Ozarks girls' basketball coaching performances we were most impressed by in 2023-24
There are many great high school basketball coaches in southwest Missouri and a few of them stood throughout the 2023-24 season while leading their teams deep into the postseason or by rising above expectations.
Here were the ones we were most impressed by at the end of the season.
Kevin Cheek, Skyline
There might not have been a more dominant team in the area than the one that Cheek led this season. His Lady Tigers went 30-2 with a Class 2 state championship. It even won the Mid-Lakes Conference title in a league with Class 3 state champion Fair Grove. Cheek, who has five state titles in Skyline since 2003, has a monster of a program that should already be circled as a favorite to win it all in 2025.
Jason Cole, Aurora
The Lady Houns continue to bark in the right direction after two of the program's best years in the school's history. Cole's got them there with back-to-back 20-plus win seasons and district championships, the program's first two since 2012. No seniors were listed on Aurora's roster this year, creating more excitement for next year with the Lady Houns trying to make the program's first semifinal appearance. That's not out of the question heading into 2025.
More: Dominant Dozen: Southwest Missouri's best girls' basketball players of the 2023-24 season
Kris Flood, Republic
Out of all the accomplishments and coaching jobs Flood turned in over his career, some will argue that what he pulled off with his group in 2023-24 was his best. Flood took a roster that lost the best player in the program's proud history to graduation and kept it competitive when many counted them out. He had a group of players accepting their roles each night and winning every game they played in 2024 up until a two-point loss to Class 6 runner-up Kickapoo in a thrilling district championship game. Flood developed role players in recent years into becoming breakout stars. He took a team that had some early struggles and had it believing it could win a Central Ozark Conference championship by the end of the year. It was an incredible season to go out on as Flood announced his retirement at the end of the year.
Gary Greene, Fair Grove
Greene took over the best situation in the Ozarks and did what he was hired to do — not screw it up by helping the Lady Eagles run it back. Fair Grove won its second-straight state championship with many players from the 2022-23 roster returning for another go. Most will also stick around for another run next year. You can't count out Greene's contributions as he had Fair Grove playing defense at an extremely high level at the end of the year, allowing just 46 total points between the semifinal and championship games. He also did some different things offensively that Fair Grove hadn't done previously, which he got the team to buy into and excel at en route to another championship victory.
More: Fair Grove girls repeat as Class 3 state champions by beating El Dorado Springs
Leslie Hanchey, Kickapoo
In her first year coaching her alma mater, Hanchey kept Kickapoo as one of the elite programs in the state, leading it to a state runner-up finish at the state's highest level. She absorbed a great roster that appeared to be due before the season to make a run at championships. Kickapoo lost just one game (to Battle by two) before falling by 10 to powerhouse Incarnate Word in the final. Hanchey was beloved by her players, taking their games to another level and they had fun while doing so.
More: Why Kickapoo girls basketball took in every second after state championship defeat
Katie Pritchard, Marshfield
The former Drury women's basketball standout is making a name for herself in the high school coaching world. She returned a proud Marshfield program to the state semifinals for the first time in a decade and had it playing at an elite level all season against many of the area's best. The head coach of the Lady Jays since the 2018-19 season has seen the team take steps each year before winning a third-place trophy this season. Despite losing a talented senior group, it's not far-fetched to believe Marshfield will have more great years moving forward with the young talent she's helped develop on the roster.
More: Marshfield girls rally late to advance to state semifinals for first time in decade
Scott Womack, West Plains
We had to include Womack as a tip of the cap for a great career on the Lady Zizzers sideline. Womack is retiring after 33 years with the Lady Zizzers, winning a state championship in 2022, being named an all-league coach 12 times and a three-time all-state coach of the year. Womack built a program considered one of the state's best in recent years, leaving a great foundation for whoever follows.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield area top high school girls basketball coaches of 2023-24
