‘Nothing’s changed’: Hull twins, state title teams inducted to Central Valley ‘Wall of Fame’

The Greater Spokane League has produced some of the best girls basketball players in the state since its inception. Included among those at the top of that long and illustrious list are Lexie and Lacie Hull.

The twin sisters earned just about every accolade possible during their tenure at Central Valley. On Friday, their alma mater bestowed upon them its highest honor, inducting the pair – separately, and together with their state title-winning teammates and coaches – into the Bears’ Wall of Fame.

“It’s such an honor,” Lexie Hull said. “You know, coming back and being able to be here with the whole team from 2016 and 2018 is just really special. It feels like those relationships haven’t changed. And to be back in this building where so many of our memories were made together, it’s really fun. We’re really lucky.”

The Hulls were honored, along with coach Freddie Rehkow, his coaching staff and their teammates – many of whom were on both state-winning teams – at halftime of the Bears’ 71-36 win over Mt. Spokane.

“I couldn’t ask for a greater opportunity for those young ladies to be recognized for what they’ve done,” Rehkow, now the girls basketball coach at Ridgeline, said. “One of the coolest parts is, all the basketball is great, but to see them as just these successful adults is the amazing part. That’s the joy that I have.”

After winning their second state title in 2018, the Hulls helped the Bears win the GEICO Nationals tournament, then enjoyed a decorated career at Stanford – including winning the 2021 national Championship. Lexie was selected No. 6 overall in the 2022 WNBA draft and just completed her third season in the league.

It was the first time the state-winning teammates had gathered together in a while.

“The whole team? Years,” Lacie said. “We’ve seen everybody intermittently throughout the last several years. But it was just great to have everyone in one room – coaching staff, the players. It’s just so great. Like Lexie said, nothing’s changed.”

The bleachers were packed with family, friends and fans to celebrate the induction – a sign of the impact the Bears’ program had on area girls basketball.

“It’s the best support system to ask for,” Lacie said. “It’s an overwhelming feeling of happiness and just gratefulness to be here and be supported and honored in the most amazing school and accomplishment. It’s just a really great experience.”

Both the 2016 and ’18 teams went undefeated and earned state titles. Many people might forget the 2017 did, too, until an unexpected loss to Bellarmine Prep in a second-round game led to a fourth-place trophy.

“2016 was a cool situation, because all those girls were really, really young. They didn’t know any better,” Rehkow said. “But to come back after that tough loss of 2017 and then come back in 2018, those will forever be etched in my mind as just two of the greatest teams. That 2018 team separated themselves and they showed that everywhere they played.”

The twins reminisced about the rigors of playing in the GSL and how it prepared them to play college and professional basketball.

“There was never, for the most part, never an easy game,” Lexie said. “You had to show up every day, especially, going into our senior year, we had a target on our backs. We knew that, and every team came out and prepared for us, and it was scrappy, it was physical, and I think that’s just a testament to the league and the schools and the coaches that are there to kind of foster that environment for the players.”

“You build rivalries over four years, you’re playing against a lot of the same girls,” Lacie said. “That experience, I think, prepared us a lot for college, and Lexie for the (WNBA). The competitiveness, getting to know your opponents, building and fostering that rivalry – it’s so important.”

The Hulls were humbled to think of themselves on a short list of the most accomplished players in the league’s history.

“I’ve never thought about rankings,” Lacie said. “I’ve thought about being part of a community of women that have come from (the GSL) and that’s an honor. I don’t think there needs to be a ranking. I think it’s just a group that has performed really well for the community we came from, and so I’m grateful to be a part of that group of women.”

Lacie retired from basketball after college and lives in Austin, Texas, where she is a project manager at eBay. She occasionally plays pickup basketball – “nothing crazy,” she said. But it’s inevitable that she still gets confused for her sister.

“I was in Indianapolis to watch Lexie play,” she said, “and I went to the (YMCA) with her boyfriend Will and played some 5-on-5. People did not believe me that I was Lexie’s twin. They’re like, ‘No, you’re Lexie.’ ”

“It was a game day,” Lexie said. “I wouldn’t be playing pickup at the YMCA.”

The pair appreciate the responsibility they have as role models to young girls getting started in the sport.

“It’s really a fortunate position,” Lexie said. “We were sitting there and a group of girls came up and asked for pictures of both of us. But it’s just awesome to be in a position where you can inspire young girls and, hopefully, show them that anything’s possible. The places we’ve been, the experiences we’ve had, wouldn’t be possible without basketball. And so, hopefully, little girls can see that and believe they can do it too.”