On Tuesday night at home Freedom-South Riding got 22 points from Taj Sandhu, and 16 points and 11 rebounds from fellow junior Jonathan Jennings to roll over Unity Reed in a Cedar Run District contest, 71-49.
The Eagles started fast, with Sandhu scoring 15 points early to pace his team to a 23-16 lead after a quarter. Unity Reed was able to whittle the lead to three points in the second quarter, but a run just before half capped by a nice drive by Jennings made it 36-26 Freedom at the break.
“He [Sandhu] can get hot, and Jonathan kind of stuffs the stat sheet, for lack of a better word,” said Freedom coach Anthony Leone. “They’re both kind of driving the bus, so to speak.”
As good as Freedom’s offense was to start the game, it was even better to start the second half. Point guard Noah Kim attacked the lane efficiently, and the Eagles were able to penetrate the visitors’ defense with pinpoint passes to open men by the basket, often Jennings. The Eagles outscored the Lions 25-12 in the third, effectively sealing the game.
Unity Reed (1-1, 1-5) got a fantastic game by junior forward Charles Pargo (24 points, eight rebounds) to keep within striking distance for most of the game. Dynamic junior guard Julian Shahateet was very good early, but seemed to wear down as the game wore on, perhaps because his team had played the night before.
While Freedom (2-1, 4-2) was paced by Sandhu and Jennings, 11 players in all scored for Leone’s team. The Eagles lost a number of key contributors from last year’s squad, but could be a bigger factor in the Cedar Run this year. They seem to have an improved chemistry, and Tuesday night they demonstrated how efficient, especially offensively, they can be.
“It’s been good,” said Leone of his team’s solid start. “We kind of have a nice core…I think for us it’s just kind of letting our offense work. When we make people guard us, we’re tough to beat.”
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| FREEDOM | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| SANDHU | 8-13 | 2-2 | 22 | 4 | 1 | |
| JENNINGS | 6-11 | 4-7 | 16 | 11 | 2 | |
| DAWKINS | 2-5 | 1-1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| KIM | 2-4 | 1-2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| FROHM | 3-9 | 1-1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | |
| Kidder | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sebastianelli | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hari | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Barker | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Choi | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| #30 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Fleckenstein | 1-1 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Boone | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 26-54 | 14-19 | 71 | 28 | 14 | |
| Threes: Sandhu 4-6, Kim 1-2, Jennings 0-1, Sebastianelli 0-1, Hari 0-1, #30 0-1 | ||||||
| UNITY REED | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| B.DAVIS | 0-4 | 3-4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| PARGO | 7-12 | 9-12 | 24 | 8 | 0 | |
| NICHOLS | 2-5 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| BUKVA | 0-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| J.SHAHATEET | 2-13 | 3-4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | |
| Robinson | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Powell | 3-4 | 0-0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | |
| Martin | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| M.Davis | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 15-46 | 16-24 | 49 | 25 | 8 | |
| Threes: Pargo 1-2, Robinson 1-2, Nichols 1-4, Bukva 0-1, Powell 0-1, M.Davis 0-1, B.Davis 0-2, J.Shahateet 0-4 | ||||||