Last season, the Wesleyan Lady Wolves won their 11th state title of the last 14 seasons, and seventh in the last eight. They toppled Holy Innocents’ 45-31 in the Class AA championship while missing arguably their best player, Mikayla Coombs, to a season-ending injury.
That’s what makes this year’s No. 1-ranked Lady Wolves such a threat to
Credit: Adam Krohn
Credit: Adam Krohn
win yet another title this year - the return of the class of 2017 phenom Coombs.
Coombs, who tore her ACL in the last season’s opener, has returned to the floor after being cleared in October for full contact and is playing at a high level. She leads the Lady Wolves in rebounds and is second on the team in scoring, assists, blocks and steals.
On Friday at Lovett, Coombs helped her team to a 74-32 over the No. 6-ranked Lady Lions in league play to improve to 13-2 and 4-0 in Region 6. Coombs finished with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting, adding six assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Lovett fell to 12-5 and 2-2.
Friday’s game was the first of tough, back-to-back region road games for the Lady Wolves, who will take on region foe and No. 2-ranked Holy Innocents’ (13-2, 4-0) on Saturday.
As well as the 5-foot-8 Coombs has bounced back from her injury, she still feels there’s room for her to get even better.
“I’m not at 100 percent yet,” Coombs said. “I’ve still got some explosiveness to work on.”
Coombs rehabbed the injury for nine months, but you wouldn’t know she missed so much time - which includes missing AAU ball in the summer - by watching her play, Lady Wolves coach Jan Azar said.
“Athletically, she hasn’t missed a beat,” said Azar, who has coached the Lady Wolves to all 11 of their state titles. “She’s not wearing a brace and she’s moving better than any kid I’ve seen return from an ACL injury.”
Coombs has returned this season to a well-balanced lineup. Each major statistical category is led by a different player in the starting five, with Jameson Kavel leading in 3-pointers, Amaya Register in assists, Cairo Booker in scoring and steals, and Natalie Armstrong in blocks.
Coombs is the rebounding specialist but also a stat-stuffer, and her versatility is why she’s viewed as the No. 24 overall player in the nation, according to the espnW Rankings Class of 2017.
She also has scholarship offers from numerous programs in all five power conferences.
Despite being so highly regarded, she remains humble.
“She’s never carried herself in a way where the girls around her thought they were any less valuable than she is,” Azar said. “When she sat out last season with the injury, it didn’t change her demeanor. She was great on the bench, stayed with the team and never made it about her.
"She was just as excited as anyone when we won.”
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