Faithful family, friends and fans of Red Springs Lady Red Devils’ basketball flocked to the floor after they watched their Lady Red Devils defeat West Columbus, 66-37, in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. It was not only to congratulate the team but to swarm around Red Springs’ coach Eva Patterson-Heath.

In early February, Coach Patterson-Heath was honored by being named as one of 12 individuals in the inaugural class to be inducted into the newly-created Robeson County Athletic Hall of Fame.

Last Tuesday night, February 17, she received another honor in her storied coaching career as the Thomas M. Ammons Gymnasium was the site of her of 500th career coaching win, all coming at Red Springs High School.

Nearing the end of her 24th season as the mentor of the Lady Red Devils, all at one school, Patterson-Heath’s record now stands at 501-125, a winning percentage of .800.

The Lady Red Devils defeated South Robeson last Thursday night in the semifinal round and lost to East Bladen Friday night in the championship game of the conference tournament.

“I’ve been thinking about it, but we didn’t talk about it all this year,” said Patterson-Heath who was presented a special bouquet of flowers from the Red Springs Booster Club, a plaque to commemorate her achievement from her girls’ basketball team and a white cake trimmed in red. “The girls didn’t realize that we were that close to 500 (games) until we went to Fairmont (Feb. 6) and I shared it with them at that point and that’s when they looked at each other and they were going to make it happen.”

Her first season at Red Springs High School, she was 15-7 and made it to the State Playoffs that season. She has numerous 20-plus wins seasons, conference and conference tournament championships while achieving two trips to Chapel Hill for the State Basketball Championship, finishing 1-A and 2-A runner-up in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Last season, the Lady Red Devils finished with a 25-5 overall record, were Southeastern Conference and Tournament champions; Sectional champion; and Regional runner-up.

“We’ve had some really, really great teams over the years,” she said. “When we had the ‘Women In Basketball’ event, a lot of those girls had a chance to come back, to see each other, and reminisce and that was all good.”

Amanda Sinclair, a 2007 graduate of RSHS and former Lady Red Devil, holds the state record for the only quadruple double in a basketball game. On December 8, 2006, versus the Lady Mustangs of South Robeson, Sinclair had 14 points, 12 rebounds, 11 steals and 14 assists. She also had four blocked shots in the win.

Why so long at one school she was asked.

“It’s hard to describe,” she said. “This is home, this is home. Home is always good. My (players) parents are very supportive. They allow us to do what we have to do to get the very best out of their players.”

An alumna of Red Springs High School, Patterson-Heath graduated from North Carolina A&T where she played basketball and then worked for the City of Lumberton Parks and Recreation Department for seven years before going into the field of education. As a faculty member at RSHS, she teaches in the Exceptional Children’s’ Department.

Mike Silver, former coach at SW Onslow, holds the record at 650 wins at one school, from 1975-2007. The all-time record, according to the record book at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, the total wins for one coach, Tom Pryor, stands at 702 wins.

Amazing feat

“It’s amazing,” said Red Springs High School Athletic Director Bryan McDonald. “Her record speaks for itself and what she’s accomplished here at Red Springs. Five-hundred wins is a goal that many good coaches never get to. It shows a lot of hard work that she’s put in here at Red Springs High School and we’re real proud of her.”

Early records

Patterson-Heath’s 400th win came against her cross-county rival coach and good friend Mike Ratley of St. Pauls High School, a 49-30 victory in the first round of the Robeson County Shootout on December 16, 2004, at SPHS.