It appears that Freeport’s boys basketball team is on the right trajectory.

After dispatching favored Uniontown as the 11th seed in the WPIAL Class 4A tournament in February, coach Sean Devinney’s team kept on track by winning the St. Joe’s summer league in July.

This was the second summer in a row in which Freeport took part in the high school league, which takes place in Natrona Heights and includes ten teams. Those include Burrell, Aquinas Academy, and Armstrong.

Last summer, the league gave Devinney, who was a first-year coach, a chance to get to know his players. Freeport finished as the runner-up before going 13-10 during the high school campaign.

“Once we had a little taste of success last year, I thought it would be nice to get back in it,” Devinney said. “The guys just kept it rolling.”

Freeport’s only loss during this year’s summer league schedule was to Kiski Area, the team that won the crown in 2021. The latter was the first seed in the playoffs, with the former earning also earning a first-round bye. Devinney’s crew dispatched Leechburg in the semifinal round, setting up a chance for revenge.

Facing off against Kiski Area in the final once again, Freeport found itself down late in a see-sawing sort of contest.

“That game was crazy,” said Brady Sullivan, a guard heading into his junior year. “I struggled in the first half, but I didn’t let my mistakes decide the outcome ... We never lost that confidence.”

With under a minute to go, Gavin Glista, another incoming junior, sunk a corner three-pointer to even the scoreboard.

Still, Kiski Area had a little over 0:30 to sink a go-ahead basket.

“We picked them up with a half-court defense and they ran out about 20 seconds of the clock,” Sullivan said. “They came down and missed the layup.”

Freeport pulled in the board and Sullivan pushed it up in transition. He dished the ball off to Glista in the corner, then got the ball back. Time was running out, though.

“I saw an opening through the lane and punctured the middle,” Sullivan said. “I was able to get around my defender, put up a shot before the clock ended, and that was game.

“That was an unreal event right there.”

“It was kind of a runner from the foul line,” Devinney said. “It was huge shot to win the game and win us a championship ... It was definitely a heck of a finish.”

On the weekend before the summer league playoffs got underway, Freeport played six games during a team camp held in Slippery Rock.

“It was kind of like an in-season feeling that we had, being that we were together all weekend long and then right into the playoffs,” Devinney said. “It worked out perfectly for us.”

A number of different players stepped up for Freeport. Ben Lane, Parker Lucas, and Gavin Croney — all of which will be seniors this season — provided energy, namely on the defensive end.

At the center of it all was senior Zach Clark, a regular starter for the squad this past winter.

“How hard he plays and how, defensively, he’s so locked in every game, it raises everyone else’s level on that side of the ball,” Devinney said. “This summer league, he took it up another notch ... He leads and guys just kind of follow him.

“You know our forte. We defend and try to hold teams under 50 and see where we can go from there.”

Clark and Brady Stivenson both played on Freeport’s Butler County Area Baseball League team, along with hooping and working out for football this summer.

“We all played together,” Clark said. “The chemistry was definitely there. We have a bunch of young players this year stepping up.”

Another senior, big man Payton Westendorf, brought a physical nature, while juniors Brian Kijowski and Brady Paga also impressed.

Seniors Dean Furer and Jackson Reiser played for the team, as well.

“We’re very excited about next year, being that we have a lot of guys coming back that have a lot of varsity minutes under their belt,” Devinney said. “Hopefully the success carries into our fall and then into our season.”

Before then, a good deal of Devinney’s players will also pull on a helmet and pads for the football season, which is right around the corner. Among them are Lane and Clark, who will both line up in the backfield for the Yellowjackets.

“I felt it was very important to definitely get as much work as we could in during the summer, because pretty much our whole roster you’ll see under the lights on Friday nights this fall,” Devinney said.

The anticipation to get on the hardwood remains.

“We started off real strong,” Sullivan said. “We all grew throughout the season and I think that we’re all ready for the real season to start up.

“It’s going to be a fun one.”