Last year the Freedom-South Riding boys concluded their season with a five-point loss to rival John Champe. Earlier this year the Eagles lost to Tuscarora by one, and two weeks ago lost to Champe by the same five points as they did last year. Same old same old for the boys from South Riding, right?
Eh, maybe not so much.
Friday night may have represented a turning point for Freedom-South Riding, a program on the rise. Up against Cypress Bay, a tough team from Florida in the final of the Joe Cascio Tournament at Falls Church, the Eagles led fairly comfortably for three quarters. Then, Cypress Hill used an aggressive trapping defense to storm back and take the lead. Instead of folding, Freedom toughened up and held on for a 69-65 victory.
“We’ve had some heart-breakers this year,” fourth-year Freedom coach Justin Powers said after the game. “We’ve had two winning seasons in 12 years, but this year we have aspirations of winning the conference and playing on. We’re a good team, but we’re going to be in close games and it’s good the guys now see that they can do this.”
The Eagles (6-3) put on an impressive performance against a talented Cypress Bay (12-4) team. They shot over 50% from the field and hit 16 of 21 free throws. Four Eagles scored in double figures, with junior guard and tournament MVP Zyan Collins leading the way with 21 points, seven boards and four assists. The Eagles’ defense was porous at times, but they limited the Lightning to 23 of 61 shooting from the field. Basically, the Eagles got stops when it really mattered down the stretch.
“We stepped up and made our foul shots today and also limited our turnovers down the stretch,” Powers said. “Our defense in the second half had a lot of holes but they’re a tough team.”
Freedom knew that coming into the game, but Powers’ players came ready to play. The Eagles raced to an 8-2 lead right out of the gate and didn’t relinquish the lead until just over six minutes left in the game. The Lightning forced turnover after turnover late in the third, closing a double-digit Eagle lead rapidly and continuing their momentum into the final quarter.
But that’s when the Eagles, especially their top three scorers, started to step up. Collins did it all, pounding the glass, taking care of the ball, playing hard defense, and making his free throws (nine total). Guard Cleo Green (14 points, seven assists) really started to assert himself, driving the lane and attacking the rim or dishing to shooters. Big man Hunter Oakford was efficient down low, registering 17 points on 8-12 shooting.
What should give Freedom’s future opponents pause is those three guys are all juniors. That’s a talented triumvirate going forward for the Eagles, who may now grow accustomed to winning a ton of games instead of losing them.
“This is a big step for us,” Powers said. “Now the guys have the confidence; it’s good to be able to say ‘hey, we can do this’ going into the rest of our schedule.”
–Chris Jollay
stats are unofficial
| SOUTH RIDING | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| EBADI | 3-5 | 1-2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | |
| COLLINS | 6-10 | 9-11 | 21 | 7 | 4 | |
| DOWDELL | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| GREEN | 4-9 | 4-6 | 14 | 3 | 7 | |
| OAKFORD | 8-12 | 0-0 | 17 | 8 | 0 | |
| Gondy | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Cofield | 2-3 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| Johnson | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Yoon | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 23-45 | 16-21 | 69 | 28 | 13 | |
| Threes: Ebadi 3-4, Green 2-2, Oakford 1-1, Cofield 1-1, Gondy 0-2, Collins 0-2, Dowdell 0-2, Yoon 0-1 | ||||||
| CYPRESS BAY | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| FOSTER | 5-6 | 2-4 | 14 | 7 | 0 | |
| GARCIA | 6-17 | 5-6 | 17 | 3 | 3 | |
| QUINTEROS | 7-17 | 2-3 | 17 | 6 | 0 | |
| T.KRIVITZKIN | 2-10 | 2-2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | |
| ULINO | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anderson | 3-8 | 1-1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Gulmaraes | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Klopman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| J.Krivitzkin | 0-2 | 2-4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 23-61 | 14-20 | 65 | 25 | 12 | |
| Threes: Foster 2-2, T. Krivitzkin 2-5, Quinteros 1-2, J. Krivitzkin 0-2, Anderson 0-1 | ||||||