NORMAL – Lexington High School sophomore Jayden Standish knows a little something about shooting a basketball and winning basketball games, especially when there is pride at stake. Jayden, now a sophomore at Lexington High School , was part of Lexington Junior High School ’s 8th grade team that won an Illinois Elementary School Association championship two years ago.
One would think the degree of composure one would need to win such an event would carry over to a player’s high school playing time given just a little effort and a lot of guidance from the team coaching staff, and of course, practice. In LHS’ case this year, the Lady Minutemen got as far as the Sectional Championship with Standish lending her talents.
But when a player participates in a 3-Point Shootout, it’s strictly a solitary effort – just the player racing the clock while trying to sink as many of 15 basketballs as possible from three different stations on the court in 45 seconds. Of the 31 girls in four groups at the COUNTRY Financial 3-Point Shootout, held at Redbird Arena on Illinois State University’s campus, who shot in the first round on Feb. 22, Standish was slated to shoot 26th in that order.
When she went through the qualifying rounds to get to State, she made 8 baskets at Sectionals and 10 baskets at Regionals. So her performance to get through to the 3-Point Shootout at State Tournament here had practically everybody she knew in Lexington buzzing. Not only did her teammates from LHS’ basketball came to see how she fared, but so did the girls from three other team sports she is involved in. Those would be Softball, Volleyball, and Track and Field.
Her folks, John and Sara Standish, were there, too. Even Lexington School District Superintendent, Dwight Stricklin, came out to witness how far she would go.
Jayden has been practicing in the school gym, and getting tips from her team coaches, head coach Bill Elias and assistant coach Shane Little. As her turn began, Jayden missed all five of her shots from the right wing position where all contestants start from. Moving to the top of the free throw circle, she missed her first two shots, as well.
But her third shot from that mark went in. So did her fourth. Then her fifth, indicating what might be a turnaround. When she got to the left wing shooting position and the last cart of five balls, she could see her folks, the crowd of fans, her friends, teammates, and onlookers had joined in on the thrill as she put the remaining balls through the hoop for a total score of 8 to qualify for a 10-shot second round with three other girls at that basket.
In the 10-shot runoff, she sank 6 baskets and qualified for the four-player showdown Friday following the first Class 1A semifinal game. Winning that shootout would make her a “Queen Of The Court†contestant who would compete on March 3 here against three other girls – one each from Class 2A, 3A, and 4A.
“She’s always had a drive to excel,†said her father, John, who watched his daughter recoup from the icy start. When the qualifying round was over, John summed up the event by saying, “She never gives up. That’s what she does.â€
The difference between the rims of the baskets at Redbird Arena compared to those at LHS had a part in why that opening score was challenging,†Jayden admitted, explaining the rims at the high school “aren’t as stiff.â€
“I’m super excited for tomorrow,†Jayden said as she looked forward to Friday’s showdown with three other girls.
At Friday’s finale of the Class 1A 3-Point Shootout event which followed a semifinal between Okaw Valley and Stockton, Jayden sank 7 baskets, tying her for second place with Hannah Krumwiede from Carrollton. Logyn Little from Winchester West Central powered through to the victory with 11 baskets.
At a news conference following the finale, Jayden said she tried blocking out the crowd and the fact she and the other girls would have cameras following their moves at the event.
Jayden said the entire experience “has just been great. We’ve all had big support systems the entire time we’ve been here. Being a sophomore, I hope to be able to come back here these next two years and have the same experience or better.â€
This entry was posted on Friday, February 23rd, 2018 at 10:50 pm and is filed under The Normalite. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.