When Bishop Lynch High School begins its playoff quest to win back-to-back state championships against Nolan Catholic on Feb. 18, many eyes will be on one player who is expected to stand out.
Junior Fre Vowels is the starting point guard and leading scorer on the defending state champion Bishop Lynch team.
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WATCH HERE"I love the competition and how your work always pays off. If you put in that work, it's going to pay off," said Fre.
And few high school players work as hard as Fre. Just ask Bishop Lynch High School legendary coach Andy Zihlman, who has over 1,100 wins in his storied career with the Friars.
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"She's fun to coach," said Zihlman. "She's one of those coach's dream kind of kids because she's always in the gym and always asking, is the gym open?"
And that work ethic is motivated by her mother, Kristie Vowels, who changed her life in 2012.
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"I had my Ph.D., I had my doctorate degree. I was climbing the career ladder, but it didn’t matter how far I went. There was something missing," said Kristie. "And I ran into a friend who had adopted from China."
That meeting led to Kristie deciding to pursue adoption as well, making Ethiopia her selected country, eventually adopting 4-year-old Fre, who was living in an orphanage after both of her parents had passed away two years before.
"She's given me everything, the opportunity to grow," said Kristie. "Everything that she does, I'm so grateful for."
"Coming over here, she didn't know English. They had hand signals, so Kristie had to point and all that kind of stuff to try to get her to communicate with her," said Zihlman.
But one thing that needed no translation was Fre's interest in sports.
"As soon as I came here, my mom put me into sports immediately. Swimming, basketball, soccer, and eventually, I just decided to pursue basketball only because it was the most fun," Fre said.
It was also a natural fit for Kristie, a former basketball coach. She decided to enroll her daughter at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, which features one of the winningest girls' basketball programs in the country. And it didn't take long for her to make an impact.
"She did very well as a freshman. One game, she helped us win when she had 21 points," said Zihlman.
Fre is also thriving in the classroom with a 4.2 GPA. She already has college opportunities offered by Ivy League schools like Harvard.
"Coming to America, what she's accomplished, the way she's accepted every avenue, and seeing how strong she's become in her faith and ways she gives back, these are things that are so humbling for me to see and be so happy at the same time for her," said Kristie.
Fre is now looking to take advantage of the opportunity to play the game she loves because of the gift given to her by the person she loves most.
"I love my mom so much. I just know I can count on her no matter what. And just the person she is, I just feel like she inspires me to be a better person every day," said Fre Vowels.
Kristie said she hoped her daughter's story would encourage other families to consider adoption.
