Freedom girls wrote perfect history 10 years ago, half-century after WNCHSAA champ Wildcats

Freedom High School is known for its brand of winning basketball.

So, to accomplish a feat of heroics that’s never been done before or since sets you apart in the annals of not just any history.

That’s what the Lady Patriots did 10 years ago this month, registering FHS’ eighth all-time hoops state title and fifth for the girls program but just the first — and still, the only — one in perfect fashion all-time.

Freedom’s record in the 2015-16 season was 32-0. The Lady Patriots were unbeaten in nonconference action. They swept their three Christmas tournament opponents by 30-plus points apiece.

They were unbeaten regular-season Northwestern 3A/4A Conference champions. They won the NWC tournament. They beat their first five playoff foes by 30-plus points each.

And then, when facing a giant in Northern Guilford 6-foot-5 sophomore stud Elissa Cunane — who would go on to star on top-10, ACC title squads at N.C. State — and when facing just its second single-digit challenge of the year, Freedom shined on the biggest stage, rolling to a big early lead and hanging on for a 53-50 triumph over the East Regional champion at UNC’s Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill on March 12, 2016.

“These girls were very goal-oriented,” said Freedom coach Amber Reddick, who was named state coach of the year after that season as she completed the rare trifecta of having won girls hoops state crowns as a FHS player (1995), assistant coach (2002), and head coach.

“They set goals, and then they understood the process that it took to achieve those goals. Obviously, they put in a lot of time working on their skills, but they also worked hard in the classroom, they put in hours on their own developing their skills, and they were willing to work hard to be great teammates as well.”

That Lady Patriot team featured a whopping eight players who would go on to participate in college athletics: Lindsey Adams, Madison Ervin, Amy Rhoney, Taylor Gardin (track and field), Tabby Pearson (softball), Ariyana Williams, Amaryah Corpening, and CC Davenport.

It also featured three future NCAA Division I basketball players (Williams, East Carolina; Corpening, UNC Asheville; Ervin, Georgia State) and two East-West All-Star Game participants.

But it wasn’t sheer athleticism that made the team special.

“I think a lot of it was chemistry,” Adams said. “A lot of us played together since we were in elementary school even though we went to different middle schools. I remember Rick Gardin called my dad; I think when I was in fifth grade at Forest Hill and asked if we would play on his all-star team. So, I remember playing with Amy (Rhoney) and Taylor (Gardin), and then we all played AAU together up until high school and people started going their separate ways.

“But I just think it’s rare now to have a group of kids that played together for so long, just because the AAU scene has changed so much.”

Ervin said the team’s depth and versatility were also impressive and likely intimidating for opponents.

“Everyone had something different to offer to the team,” she said. “I think that you need that for a good, well-rounded team … people on the team that can contribute in different ways.”

As Freedom’s season-opening win streak reached January, then February, then March, the pressure started to ratchet up. This would either be one of Freedom’s best teams ever, or they would be remembered for choking, right or wrong.

“It was a lot of pressure on them,” Reddick said. “I felt that throughout the season and even as a coach, they worked so hard and had so much success, you didn’t want them to feel like a failure if we didn’t get there. … But in the end, I think absolutely not losing a single game made it more special for our team.”

It seems Reddick felt the pressure much more than did the players.

“I personally didn’t feel any pressure even though we were undefeated,” Adams said. “I think the only game that scared me a little bit was at South Caldwell when it was like 11-11 at halftime.

“I remember my mom asking me early my senior year if I was going to get a high school ring, and I was like, ‘No, Mom, we’re going to win a state championship,’ and I said it so confidently.

I think that summer after our junior year, we grew a lot closer going to the App (State) camp. Just doing a lot of stuff together that summer helped build our chemistry and just help get us all on the same page going into senior year.”

Ervin agreed with Adams.

“I didn’t really think about losing because we were just so focused on what we had to do,” she said. “We just stayed focused on us.”

Never did the Lady Patriots need that focus more than against Northern Guilford, as Freedom post players picked up a slew of first-half fouls and FHS’ once 17-point lead shrunk to two points down the stretch.

But Williams calmly sank clutch free throws when called upon, and Adams was named game MVP after making four 3-pointers and scoring 16 points.

“It’s just a testament to them and their composure,” Reddick said. “Ariyana and Amaryah had both started from their freshman year on and just had been through the fire, and those two were as calm and even-keel as it gets. They really set the tone for our team, and that was good for every other player on the floor for us to see and copy.”

Ervin said the fact that Freedom had been knocking on the door — with West Regional appearances in back-to-back seasons before 2015-16 — had the players ready for the stage.

“And a lot of us had played AAU together, so we were always used to playing against girls that were better or having that high level of competition,” added Ervin, who still lives in the Morganton area. “So, when we got to high school, it was kind of like, ‘This is smooth sailing.’ When we got to that big stage, it’s just trying to have fun with this. Not who’s recruiting me, how are they evaluating me, we’re just playing this last game. Let’s rock it out.”

Adams just completed her first season as girls hoops head coach at Bandys High School after a successful run at Davie County. She said she appreciates the Lady Patriots’ perfect run more as time passes.

“At the time I didn’t think anything of it,” she said. “Looking back now as a coach and realizing how hard that actually is and how much work that actually is, it definitely makes it a lot more special now to realize what we accomplished.”

1966 Wildcats leave memorable mark

While Freedom’s 2016 title felt like it’s by birthright, a group of Morganton girls initially put the city on the state’s hoops radar some 50 years earlier by virtue of its special 1965-66 season.

The Morganton High School Lady Wildcats were that season’s Western North Carolina High School Activities Association champions with an overall record of 23-1, winning each of their last 22 games after an early loss to Valdese.

It was the first state title won by a girls team from Burke County and remained the only one of its kind for 23 years.

The team was coached by Maxine Amos. Prior to that school year, Morganton students were integrated for the first time as black players from Olive Hill would mesh into the previously all-white school and form a team to be reckoned with.

Although prior to the season, the players didn’t realize what the team’s ceiling could be.

“We didn’t know how good Charlene (Forney) and Connie (Williams) were or really who they were,” Carla Giles told The Paper in a 2023 interview, “We just knew we were combining schools and getting some players.”

The ’65-’66 Lady Wildcats existed in a time in which racism was the norm, and they dealt with their share of it … both at road and home games.

But Amos was determined to hold tryouts and select the best 12 players that she could. Period.

“I based my evaluations on my firm belief that all of those girls were children of God and that was how I was going to view them,” she told The Paper in 2023. “I simply wanted to build the best team I possibly could.”

The end result, of course, was that she built the best team in the association that season.

Morganton beat Statesville, 48-40, at Kannapolis High School on March 8, 1966, to become WNCHSAA champions.

“Coach Amos made us a team,” Kate Avery Hall told The Paper. “We knew where we were on that court. We knew what to do. We were prepared.”

“She was a coach on a mission,” added Constance Williams Watson. “Her leadership. Her guidance. At the end of the day, she was what made this team great.”