Avila Women's Basketball Season Preview

A year removed from traveling to Frankfort, KY for the National Tournament, the Avila Eagles are setting their sites even higher. A year ago, Coach Larry Williams and his girls basketball team won their first National Tournament game in program history. The Eagles finished with an overall record of 22-11, compiling a 14-4 conference record in the always-difficult Heart of America Athletic Conference. Avila will return eight players from last year’s team, including starters Cassie Bruner, Rebekah Capeder, and Courtney Gimlin. Other returning letter winners are Stephanie Miller, Arianne Henry, Samantha York, Kendra Crow, and Jackie Wacha. The losses of Torie Murillo, Brittany Townsend, and Loganne Grider will certainly be difficult to replace, but Coach Williams is looking to Senior Cassie Bruner and  Sophomore Rebekah Capeder to build upon last year’s impressive output. Bruner and Capeder formed a deadly duo on the inside, providing the Eagles with nearly 20 PPG and 21 RPG. Jackie Wacha looks to fill some big shoes this year. She will be replacing a a third team all american, and HAAC defensive player of the year. She started 5 games for the eagles last year and will look to help lead this team to a great season. Courtney, Stephanie, Kendra, and Samantha look to provide even more scoring and rebounding that the eagles will need to succeed. Avila added 6 newcomers this year who look to fight for playing time and maybe even some starting positions. 

Last year’s National Tournament bid was unchartered waters for the Eagles. This year, Coach Williams hopes to use that tournament experience as a building block for bigger and better things. Tune in this winter as the Eagles look to fight for another tournament bid, and hopefully even more. 

Special Thanks to David Embers (@davidembers) for the help in revising this blog..His blog is a great read go check it out thoughtswithdavidembers.blogspot.com