Can Lake Norman become the first high school in 30 years to pull off this basketball feat?

It’s been more than 30 years since Morganton’s Freedom High School won the N.C. 4A boys’ and girls’ basketball state championships on the same day in Chapel Hill.

And one of the Patriots’ all-time greats, Danny Johnson, still can’t forget that cold Saturday in March 1994.

Johnson — who would later play at Clemson and College of Charleston — scored 37 points in an 87-75 win over Cary High School that gave Freedom its first boys’ state title.

A few hours later, the Freedom girls beat Fayetteville’s Terry Sanford High, 80-51, to finish as state champions as well. It was the first time a N.C. school had won both 4A titles in the same year since Chapel Hill High did it in 1981.

And it’s not happened again since.

“We didn’t have access to information back then like we do now on our smart phones,” said Johnson, now 48 years old and living in Ravenel, S.C., a small suburb of Charleston. “But we knew it was a pretty rare feat. You have to have all these ingredients to make that happen, be at the right place at the right time, get some luck, and be around the right people. It’s crazy, still, that hasn’t been done again.”

Bishop McGuinness, located near Winston-Salem, won the 1A boys’ and girls’ state championships in 2009, but in North Carolina’s toughest classification, 4A public schools, nobody has been able to match Freedom.

But there is a real chance that could change this season.

Lake Norman’s boys and girls teams are ranked No. 1 in the statewide basketball polls. Both teams have Division I college talent, depth and strong coaching.

They also have desire.

The boys lost, in overtime, to North Mecklenburg in the state semifinals last season. In the 2022-23 season, the girls went 31-0 before losing in the state finals. They lost in the state quarterfinals to Charlotte Catholic about 10 months ago.

The majority of the key boys’ and girls’ players who played on those teams are now playing on these.

So could this be the year someone does the double?

“I don’t know,” Lake Norman boys’ coach Grant Hodges said. “Honestly, I really thought we could’ve done it a couple years. But that’s a lot. It’s just so much to even get to a regional (state semi) final in 4A when you run through everybody in Charlotte. But I think our girls have a great chance. I’m telling you, they’re tough.”

The case for the Wildcats’ girls

The Lake Norman girls are 10-1 after Tuesday’s 74-24 win over West Cabarrus. The only loss was to Hebron (Georgia) Christian, the No. 4 ranked team nationally. And other than a 60-52 win over regional power Mallard Creek, Lake Norman’s girls — who have four wins over teams ranked in the statewide polls — are beating N.C. competition by an average of 53.7 points.

No, that’s not a typo.

“They’re probably the best shooting girls’ basketball team I’ve ever seen,” said Queens Grant’s Joe Badgett, who has won 12 state championships as a head or assistant boys’ coach. “They pass the ball so well and you’ve got three or four shooters on the floor at the same time, and they knock them down. They played our girls and they probably had 20 3-pointers in that game. Shots were coming from everywhere.”

Coach McKenzie Graham, who played at Lake Norman, has a team that returned four college recruits. Junior Kelsey Rhyne has committed to Navy. Seniors Samantha and Alexis Shehan have signed with Kentucky Wesleyan, and senior Addison Sirianni signed with Chaminade. And the Wildcats added two of the region’s better players when two more potential college recruits, juniors Kaiya Bond and Rayana Minard, transferred from West Cabarrus.

“They’re not really big but they’ve got a good mix of athletes and shooters,” Badgett said. “If they had a 6-1 center, they would be a top five team in the country. I mean, you can’t pressure them and if someone wants to beat them, it’s with pressure. But they pass the ball so well. It’s one pass here, next pass there and a 3. And, man, they’re making them. They’re not missing them.”

Alexis Shehan said being knocked out in the state finals and quarterfinals has added extra determination to her senior season.

“Having gone through so much adversity and competition, we know what it takes,” she said. “And this would definitely be the year to (win state). It would mean a lot to us to go out our last year with a final hurrah.”

The case for the Wildcats’ boys

Unlike the girls, the Lake Norman boys own a state championship.

