Freeport girls basketball team working to make playoffs without injured senior Soilis

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | 9:05 PM

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The Freeport girls basketball team has made the WPIAL playoffs six years in a row. But the Yellowjackets have some work to do to make it seven straight.

After Monday’s tough Section 1-4A loss to Greensburg Salem, the final game of the first section cycle, Freeport sat at 2-4 in the section and in fifth place, one game behind the Golden Lions.

But senior Melaina DeZort, the team’s leading scorer at 14.6 points a game, feels the team, which has faced adversity throughout the season, can work to give itself a chance to punch its ticket down the stretch in section play.

“Struggling at times through adversity teaches you a lot about yourself, and as a team, we’ve been through a lot so far,” DeZort said.

The teams rematch Thursday at Freeport Middle School. A road game at Class 4A No. 2 North Catholic (11-3, 6-0) looms on Monday.

“The past three games, not having (senior guard) Ava (Soilis) out there with us has made us want to play for her,” DeZort said. “This next half of the season, we want to do it for her. We know she will be there for us. It’s kind of a fresh start for all of us. We know what we need to do to get into the playoffs. It won’t be easy, but we’re ready to give it all we have.”

Soilis suffered a season-ending knee injury fighting for a first-quarter rebound in a Jan. 5 loss to Highlands (9-4, 5-1). The Yellowjackets players, after Solis left the game, battled the rest of the way and trailed by just four in the final minutes before the Golden Rams put the game away, 55-44.

Junior Morgan Croney led the team with 15 points against Highlands, DeZort scored 14, and junior Brooke Kmetz added 13 points to go with 11 rebounds.

Croney now is the team’s second-leading scorer at 9.8 points a game, and Kmetz is averaging 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds.

A 2021-22 Valley News Dispatch all-star, Soilis picked up where she left off last year and averaged 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.9 steals in 12 full games.

Soilis received her official injury diagnosis, a torn ACL, on Tuesday. She will have surgery Feb. 10.

“I was trying to hold out hope as long as I could,” Soilis said. “But me, my athletic trainer, my dad and the rest of the coaches all knew that it wouldn’t be a great outcome.”

While she wishes she could be out there on the court with her teammates, Soilis simply wants to provide any amount of support for their stretch run.

“I am one piece, but I am not the whole team,” Soilis said. “I did have a big role, but the girls definitely can get the job done without me in there. I’ve seen them show really great moments. I just want to do whatever I can from the sidelines, whether it be cheering them on or giving them a tip or two here and there.”

On Monday against the Golden Lions, Freeport played even for three quarters, but a Salem 16-6 third-quarter advantage was the difference.

The Yellowjackets’ playoff hopes could rest on the section finale Feb. 9 at Greensburg Salem.

“We know there are girls who will have to keep stepping up,” DeZort said. “It all starts with being focused in practice and preparing for these upcoming games. Nothing in the past matters. It’s all about concentrating on the next game, and that is Valley on Thursday.”

Freeport, 6-10 overall, started out 0-3, and all three of those losses – Plum, Fox Chapel and Class 3A No. 2 Shady Side Academy – came by one point. A holiday tournament game at St. Joseph also went against the Yellowjackets by one point, 56-55.

“It was beyond frustrating,” DeZort said.

“We would get leads in all of those games, and after halftime, it would be neck-and-neck the rest of the way. At the end, it felt like we were always so close. We were right there. When people ask about our record, we tell them that it could easily be so much better. But I think going through those situations will help us if we’re ever there again.”

DeZort on Monday surpassed the 900-point mark for her varsity career. She sits at 909 points with at least six regular-games remaining.

She is hoping for more, and any shot at 1,000 career points, a highly recognized milestone in high school basketball, will be tied in with her playing well in hopes of the Yellowjackets making the postseason.

“People come up to me and ask me how many points I need,” DeZort said. “That’s cool to think about, but I want to tell them that we are winning. That’s what I want the most.”

DeZort has shown consistency in her four years, starting with a prominent role in the Freeport offense as a freshman playing with the likes of then seniors Sydney Shemanski, Harley Holloway and Maddie and Samantha Clark.

“The offseason, I play AAU so I’ve been traveling for that all the time, and with all of the summer and fall leagues, has really helped me stay focused and better my game,” DeZort said.

“Putting it all toward my high school season has helped me be effective for my team.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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