By Chris Parker
Spokane girls basketball has a new head coach in Mike Hunter this season. Hunter has had a long coaching career over the past 41 years with stops in both Arkansas and southwest Missouri coaching boys and girls basketball, bowling, baseball and track.
He takes over a Lady Owls basketball program coming off a 12-win season.
First team all-conference guard Sydney Bryan returns for her senior season.
“(Bryan) will be a top scorer for the Lady Owls this season. (She) provides confidence to the court with her outside shot and her drives,” Hunter said.
Fellow senior Tristen Wallace also returns at guard.
“(Wallace) will be a ball handler and outside shooter,” Hunter said. “Wallace provides great strength along with impeccable passing skills to feed the ball to the inside and outside for assists.”
The duo will be relied upon for leadership.
“Bryan and Wallace both will be great leaders for this team, along with their skillset providing a perfect union to lead this young team to success,” Hunter said.
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Sophomores Sarah Essick and Makenzie Melton also return.
“Sarah Essick is a returning sophomore with a lot of potential and growing skills every day. Essick is a strong guard with a good outside shot,” Hunter said. “Melton will be a very important returner for the Lady Owls because of her height and strength under the basket. Essick and Melton are essential to this lineup. Even though they are young, both provide lots of talent and skills that will be useful this season.”
Freshman guard Lily Carr will look to make an immediate impact on varsity. She was named the MVP for the SWCL 8th grad tournament last season.
“Carr is equipped with basketball skills including ball handling, ball movement, shooting, and driving, along with impeccable basketball IQ,” Hunter said. “Lily Carr will be the player to watch this season and the seasons to come.”
Marley Stahl and Ire Melton are two more freshmen to watch for this year.
Spokane will rely on speed and shooting this season.
“The biggest strength for our team this year will be speed and outside shooting. We have many talented shooters on this team, many of which have immense speed as well,” Hunter said. “What we will improve on this year is adapting to our opponents. Being that we lack a lot of height, there will be games we are mismatched. This is something we as a team will have to adapt to and figure out how to use the strengths we have as a way to compete against teams with lots of height. I have the utmost confidence in our heart and dedication to be as competitive as possible.”
Spokane opens the regular season on Nov. 17 at Ash Grove.
“I want to see our players grow not only as players but as individuals and as a team,” Hunter said. “We only have 12 players this season, and I believe that will bring the players together to create a sense of camaraderie. Furthermore, I suspect we will grow offensively as well. We have so many young players that are eager to learn from the older players and they are willing to share their experience with them.”
