MHS - Women's Basketball / November 13, 2021 By Kasey McDowell
With winter sports rapidly approaching, the women's basketball team is gearing up to start practice next week for the 2020-21 season. This year will look a lot different than last year with the tremendous loss of head coach Doug Evers, coach Kadee Carpenter will be taking over the head coaching duties. Kadee was an assistant to Doug last year and was the Wildcats head coach back in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. "Our team has been through a lot this year with the loss of our coach and athletic director, Doug Evers," said Coach Carpenter. "We've always said that we were a family. The girls have learned what that really means this year as they navigated their way through the loss of someone important to us. Trusting each other as a team will be huge for us. We are lucky to add an assistant coach to our program that understands the importance of being a family."
Former player Emma Chambers will be returning to the Mulvane Girls Basketball program in a different role. Emma played under Carpenter from 2014-2017. "Emma was one of those special players that would do anything and everything to win," said Carpenter. "She knew that we were going to struggle through a lot of games and it didn't stop her from competing. Emma was a fierce competitor and one of the best leaders on the court during my first stint as head coach. She had to play many roles during her career at Mulvane and still managed to break records despite playing the point guard her senior year."
"I've always told my girls that basketball is more than a game. Bringing Emma back as an assistant coach is an example of that. I've been privileged enough to watch her accomplish many things in the last 4 years and am excited to be a small part of this next chapter for her," said Carpenter. Coach Taylor Hagemen will also be splitting duties between the men's and women's teams and will be assistant coaching during varsity games. "We are lucky to have Taylor splitting duties this season. He is highly motivated and understands the game," said Coach Carpenter.
The Wildcats graduated 4 seniors last year but will have several returning players that got lots of varsity time last season. Sophomore Teagan Garrison will be returning and was the Wildcats points leader last year with 142 points and finished with 72 rebounds and also led the team in assists with 33. Senior Kamryn Nolan was the Wildcats leading rebounder last year with 116 on the season and was second in points with 136. Junior speedster Karlie Kanaga will be returning and led the team in steals last year with 48 and finished the season with 129 points. Junior center Lauren Young will be back and finished last season with 58 points and 60 rebounds. Coach Carpenter will also be looking to some younger players to step up this season and play an important role for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will open up their 2021-22 season on Friday, December 3rd at Wellington. The full schedule is available here.
