Friday night at Gainesville, third-seeded Freedom-South Riding led from start to finish and defeated second-seeded Gainesville 70-56 in a Cedar Run Tournament semifinal. With the win, the Eagles advance to Tuesday’s district championship game versus top-seeded Patriot.
From the jump, this was the Eagles night. Talan Dawkins had seven points as Freedom jumped to an 11-2 run, forcing a Gainesville timeout. Fellow senior Braden Fleckenstein, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half, then got hot off the bench leading to a 24-7 Freedom lead and another Gainesville timeout.
Gainesville sophomore Kam Cain got going in the third quarter for the Cardinals and cut the lead to single digits in the second half. The Cardinals just couldn’t shoot well enough to keep pace, however, and Freedom junior Charlie Boone seemed to come up with key baskets whenever his team needed them. Boone finished with 20 points, mostly at close-range and despite the Cardinals’ prolific shot-blocking, and added six boards.
The Eagles (16-8) buried eight threes and shot almost 50% from the field on the night. Their defense held Gainesville to 36.5% shooting from the field. Senior shooting guard Taj Sandhu added 13 points, including a key three-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
Senior forward Preston White led the Cardinals (17-6) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Both teams will play in the VHSL 6B Regional Tournament next week.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| FREEDOM | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GIBBS | 2-6 | 3-4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
| SANDHU | 5-12 | 0-2 | 13 | 4 | 2 | |
| DAWKINS | 3-7 | 1-4 | 8 | 1 | 4 | |
| COOKE | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| BOONE | 9-13 | 2-2 | 20 | 6 | 1 | |
| Dotterweich | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Fleckenstein | 4-9 | 2-2 | 12 | 3 | 3 | |
| Barker | 1-2 | 4-7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | |
| TOTALS | 25-51 | 12-21 | 70 | 19 | 16 | |
| Threes: Sandhu 3-9, Gibbs 2-4, Fleckenstein 2-4, Dawkins 1-1, Boone 0-3 | ||||||
| GAINESVILLE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| P. WHITE | 6-11 | 5-11 | 17 | 10 | 2 | |
| COLQUHOUN | 3-5 | 0-0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| WEINSCHENK | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| CAIN | 3-8 | 6-8 | 12 | 7 | 1 | |
| PARKS | 3-9 | 2-3 | 10 | 6 | 1 | |
| Howe | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Roby | 1-7 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| D. White | 3-6 | 0-2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
| Brooks | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brown | 0-3 | 2-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 19-52 | 15-26 | 56 | 36 | 9 | |
| Threes: Parks 2-8, Roby 1-5, Colquhoun 0-1, Cain 0-1, Weinschenk 0-2, P. White 0-2, Brown 0-3 | ||||||