5 Takeaways: Lennard at Freedom

<p>On Tuesday night, Freedom held off visiting Lennard in a 69-59 victory.</p> <p>The Patriots improved to 21-2 on the season and 12-2 in Class 8A-District 8, just one spot behind first place Wharton.</p> <p>Here is a look at five takeaways from the night.</p> <h2><strong>Kevin Rodriguez drops 40 </strong></h2> <p>With 17 points at the half (four 3's), 2019 Freedom guard <strong>Kevin Rodriguez</strong> tacked on 18 points in the third quarter alone and five points in a slow down fourth quarter. The senior finished with 40 points and seven 3's as he was poised all night long. Rodriguez, a 6'2" athlete grabbed boards and put them back and found good areas on the floor to shoot. He deserves a long look from Division II, Division III and NAIA programs in need of a hard working guard who can shoot at a high clip. Rodriguez also scored 35 points earlier in the season against Riverview, so he's very capable of big scoring outputs.</p> <h2><strong>Rae'Shaun Wilson is a blazer</strong></h2> <p>Leading Lennard with 20 points in this game, 2019 guard <strong>Rae'Shaun Wilson</strong> was hard to slow down at times. The 6'0" senior is good at the free throw line and he's able to get there by absorbing contact and using finesse moves inside. He brought his team out to a quick lead and kept the Longhorns afloat even towards the end.</p> <h2><strong>Nicholas Butler attacks </strong></h2> <p>Scoring eight points in this game, the Patriots needed all the energy that 2019 guard <strong>Nicholas Butler</strong> brought. The 6'0" bruiser and loud all game long and can go up and down in transition and score and feed his teammates. Butler was decisive with the ball and serves the tough guy role for Freedom.</p> <h2><strong>CJ Peterson lives at the free throw line</strong></h2> <p>All nine free throws for 2020 guard <strong>CJ Peterson</strong> came in the second half. The 6'1" guard made 7-of-9 from the free throw line and finished with 15 points on the night pacing Wilson. A good ballhandler and attacker, Peterson still has work to do as a consistent outside shooter. But with more seasoning and a big summer, Peterson should be the alpha for Lennard next fall.</p> <h2><strong>Freedom is deep with athletes</strong></h2> <p>Even with 2019 guard Xavier Betancourt (foot), Freedom scrapped its way back from a 20-10 deficit in the second quarter. In fact, the Patriots outscored Lennard 18-4 midway through the quarter to take a 28-24 lead into the break. It was Freedom in full control the rest of the way as a deep rotation helped the Patriots pick up its ninth straight victory.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">2019 Freedom G Kevin Rodriguez has been absolutely lethal from deep in this first half (17 points, four 3’s). He singlehandedly brought the Patriots back from a 10-point deficit in the second quarter. <a href="https://twitter.com/FHS_BoysBball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FHS_BoysBball</a> <a href="https://t.co/3VIjl8LAIu">pic.twitter.com/3VIjl8LAIu</a></p> — ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@JakePerper) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakePerper/status/1092945842426822656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>