By Steve Robinson | February 24, 2018 - 10:10 pm
Posted in Category: The Normalite

It was obvious Lexington High School sophomore Jayden Standish had a following at the COUNTRY Financial 3-Point Shootout at Redbird Arena on Thursday, Feb. 22. Family, friends, teammates from four sports she’s active in, and even Lexington’s superintendent of schools turned out to see how far she would get in her attempt to qualify to compete for a chance to be part of and win the competition’s “Queen Of The Hill” competition.

But none of those folks who came that day could have predicted what they witnessed when Jayden, daughter of John and Sara Standish of Lexington, took to the right wing position of the arena’s north basket for her preliminary turn at this event.

As family and friends cheered, and teammates held Fathead-style signs of Jayden’s smiling face to show their support, Jayden went to work to try to sink as many free throws as she could.

The first rack of balls at the right wing position on the floor Jayden shot missed the mark – slightly concerning considering the circumstances if not the distraction of the crowd in a larger venue (usually, when she is shooting, there is no audience and she is either with her team coaches or by herself). At the second rack at the top of the key, she missed the first two shots. But her fans continued cheering even if concern was setting in.

Then she saw her eighth shot – the third from the second rack – go through the hoop. Then saw her ninth, and then her 10th followed. As she moved on to the last rack at the left wing position, the cheering picked up – and so did Jayden’s momentum.

She drained her last five shots from that last post, as sportscasters like to describe such successful shots, finishing with 8 baskets and the entire north end of the arena cheering her on and then hoping she would advance to the tie-breaker round. In that round, which followed, where contestants shoot strictly from the wings, Jayden hit 6-of-10.

“The lights here are very bright so the basket is kind of hard to see,” Jayden pointed out to reporters who’ve themselves have never taken any free throw shots, so what she was explaining was no excuse. It was just a statement of fact.

To compensate, Jayden said, “I just shot and did it from memory and hope it goes in.”

Jayden said she was “super excited” for Friday’s next round, and hoping her supporters could all come back after being there Thursday.

Her Lady Minutemen coaches, head coach Bill Elias and assistant coach Shane Little, were also on hand for Jayden’s turn Thursday. “It’s been an on-going process all year long,” Elias explained. He said that included not just shooting but discussing form and follow-through.

Sophomore teammate Jules Grunloh said she and the other girls on the team weren’t concerned by Jayden’s cold start. “We believed in her,” Grunloh said. Joining Grunloh to witness Jayden’s feat Thursday were sophomores Layken McGuire and senior Kaitlyn Little.

Jayden closed the press conference Friday by saying she hoped to return to the Shootout event in the next two years “and have the same experience or better.”

There is no doubt that her family, friends, teammates, and other folks around town, having experienced this year’s event with Jayden, also share that sentiment.

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