ROSS TWP - Early in the third quarter, Tussey Mountain forward Cierra McEldowney put up a shot from under the rim.

Instead of going through the hoop, or at least bounding off the cylinder, the basketball stuck between the backboard and the rim.

McEldowney thrust her arms in the air, not knowing what to do next.

That was the prevailing feeling from the Tussey Mountain bench Friday night in a 61-38 loss to Freeport in the first round of the PIAA girls Class AA tournament.

Dumbfounded was the word of the night for the Titans, who made a 160-mile trek to North Hills High School.

Freeport scored early and often, rendering the Titans helpless to stop or even slow the barrage, as the game wasn't as close as the final 23-point margin.

Freeport (23-4) led 37-11 at the half, and when Nicole Beggs hit a jumper with 4:39 left in the third quarter, the Yellowjackets led 50-14.

Turnovers were the biggest bugaboo for Tussey Mountain (19-7). It had 20 turnovers at the break and ended up with 29 in the game.

"We knew we could score points in transition," said Freeport coach Kirk Lorigan. "Our offense got started by our defense."

Freeport was also relentless inside, with the trio of Julie McCorkle, Michelle Vascik and Emily Ferko.

McCorkle scored 17 points in the first half to go with seven rebounds. She finished with 19 points and nine boards.

Vascik came off the bench to add seven points and Ferko pitched in four.

In all, 10 different Freeport players scored.

"(Going inside) wasn't a major part of our game plan until we saw how well we were able to do it," Lorigan said. "I told Nicole to run anything as long as we can get the ball inside to Julie, Michelle or Emily."

Freeport's defense was smothering, holding Tussey Mountain's leading scorer Amber Jo Donaldson to six points - all from the free throw line - on 0-of-9 shooting.

The only bright spot for the Titans was the play of Britani Garber, who scored 10 points in the third quarter on the way to a team-high 16 points.

Not all was pretty for Freeport.

After the Yellowjackets built the 50-14 lead, Tussey Mountain outscored them 24-11.

"The kids got tired," Lorigan said. "We spent a lot of energy to build that kind of lead. The kids got flat footed."

Freeport missed its first 12 shots in the fourth quarter and had one only field goal - a buzzer beater by Kristen Almquist - in the final eight minutes.

But Lorigan isn't overly concerned about that as the Yellowjackets head into a second-round game against Seneca (22-6) Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

It's a whole lot better outcome than it experienced last Saturday in the WPIAL finals, a 42-20 loss to Carlynton.

"We knew we're balanced," Lorigan said. "We knew we're hard to defend because everyone we have is a scorer."

TUSSEY MOUNTAIN 38

Laci Yablonski 2-3 0-0 4, Brianne Wills 2-6 0-0 5, Amber Jo Donaldson 0-9 6-8 6, Rachel Garber 1-4 0-0 2, Britani Garber 8-12 0-0 16, Cierra McEldowney 2-9 1-2 5, Kayla Clapper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-44 7-10 38

FREEPORT 61

Nicole Beggs 1-11 3-4 5, Shannon Reesman 2-4 1-2 5, Julie McCorkle 9-14 1-2 19, Maria Lutz 2-4 0-0 5, Courtney Callas 2-6 2-2 6, Megan Prazenica 3-8 0-0 6, Michelle Vascik 3-6 1-2 7, Laney Pastoria 1-6 0-0 2, Emily Ferko 2-4 0-0 4, Kristen Almquist 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 26-64 8-12 61

3-point goals:

Wills; Lutz

Tuesday:

Freeport vs. Seneca, TBD