Mead’s Sue Winger, Coreen Labish pick colleges

A pair of 6-foot-2 Mead girls basketball players continued the recent parade of Greater Spokane League standouts making oral commitments to NCAA Division I schools.

Sue Winger and Coreen Labish have given commitments to the University of Idaho and Wyoming, respectively.

Winger, who will start for a fourth year for the Panthers this winter, averaged 11.9 points last year. She will play a combination of wing and forward.

Labish, who transferred to Mead last year after starting for two years at Cheney, averaged about 8 points per game for the Panthers but expects that to go up measurably this year. She also will play a combination of wing and forward.

Winger chose Idaho over New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and San Francisco. She’ll join former Northwest Blazers club teammates Brooke Reilly (Mt. Spokane) and Karly Wilson (Lewiston) at Idaho.

“It’s an awesome program,” said Winger of her decision to go to Idaho. “They’ve had several NCAA tournament appearances. And they’re moving to the Big Sky (Conference) this year. It’s going to be a strong, competitive league.”

“It’s a good fit for her,” said Mead coach Quantae Anderson. “She’s so versatile. She has perimeter range and the ability to drive. And defensively, she can guard guards.”

Labish had a difficult transition from 2A to 4A last season, but Anderson sees her having a big senior year.

“She’s a sponge, she wants to learn,” Anderson said. “Last year she wasn’t quite ready for the physicality of the GSL. It’s funny to say but for a 6-2 girl she had to learn how to play with her back to the basket.”

Labish is looking forward to playing facing the basket at Wyoming.

“I’m comfortable shooting 3-pointers,” Labish said. “I made close to 30 3s at Cheney my sophomore year.”