Fri. December 5, 2014 |

WESLEY CHAPEL Freedom was in urgent need of a timeout after seeing a 16-point lead shrink to two.

Coach Laurie Pacholkes message was well received. And it helped to have Taylor Emery among those receiving it.

Be calm. Stay composed, said Emery, who did just that with layups on her teams next two possessions. Emery scored 33 points, 12 in the final quarter, and Freedom (7-0) grabbed a hard-earned 61-56 victory at Wiregrass Ranch on Friday.

Both teams entered unbeaten and Freedom had revenge on its mind. In a rugged 6A-8 district, Freedom didnt even make the playoffs last year. Wiregrass knocked off the Patriots in the district semifinals.

Emery, coming in at a clip of 41.5 points per game, actually saw her scoring average drop Friday. Amanda Melosky led Wiregrass (9-1) with 24 points. She heated up in the third quarter, after the Bulls had missed their first seven shots to fall behind 43-27. Freedom missed its last eight of the frame though, and it was 44-36 entering the fourth.

The Patriots went back up by 10 before Emery picked up her fourth foul, and quick back-to-back scores from T.K. Kidd and Melosky pulled Wiregrass to 48-46 with 5:09 left.

Out of the timeout, Freedom ran plays for Emery, with Alex Sadler and Bianca Igwe providing perfect assists. The margin never got below four. Igwe finished with seven assists and 11 rebounds to lead Freedom. Sadler had five assists.

The game was 15-all through one quarter, then Freedom turned up the defense, causing eight turnovers while committing just one in the second quarter for a 35-23 halftime lead.

We lost it in the second quarter, Bulls coach John Gant said. The last 11 minutes of the game we played Wiregrass Ranch basketball. Good defense, and we stopped handing it to them. Most teams would have folded up and died against a team as good as Freedom.

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Girls basketball: Freedom 61, Wiregrass Ranch 56