Smalley, Thelma (AUSTIN)

1926 Wagner graduate. One of South Dakota’s first and brightest high school girls’ basketball stars. Thelma Austin was the star player in three consecutive girls’ basketball state tournaments. In 1924 as a sophomore, she scored 83 points in five state tournament games (there were 24 teams at Mitchell) with a high game of 28 points. She led Lake Andes to the championship game that was won by Java 20-17. In 1925, Thelma Austin as a 15-year-old junior led Lake Andes to the state title over 17 other teams from across the state as Lake Andes defeated Flandreau 28-10 (Thelma scored 24). In Lake Andes four tournament games, Thelma Austin and her sister May scored all of Lake Andes’ 105 points (Thelma scored 78 and her sister May scored 27). Thelma led Lake Andes to a 16-0 season in 1925, and her team outscored their opponents 516-121. In 1926 as a senior, Thelma and her family had moved to Wagner. Thelma scored the winning basket in overtime as Wagner defeated Howard 22-20 in the 1926 state championship game in front of 2,000 fans at the Mitchell Corn Palace. Austin scored 18 of Wagner’s 22 points in the championship game and 15 of Wagner’s 23 in its semifinal win (23-14) over Lake Andes. In the three state tournaments, Thelma scored more than 200 points and was named a first-team all-stater all three years. In 1980, (Austin) Smalley flew from her home in Everett, WA, (where she led her family to develop a chain of successful clothing stores) to Huron to be honored at the girls’ basketball State B tournament.