1429 Points(and counting) – A View From the Bench
It happened in the exact way you would have expected. A 3 pointer buried mid- way through the 3rd quarter to start a dramatic come-back. It ended with 2 free throws that helped seal a tense and dramatic come from behind victory against James Buchanan. When the final buzzer sounded Jenay Faulkner stood, with 1429 career points, as the all-time scoring leader in Lady Blue Devils history.
Jenay is a spectacular basketball player who does about everything on the court you can imagine and then some. Just three games into her senior season she eclipsed Kylene Helman’s record of 1420 points that had stood since 1999. In retrospect, breaking the record was inevitable. The journey to get there though goes way beyond one young ladies gifted ability to score the basketball.
I have seen every last one of those points. Every made 3-pointer, jumper and lay-up. She has been remarkably consistent. In her first game as a freshman against Chambersburg she scored 22 points. In the game that broke the record she scored 24. She has only scored 30 points in a game 1 time. She has just been consistent, 22, 24, 26 points, night after night after night.
She has also been almost unbelievably efficient. In most games those 20+ points came on only 11, 12 or 13 shots.
It has been the consistency and efficiency that brought her the record. However, it is her team first attitude that has made it special.
Jenay has never once been about how many points can she score. If she had been, the scoring record would have fallen long before it did. Instead she has always been about what do I need to do in this game to help our team be successful. Sometimes it is rebound the ball, other times it was set up her teammates, and others it was to shut down the other teams #1 option. Sometimes it was all three. No matter what was needed on a given night she found a way to get it done.
You want an example, you only have to look to the game on Friday night. She drove baseline and could have easily taken a slightly contested layup. Instead she shovels a beautiful drop pass to Lauren Cole for a wide open conversion.
From her first day as a freshman she has been the epitome of what we coaches believe Lady Blue Devils basketball is really about. Hard work, team first, success and most important family. Month after month, as the accolades grew, her buy in to that philosophy has never changed.
When the record setting shot went through the net last Friday she celebrated with her current teammates. Fellow senior Morgan Wagaman, and a bunch of still wet behind the ears sophomores, Lydia Crist, Ashley True, Madison Sweitzer and Heidi Schanzanbacher. While these are not the teammates that were on the court with her when most of the 1429 points have been scored they are as important to her as those that have graduated ahead of her. They are part of our family and she knows and respects that.
As for the rest of her basketball sisters, well they were mostly there as well. I looked up after the game had ended, the handshakes between teams were concluded, and fans were filling out of the gym, and there they were, ( Katie Gelsinger, Jane Herman, Hannah Zimmerman, Shelby Stouffer, Hannah Haley and Hannah Crist) waiting patiently for their well deserved turn to enjoy the moment with her. (Note: Meghan Hirneisen was watching on line as she had knee surgery earlier in the day)
They had spent 1,000’s of hours playing ball with her. It was their special and private moment and the joy and excitement in their celebration of Jenay’s accomplishment was something I will never forget.
For you see, from where I sit, that is the real story of a journey to 1429 points. Past and present teammates, sisters and friends who will always be there for each other to celebrate the high’s and offer support during the low’s. Jenay understands this. It is what makes her accomplishment greater than just points by one player on a scoreboard. It is a story of friends, teammates, and family all contributing to the goal of being the best Lady Blue Devil basketball team they can be.