In 2010, Lake Norman beat Terry Sanford, 63-46, to win the 4A title, led by 18 points from championship MVP Paul Larsen. Four years later, the Wildcats got back to the final before losing, 62-59, to Apex.

This year’s Wildcats, who beat West Cabarrus 79-49 Tuesday, are 12-1 and tracking like those teams. Their only loss is to Milton (Georgia), the No. 39 ranked team in the nation by MaxPreps. Among the Wildcats’ games this year is a 68-61 win against 2024 N.C. 4A state finalist Wilmington New Hanover. Lake Norman is ranked No. 41 nationally.

The next highest ranked N.C. 4A team is No. 80 North Mecklenburg.

Lake Norman has two Division I recruits in 6-5 senior wing Tre’ McKinnon and 6-10 senior center Trent Steinour. McKinnon, signed to Appalachian State, averages 18.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Steinour, signed to Clemson, averages 16.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.3 blocks.

Two other starters returned from last season’s state semifinalist: point guard Nick Arnold (14.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.6 apg) and shooting guard Josh Yates (9.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.2 spg).

“They have all the nice pieces to run the table,” said longtime N.C. basketball analyst Rick Lewis of Phenom Hoop Report. “They have a really good point guard (Arnold), a really good combo guard (Yates). They have the athletic wing in Tre’ McKinnon and most importantly, they have that rim protector in Trent Steinour, and he’s going to average a double-double. I think they’re the heavy favorites to win the state.”

Do it for the coach

In December, Wildcats’ assistant coach Davis Emerson, who taught math at the school, passed away due to a brain tumor. He played on the 2010 state championship team and later played at Catawba College for Jim Baker, who won back-to-back 3A state titles at Central Cabarrus and is now head coach at private Cannon School in Concord.

“His sophomore year in college, (Emerson) got diagnosed with the brain tumor,” Hodges said, “and he was really good for 10 years. It was terrible (to lose him this year). The boys loved him. He was young. I could rant and rave and carry on and Emerson was the young guy. Everybody gravitated to him.”

The funeral was held at a church not far from school last month and lots of former players showed up, including some of Emerson’s state championship teammates. Hodges team was there, too, just a day before they would win an emotional game against 2024 state finalist New Hanover.

“My plan was when I stepped away,” Hodges said, “that he would take the job. So it was pretty emotional for me and all our guys. I think it’s always in the back of their minds, and I catch myself referencing things he would say in practice. I mean, we’re a really close team. This group’s been together forever.”

And so have the girls.

For many of them, this is their last shot at the state title, and who knows, maybe they can both win and do what Freedom did so long ago.

Danny Johnson, the 1994 Freedom star, was later inducted into the Burke County hall of fame. His team ended up ranked among the top 25 nationally by USA Today and, after college, Johnson played professionally in the short-lived USBL, the NBA Summer League and overseas. He now runs a private business near Charleston and calls TV home games for College of Charleston.

Johnson remembers losing to Garinger in the first round of the 1993 playoffs and how much that fueled his team for the ‘94 championship season.

“I think that made winning feel better,” he said, “because we had that bad taste the year before. That sat on us for the whole summer.”

Lake Norman’s boys and girls have similar feelings about how the last year ended, too. They are determined now, like Johnson and his team were then, to end this season differently.

“It would be extremely hard, but both of our teams are capable of doing it,” said McKinnon, 19. “We’ve played the best teams in our 4A class and we’ve played teams ranked in the country. I feel like we are more than capable.”

And his coach?

“Oh for sure,” Hodges said. “We’d love that for the girls’ program and for us. The girls have put so much work into this and so have we. It would be great for the school and great for the community.”

But is it possible?

“Everything’s possible,” Hodges said.

“Everything.”

Langston Wertz Jr.

The Charlotte Observer

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Langston Wertz Jr. is an award-winning sports journalist who has worked at the Observer since 1988. He’s covered everything from Final Fours and NFL to video games and Britney Spears. Wertz -- a West Charlotte High and UNC grad -- is the rare person who can answer “Charlotte,” when you ask, “What city are you from.” Support my work with a digital subscription