By Chris Parker
Longtime area basketball coach Trish Marsh is returning to the Ozarks this winter to take over as head coach of the Reeds Spring girls basketball program. Marsh has previous head coaching experience at Aurora (one season) and Glendale (four seasons).
“I really wanted to get back to the southwest Missouri basketball scene, and I knew that Reeds Spring had a good nucleus of young players returning, and probably most importantly, I love the vibe of a one school community,” Marsh said.
She inherits a program that has not posted a winning season since 2012.
“I think that the culture needs to continue to move toward a winning mentality,” Marsh said. “We will need to have a healthy and competitive environment as we work on the fundamentals and understanding what it takes to win.”
Senior Harley Watson returns after earning all-conference honors last season. She scored 8.2 points per game and pulled down 5.2 rebounds per game. Both numbers lead all returners.
“Harley can play multiple positions and will be a good leader for our young varsity squad,” Marsh said. “She is a very fundamentally sound player that makes smart decisions with the ball in her hands.”
Sophomores Kylie Fitzwater and Kaylee Geniuk also return.
Fitzwater is a guard who averaged 7.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game as a freshman.
“Kylie played varsity as a freshman and gained valuable experience that will help her continue to improve going into this season,” Marsh said. “Kylie will bring a spark to our team on both ends of the floor. She is aggressive off the bounce and provides good defense with her athleticism. She will also be asked to be a main ballhandler for this team.”
Geniuk was just behind Fitzwater at 6.1 points per game in her freshman season to go with 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game.
“Kaylee is also another sophomore who will benefit from receiving varsity minutes last year as a freshman,” Marsh said. “Kaylee is an exceptional athlete and can change the pace of the game for us. She is an aggressive defender and has been working hard in the off season on becoming a better ballhandler.”
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A quartet of move-ins will look to have an immediate varsity impact including Allie Johnson, Emmarae Thompson, Saylor Johnson and Illyssa Finney-Allen.
Marsh on Allie Johnson: “Allie is a versatile player that will play outside/inside for us this season. She is a very good ballhandler and has a good basketball IQ. She has length that makes her a good defender, especially on the ball. She can score in a variety of ways.”
Marsh on Thompson: “Emmarae will provide us some depth at the post position. She can also step outside and shoot the 3. I look for her to use her athleticism to get boards for us and mix it up inside.”
Marsh on Saylor Johnson: “Saylor will share ballhandling responsibilities this year and is one of our best shooters on the team. Look for her to grow into her role as she is only a freshman.”
Marsh on Finney-Allen: “Illyssa is another freshman that could make an impact this year as she learns the new system and continues to develop fundamentally.”
Reeds Spring will be an athletic team that needs to limit turnovers and work together on defense.
“I think that our athleticism will be one of our biggest strengths,” Marsh said. “I would say valuing the ball will be something that we need to really focus on and giving ourselves an opportunity to score. Our team defense will be another area that will need to continue to get better starting with communication and knowing where to be in relation to the ball.”
Reeds Spring opens the regular season on Nov. 20 at Spokane.
