job in the second half of controlling the defensive boards and not giving Fredericktown any second-chance points,” Schmitz said. “Man, they are long and they are athletic; they play hard and they get after it. We knew that going in.”
But something happened that encapsulated Fredericktown’s entire season. They made Liberty Union sweat down the stretch.
Summer Weller and Celeste Swihart each hit 3s sandwiched around a driving basket by Gabby Daniels, and all of a sudden it was a six-point game with a little more than 30 seconds remaining.
“That’s what we talked about,” Maceyko said. “We called a timeout and I said, ‘Look, you’re going to fight all the way to the final buzzer. I’m not subbing in the bench or anything. We’re playing this out.’ And they did. They made it competitive and they made some shots. If we would have done it the whole (game), it might have been a different result.”
The teams exchanged free throws from there.
Berlekamp scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out two assists for Liberty Union.
Despite battling a non-COVID-related illness, Daniels still made an impact for the Freddies in limited action. She scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds.
“We knew with Gabby being limited that Jacklyn Nussbaum would step up,” Maceyko said. “And she did. But then she got in some foul trouble and that kinda changed a little bit of our mentality.”
Nussbaum led the Freddies with 10 points; Sipes finished with eight points, three rebounds, three assists and a couple of steals; and Celeste Swihart added seven points, nine rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists for Fredericktown.
Taylor Overholt led with four assists and added four rebounds and two steals to go with four points, Weller ended up with six points, and Audrey Bouton had seven rebounds and five steals for the Freddies.
Powers ended the night with eight points and three thefts; Ember McClaskey had six rebounds, three steals and two assists; and Maggie Cundiff had three steals for the Lions.
Correction: An earlier version of this story identified Grace Sipes as making a 3-pointer in the final minute of the game, which was incorrect. It was actually Celeste Swihart who made the basket. The story has been corrected.
