By Chris Parker
Autumn Thomas takes over as head coach of the Spokane Lady Owls basketball program this year. Thomas was most recently the head coach of the Bradleyville girls basketball program for six seasons from 2013-2019. She led the Lady Eagles to a state runner-up finish in 2017-18.
She takes over a Spokane girls basketball team that has had winning seasons in seven of the past eight years with five starters returning.
One senior returns in point guard Raylen Wallace. She averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3 steals per game last year. Wallace has made 175 3-point shots in her career and is 39 points away from 1,000 for her career.
“Raylen Wallace will be our lone returning senior leader this season,” Thomas said. “She is a great team leader. Her ball handling skills and ability to run and see the floor is what makes her a great point guard.”
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Sophomores Madison King, Sydney Bryan, Ellison Mehrhoff and Tristen Wallace are Spokane’s other four returning starters.
King is the team’s best post player. She pulled down 6.2 rebounds per game last year to lead the team while adding in 7.8 points per game. Bryan is a guard who was the team’s best defender this summer. She averaged 5.6 points, 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last year. Mehrhoff is a versatile player who can play in the post or at guard. She averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds per game last year. Tristen Wallace will join her sister Raylen at guard. She chipped in 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last year.
Sophomore Jojo Stevens and junior Dakota VanLoan will come off the bench.
Maggie Czachowski is a senior that did not play last year, but will be coming out this year. The incoming freshmen include: Makenna Gideon, Emrie Butler, Dasia Bilyeau, Olivia Christenson, and Maggie Eby.
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Spokane will look to play fast this season.
“I believe that our team’s greatest strength will be our quickness of pushing the ball up the floor. We worked hard on this all summer long and we were pretty good at it by the end of the summer. Our quickness will also be the key to our defense,” Thomas said. “We focused on our quickness, defense, and outside shooting this summer. I believe that if we can improve in these three categories, it will be a game changer.”
Spokane will host a jamboree on Nov. 15 with Ava and New Covenant. The Lady Owls open the regular season on Oct. 19 at Ash Grove.
“I expect us to compete in every single game this season,” Thomas said. “I want these girls to find the confidence they need to become a very competitive team.”
