Kentlake girls basketball player dies at tournament hotel

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Kentlake High School girls basketball player in town to compete in the Deep South Classic for a Seattle club team died suddenly at the team hotel, her coach said.

Carly Stowell, 14, collapsed Thursday and was unable to be resuscitated by her mother, Elena, or paramedics.

As a freshman point guard at Kentlake High School, Stowell earned team co-MVP honors while leading the Falcons to the 2007 Class 4A tournament.

“By the end of the season, she had taken control,” says Kentlake coach Scott Simmons. “To be honest, we wouldn’t have gotten to the state tournament if it wasn’t for her.”

He said her teammates were caught between “absolute shock and heartbrokenness. It’s going to take us a while to get over this.”

In Raleigh, several of Stowell’s teammates on the Emerald City Legends 15U club team also played with her at Kentwood. They opted to continue playing in the tournament in her absence.

“They decided as a team they wanted to stay, that that’s what Carly would have wanted, and they’ve gone 3-0,” Simmons said.