Season promising for Spokane Valley girls teams
The most laid-back guy in the whole of the Spokane Valley may well be East Valley girls basketball coach Rob Collins.
Even-tempered to the point of being unflappable, Collins is the kind of coach who raises his voice for one reason and one reason only: The gym’s too loud to talk normally and be heard.
Collins cannot bring himself to sit down during a game – he paces back and forth in front of his bench – and he has a knack for bringing out the best in his players.
The Knights never reached the state tournament until Collins got the team there. They’ve been regulars there since.
Not that Collins style is unique in the Spokane Valley. West Valley’s Lorin Carlon uses a version of the same style called “Wizened Grandpa.” What kid wouldn’t love playing for their grandpa?
University’s Mark Stinson and Central Valley’s Freddie Rehkow are a little young to pull off the grandpa approach, but both are accomplished masters at building quality teams.
The 2014-15 girls basketball season will be all about building a team – building something greater than the sum of its parts.
East Valley
A year ago the Knights brought home a sixth-place trophy from the Class 2A tournament after winning the Great Northern League championship. They finished the season 17-3.
By the time this season is over, that accomplishment may well be considered a good warm-up.
East Valley brings back three starters in Hannah Burland, Elle Burland and Jordan Phelan, none of whom is a senior.
Phelan opened the season with a double-double in a 56-40 win over Timberlake, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
In a season-opening game of “Can You Top This?” Hannah Burland one-upped her teammate by dropping 29 points on Lakeside in a 59-48 win. Phelan scored 11 points and the East Valley defense forced 24 turnovers.
The supporting cast Collins will build will be young as well. And the upside will be high.
West Valley
When Lorin Carlon took over the Eagles girls basketball program, he was the team’s fourth head coach in four years.
Carlon guided St. John-Endicott to a state Class B title in 1995-96 and he volunteered to help out former Tekoa-Oakesdale coach Paul Vorhees when he took over at West Valley after Jamie Pancho coached the team for one season.
This is Carlon’s 10th season at West Valley. He’s brought the Eagles stability and they’ve accomplished much.
The Eagles are off to a rough start, falling to a series of teams named for bodies of water: Lakeside, Lake City and Post Falls.
Senior post Erin Higbie returns for the Eagles, as does junior post Rachel McGlothlen.
Carlon will bring along a supporting cast to work around them.
Central Valley
The Greater Spokane League is pointing at Central Valley as the team with the best chance of unseating defending state Class 4A champion Gonzaga Prep. It’s not a stretch to believe the Bears can accomplish the feat.
The Bears got an early look at what it will take to unseat Prep in a loss on Tuesday – CV’s second game of the season (and fourth for the Bullpups). It’s a lot, but the season is long.
Senior post Madison Hovren has led the GSL in scoring the past two seasons. Senior guard Megan Dimmler, after scoring a clutch goal to get CV into the state Class 4A soccer finals, is a returning starter as is sophomore guard Courtney Carolan.
Freshman twins Lacie and Lexie Hull, both 6-foot guards, will likely round out the starting five.
University
The good news at U-Hi is that juniors Kaiti Pannell and Brooke Bailey are healthy. Both missed most of last season with injuries.
Senior guard Emma Kennedy is a returning starter, as is Pannell.
But only four players entered the season with varsity experience, so coach Stinson is busily working to get players from last year’s junior varsity up to speed.
The Titans got off to a fast start last week, blowing past Rogers 64-26 – a statement game for a young squad. Bailey scored 15 points and Claire Dingus added another 14. Kennedy had four points, seven rebounds and seven assists.