SM East 1983 girls basketball team inducted into Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame

SM East 1983 basketball 3 — Women from the SM East 1983 girls basketball team recently inducted into the Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame were, from left: Julie Beall, Sarah Morris, Allison Gossick and Lynn Laure. Not pictured: Ann Fritz. Photo courtesy of Ann Fritz

Women from the SM East 1983 girls basketball team recently inducted into the Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame were, from left: Julie Beall, Sarah Morris, Allison Gossick and Lynn Lauer. Not pictured: Ann Fritz. Photo courtesy of Ann Fritz

In 1983, the Shawnee Mission East girls basketball team beat Schlagle by 40 points in the state championship game, earning the first state title ever by a Shawnee Mission girls team.

Now, 36 years later, that team has been inducted into the Kansas Basketball Hall of Fame. The women on the team were honored at the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association’s celebration weekend June 22 in Salina.

At the time, sportswriter Ron Fredman wrote in The Kansas City Star that the 1983 Lady Lancers “breezed to the Kansas Class 6A girls state basketball championship.”

The senior starters after practice one day, from left: Julie Beall, Allison Ross (now Gossick), Ann Costello (now Fritz) and Sarah Morris. Photo credit Haw

“To call Shawnee Mission East’s 73-33 victory over Schlagle Saturday night a blowout would be generous,” Fredman wrote. “Annihilation is more accurate.”

The five starters on the newly inducted team were Julie Beall, Ann Costello (now Ann Fritz), Sarah Morris and Allison Ross (now Allison Gossick) and Lynn Lauer.

Coach Dave Rehfeld led the Lady Lancers to win three games in the state 6A tournament. The Lady Lancers ended the 1983 season with a 23-1 record and a 22-game winning streak, according to a news article from The Kansas City Star.

“It’s cool; it was a great honor,” Fritz said of their team’s induction. She added that their team still holds the state record for winning their state championship game by 40 points.

The SM East 1983 girls basketball team received a plaque as part of their induction June 22. Photo courtesy of Ann Fritz

Fritz, who now coaches basketball at Blue Valley North, has led the girls team there to win three state titles as well.

Lauren Lawrence, who is now the head coach for the SM East girls basketball team, said Fritz is a “true ambassador” of girls basketball. She added that the SM East legacy also continues with Gossick’s family because Allison (Ross) Gossick’s daughter, Camryn, now plays for the Lady Lancers.

Lawrence said she think the 1983 girls team’s induction into the hall of fame is “a great honor for our school.”

“I think it’s really cool for Allison Gossick just because Camryn is now a legacy, and it’s going to be fun for them to be able to carry on that tradition that they already established within their family,” Lawrence said. “Camryn is going to be a senior, and she is definitely an impact player for us, and I’m guessing that she takes after her mother.”