Patriots’ D drives come-from-behind win
Freedom coach Joe Stellato didn’t hesitate.
His Patriots had won eight straight games before Friday night but he quickly called his team’s 61-57 come-from-behind win over host Parkland the best and biggest of the season.
Trailing 33-17 at halftime and still down 45-28 with 3:20 left in the third quarter, the Patriots held the Trojans to just one field goal and seven points in the fourth quarter and used their relentless pressure defense to wear down the home team.
Malek Mims scored 22 of his game-high 27 points in the second half with 12 coming in the final stanza as Freedom improved to 10-2 overall, 8-1 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
“This is the best win, especially the way we did it with a never-give-up attitude,” Stellato said. “It goes to show the character of this team. The two Mims brothers [Malek and Caleb] are so competitive. They refuse to allow our team to quit. We’ve got a lot of leadership on this team and it showed tonight.”
Freedom’s poor shooting early allowed Parkland to grab control.
The Patriots were just 2for-13 from the field in the first quarter and 6-for-25 at halftime.
The Trojans, who had a six-game winning streak snapped, committed 11 turnovers in the first half but still built the 16-point halftime lead thanks to 12 points by Jake Melady and seven apiece by Trey Rolle and Logan Rindock.
However, Rolle sat out much of the second half due to injury and Freedom’s pressure took a toll.
“There’s no doubt we’re wearing teams down by the fourth quarter, but we’ve got to do a better job of coming out in the first half and playing better,” Stellato said. “I think we wear teams down mentally and they’re making mistakes and that’s helping us. If we play better in the first half, we’re really going to be a good team.”
Effort and energy
Stellato said his message at halftime was all about effort.
“We had to keep up the effort and energy; that’s the theme of our team and as long as we have that everything else will fall into place,” Stellato said. “We definitely had effort and energy in the second half. As long we keep delivering that, I have no complaints.”
Malek Mims said he was challenged personally at halftime.
“I had four turnovers and five points in the first half and I wasn’t really leading my team,” Mims said. “He challenged me to bring us back. Our bread and butter is our defense. That’s what gets us going.”
Caleb Mims added 15 points for Freedom and Reuben Soto chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds. Melady and Rindock led Parkland with 16 and 15 points respectively.
Fourth-quarter fade
Parkland led 50-39 after three quarters but had just five points through the first seven minutes of the final period — all on free throws.
A Soto basket gave Freedom a 55-54 lead with 2:26 left and Malek Mims added a bucket to make it a three-point game.
Rindock got Parkland’s first and only field goal of the fourth period on a layup off a Melady pass with 37 seconds remaining.
But the Trojans wouldn’t score again and three Soto free throws in the final 24 seconds put it away.
“Hopefully, it’s a learning experience,” Parkland coach Andy Stephens said. “I told them at halftime that they couldn’t afford to get complacent. We had to get after them because they were going to try to come back and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, as soon as things stop going right, it becomes a snowball effect.
“We’ve got to find one or two guys to calm us down and take over. We have guys who try to do that, but we need to be more effective with it.”
Season sweep?
It was Freedom’s second win over Parkland this season. The Patriots also defeated the Trojans in the Jeff Dailey Memorial Tournament on Dec. 7, 73-67.
“That’s a scrappy team,” Stephens said of Freedom. “But hopefully, we’ll get to play them again. I would love it.”
Any future meeting would come in either the EPC or District 11 6A tournament. Thanks to Liberty’s 48-31 win over Emmaus, Freedom finds itself as the No. 1 ranked team in 6A at the moment.
Despite the loss and falling to 9-4, 5-3 EPC, Parkland looks like a playoff team.
“It’s just one game,” Stephens said. “But we need a good practice [Saturday] to make sure we have a good mindset going forward.”
Up next
Freedom has a busy week ahead with a home contest against Pocono Mountain East Tuesday followed by more home games against Quakertown and East Stroudsburg North on Wednesday and Friday.
The Patriots will cap four games in five days by playing Bangor in the Yasso-Rothrock Christmas City Classic on Saturday at Bethlehem Catholic.
Parkland, meanwhile, hosts at Dieruff Tuesday and visits Pleasant Valley Friday.
kgroller@mcall.com Twitter @KeithGroller 610-820-6740