Tuesday’s Northwestern 3A/4A Conference home openers went according to plan for the Freedom basketball teams, which both moved to 2-0 in league play with wins over South Caldwell in Â鶹´«Ã½.
The Patriots (12-2) were victorious 94-92 while the Lady Patriots (9-6) earned a 55-49 win to follow up their NWC-opening triumphs at Hibriten last Thursday in Lenoir.
Here are some key numbers to take away from Tuesday night’s wins:
BOYS
3 — Streak of consecutive losses to the Spartans the Patriots were able to snap. Freedom lost to South Caldwell both times last season and the second meeting of the 2022-23 season. That year was the last time Freedom started 2-0 in the NWC, with a 76-58 home win over the Spartans — their most recent before Tuesday night — being the victory that allowed the team to reach that mark.
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6-2 — Freedom’s record at home so far this season. The Patriots have been even better on the road, going a perfect 6-0 away from Crump-Rogers Gymnasium to date.
8 — Number of Patriots to find the scorebook. Freedom was led by 21 points from Amore Connelly, whose effort was supplemented by King Johnson (19), Kobe Johnson (16), Braxton King (15), Amare Williams (15), Daivyon Feaster-Hicks (three), Ian Clark (two) and Kaden Davis (two).
9 — Freedom’s halftime lead of 42-33. The hosts were outscored 59-52 after the break as the Spartans nearly erased the deficit.
12 — Number of wins for the Patriots so far this season. That puts Freedom just one win shy of last year’s total of 13.
13 — Made 3-pointers by Freedom, which went 13 of 25 (52%) from beyond the arc. King and Williams made five 3-pointers each. King Johnson sank two, and Connelly added one.
14 — The Patriots’ largest lead at 47-33 when King Johnson scored five straight out of the halftime break. Freedom led by double digits on nine different occasions, including as late as 3:15 left to play when a pair of Connelly foul shots made it 81-71.
22 — Game-high points scored by South Caldwell junior Carter Anderson. The guard scored the Spartans’ final nine points in the last 33 seconds of the contest as a furious comeback attempt came up just short. Anderson was joined in double figures by Tyler Cline (18), Caleb Greene (18) and Riley Heubaum (16).
23 — Points from the foul line for South Caldwell, which did a good job of putting pressure on the Freedom defense late.
76.9 — Freedom’s free throw percentage. Freedom (20 of 26) missed a few down the stretch, but still made enough to hold on as the Spartans played Hack-a-Pat in a nearly successful effort to catch up.
GIRLS
0 — Points off the bench in Tuesday evening’s win for Freedom. The hosts only used six players, with junior reserve Alayhia Bates getting some game time for Freedom.
3 — Consecutive finishes of .500 or worse in NWC play for the Lady Patriots, including 3-7 in both of the last two seasons and 5-5 in 2021-22. With this year’s 2-0 start, Freedom, which previously dominated the conference, is looking to snap that particular streak.
4 — Number of seasons since the Lady Patriots’ last 2-0 NWC start. Freedom went a perfect 9-0 in league play during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign to win the conference championship and started 11-0 overall before falling in the third round of the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs.
4-1 — Freedom’s record in its last five games after back-to-back losses dropped the Lady Patriots to 5-5 overall as of Dec. 17. Freedom’s only loss since then was to North Wilkes in the championship game of December’s 50th annual Freedom Christmas Invitational.
5 — Consecutive losses for the Lady Spartans following a 9-2 start to the season. South Caldwell is 0-2 in the NWC following a conference-opening home loss to Watauga last Thursday. It is South Caldwell’s third straight such start to league play following back-to-back 1-9 conference campaigns.
6 — Wins in a row for Freedom over South Caldwell, a particularly long streak against a traditionally strong 4A program.
9 — The Lady Patriots’ largest deficit on Tuesday evening as they fell behind 35-26 in the third quarter following a pair of South Caldwell 3-pointers.
13 — Second half points by FHS junior Kaitlyn Hagmann, who was scoreless at halftime. Hagmann knocked down three 3-pointers after the intermission, including one to open the fourth quarter that put Freedom ahead 41-39 and gave the Lady Patriots the first lead of the second half. She added another 3-pointer later in the final frame that made the score 44-41 and put Freedom ahead for good.
24 — Team-high points for Lady Patriots senior Peyton Caldwell, who knocked down two first-quarter 3-pointers to give the hosts their first six points.
28 — Game-high points scored by South Caldwell’s Ava Anderson, a freshman.