FREEPORT, Ill. (WIFR) – It’s a new era of Freeport girl’s basketball, all thanks to a first year Pretzel.

When Aquin’s final basketball season came to a close, freshman Paityn London didn’t know what uniform she’d be wearing next season.

“It was definitely a hard decision, you know, to figure out what I wanted to do. But there was, like, go to a big school that was, like, a winning program or not, but just coming here with a team that’s kind of underestimated a little bit and turning things around,” London says.

When she decided on Freeport as her next team, no one was more excited than her new head coach.

“I got this text that, you know, that asked me if I had number 21 and I was like, ‘Well, I’ll order whatever number you need.’ I went straight down the hallway and went to my assistant coach, opened this, went right in this classroom, interrupted this class, and I’m like, ‘She’s coming, I guess, what I’m being told.’ So, I mean, it was a lot of excitement around here,” says John O’Bryan, Freeport Girls Basketball Head Coach.

She came to Freeport with more experience than your typical Sophomore. She was the focal point of the Aquin offence that went all the way to the regional championship game, while earning all-state and all-conference honors.

“It definitely prepared me for where I am. Now, I feel like I’ve matured and grown a lot from last year, but, you know, just being able to have the platform that I had last year, and then, you know, growing from that, and learning from the mistakes I had and the success that I had as well,” London says.

As she got ready for her first season in Freeport, it didn’t take her long to feel some of that Pretzel pride.

“Starting in summer, you know, I’d like, go to store or something, that I see people and they kind of talk to me about, you know, how I’m going Freeport now, and being a Pretzel. And like my family, my mom and my dad both went to Freeport, so it’s been a big thing for my family,” she explains.

It’s not hard to spot the talent that she brings to the table, averaging more than 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals a game. But it’s her work off the court that’s elevating the Freeport program to a new level.

“I can tell you right now, just based off how she is, she’s raised very, very well by two really great and supportive parents. That rubs off, and, you know, he rubs off, and everybody else, and you know, they’ve- my girls have really, really welcomed her, open arms. She’s inspired them to want to be better every single day,”

London has revitalized a program that’s searching for their first winning season since 2009, and with number 21 on the court, the sky is the limit.

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