Basketball Recap: Riccardo Palombarini's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Freedom over Lake Buena Vista

If Freedom was feeling good fresh off their 87-67 takedown of North Kissimmee Christian last Monday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Freedom Patriots fell to the Lake Buena Vista Vipers 67-63. The loss continues a trend for the Patriots in their matchups with the Vipers: they've now lost four in a row.

Freedom lost on Wednesday despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Riccardo Palombarini, who dropped a double-double on 26 points and 15 boards. Palombarini continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Elensky Horatius was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 14 rebounds.

vs

Previous 1 Games

01/15/25 - Away

63-67 L

Even though they lost, Freedom smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 16 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matches.

Lake Buena Vista's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alessandro Ferace led the charge by going 7 for 12 en route to 18 points. Another player making a difference was Travis Ligene, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 12 points.

Freedom's defeat dropped their record down to 7-10. As for Lake Buena Vista, their win bumped their record up to 9-11.

Freedom has already played their next game, a 68-61 victory against Montverde Academy Purple on the 16th. Lake Buena Vista has also already played their next contest (against Horizon), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.