Freeport guard Sidney Shemanski goes up for a shot against Elizabeth-Forward in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs last season. Shemanski is averaging 19.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.7 steals for a Yellowjacket team that is averaging 70.2 points per game thanks to a smothering press.

BUFFALO TWP — There comes a time in most games for the Freeport girls basketball team when the Yellowjackets can smell the blood in the water.

“Oh, no doubt, we can,” said junior guard Sidney Shemanski, chuckling. “We love that feeling. When we can sense our press is getting to them, it just makes our adrenaline pump more.”

And the points to come faster.

Freeport is averaging 70.2 points per game this season, largely on the strength of a press that is forcing turnovers in bunches.

Some games, the deer-in-headlights look from the opposition comes early.

“Our press gives us a lot of opportunities to score,” said junior Maddie Clark, who put up a career-high 31 points last week in a 76-44 win over Burrell. In that game, that smothering press allowed the Yellowjackets to jump out to a 32-7 lead after just one quarter. “I think our press has been working really well.”

It’s no accident that press has been so effective.

This is an excerpt — read more about the Yellowjacket’s strategy in Thursday’s Butler Eagle.