No ‘Fears” for Freedom as he shines
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Dan Clendaniel
Published: February 23, 2008
Against Hylton in the Cardinal District finals, Fears came off the bench to provide a much-needed spark for his team, which had to defeat the Bulldogs if they wanted to advance to next week’s regional play along with Potomac, the regular-season champions.
Fears played his all-around game, and his little bit of scoring could not have come at a more opportune time for the Eagles, who defeated Hylton, 60-49, to win the Cardinal District Tour-nament and advance to next week’s Northwest Region Tournament.
Freedom will play at Mountain View on Tuesday.
Fears only made two baskets, but they came at a very important moment in the game.
Freedom led throughout the game but a driving basket by the Bulldogs’ Patrick Vann cut the Eagle lead to 28-27 with 4:42 to play in the third period.
Freedom, meanwhile, was experiencing a scoring drought, having scored only three points over the first four minutes of the second half.
But on Freedom’s next two possessions following Vann’s score, Fears calmly stroked a pair three-point shots to increase the lead to 34-27.
Freedom never trailed by less than four points throughout the remainder of the game.
"I didn’t know how big those shots were at the time," said Fears, who also had five rebounds and three assists. "I just wanted to win the game for the seniors, to see them go out this way (with a trip to regionals)."
Said Freedom coach Ahmad Dorsett, "Joseph was great. He made some great decisions. He also got a big rebound on a missed free throw that we turned into a three-pointer late in the game."
Freedom also got a large offensive contribution from guard Brandon McLilly, who finished with a game-high 23 points. McLilly has stepped up his offense lately, including 29 points one game ear-lier in the district semifinals against Forest Park.
Hylton shot 33% from the field and was out-rebounded, 34-20 by the Eagles.
Sadonas Davis (12 rebounds) and Joseph Velez (10) of Freedom combined to control the boards at both ends and out-rebound the entire Bulldog team between them.
The loss obscured a fine all-around effort by Hylton forward Keith Mitchell, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Another key to the Freedom win was that they got the free throw line 28 times compared to just seven for the Bulldogs.
"Teams have been playing a lot of zone against us lately," said Dorsett. "We want the players to be aggressive and attack the zone and not just shoot three’s."
Both team started coldly from the floor, converting just four field goals in the first period.
But over the last three periods, Freedom shot an astounding 67% (18-of-27) from the floor.
"Nobody really expected us to do this," said Dorsett, who lost four key seniors from last year’s team. "We had a group of seniors who adapted to new roles and understood what we expected them to do and they went out and did it."
No one exemplified that more than senior Joseph Velez, who turned himself into a floor leader and scorer. Velez finished with 17 pionts and three assists against Hylton.
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