Ive never had a family like this team. Ellis pushes Freedom boys hoops to win after tragedy – lehighvalleylive.com

A heartbreaking 46-43 loss to East Stroudsburg South, on a buzzer-beater from beyond the arc, ended the Freedom boys basketball teams season last year at Allens Sewards Gymnasium.

This year, in the same gym, a Patriots freshman dealing with another level of heartbreak pushed fourth-seeded Freedom past the fifth-seeded Cavaliers, 59-43, in the District 11 6A quarterfinals.

Freedom advances to a semifinal matchup against either top-seeded Allen or ninth-seeded Pocono Mountain West on Wednesday.

Nicholas Ellis, playing in his first game since the loss of his mother, Lara Shapiro-Ellis last week to ovarian cancer, scored 13 points in an inspired performance on Saturday afternoon.

Its been hard. Ive just been in the gym. My friends have been supporting me, my family all came down and with their support Ive gotten through it, Ellis said. It means a lot, because Ive never had a family like this team. With their support, it definitely helped me through this.

The freshman scored five points during Freedoms 15-4 run to start the third quarter.

Its my first district game, I wanted to do it for my mom and for my teammates, Ellis said. I know they wanted to make it to states for a long time. Me helping them, knowing my role and stepping up, its just been a dream weve been chasing all year.

Were such a tight-knit family in there. With what happened with Ellis, losing his mom, it really even brought us closer together, Freedom coach Joe Stellato said. We were playing with an angel above us.

Along with Ellis effort, the Patriots made several adjustments to shut down Cavaliers leading scorer Christian Sapp. The junior scored all of his 12 first-half points from the field, but Freedoms zone defense held Sapp to zero field goals and just four points in the second half.

Our coaches were helping by switching defenses. We played team defense that helped. It was just a team effort, Freedom senior Caleb Mims said. We havent won a game in about a month, and we havent won a game in February in like four years. Its definitely a different feeling than last year.

It was Sapps Hail Mary attempt from just inside halfcourt that ended the Pates 2019 postseason. To say that loss stuck with Stellato is a bit of an understatement.

It definitely bothered me for an entire year, and it bothered (Freedoms players) even more than me. We had a mission; we were on a mission all week, Stellato said. We came out here possessed. We did things right and thats what Im most excited about going forward.

The Pates now move forward from their first win in the District 11 tournament since 2013.

(Its) really exciting to be going to states. Weve been saying since the beginning of the season its gold or bust, Mims said. We wont be happy with losing next round.

Caleb and his twin brother Malek each led the Pates with 14 points. Freedom secured a trip to states as four teams advance to the PIAA 6A tournament from District 11.

Desmond Boyle may be reached at dboyle@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @DesJBoyle. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

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Ive never had a family like this team. Ellis pushes Freedom boys hoops to win after tragedy - lehighvalleylive.com