Jenkins takes hold of on-court heroics
Cathedral girls basketball coach Clinton Lassiter has been pushing Dejah Jenkins to become more of a take-charge player on the court.
Jenkins certainly picked the right time to do just that.
With time running down and the Panthers trailing by three points last Friday night against No. 1 Archbishop Williams, Jenkins drove the lane and converted a layup while being fouled with 0.1 seconds left. She made the free throw to force overtime.
In the extra session, Jenkins capped off a 24-point, 12-rebound effort by making a free throw to account for the final point as the Panthers prevailed, 71-68.
“Ever since she got here, we’ve been telling her to become more assertive, learn how to take over a game,” Lassiter said. “She’s always been the type than can get her points, but wants to make sure others get theirs. We want her to become more aggressive on the floor, become more of a leader, and she’s starting to that do.”
As for what the star felt of Friday’s first-ever win over a topranked team?
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t know how much time was left until I looked at the clock and saw 0.1. But I had to quickly snap back into reality because I had to make the free throw just to get into overtime.”
The fact that a Division 4 school with 122 girls like Cathedral can play with someone like Archbishop Williams should come as no surprise. The two-time defending Div. 4 state champions relish in the mantra coined by John Calipari when he coached at UMass. He famously uttered the phrase that they would play anyone, anyplace, anytime.
“People always tell us we’re just a Div. 4 school,” Jenkins said. “Well, we have shown that we can compete with anyone. It doesn’t matter how small we are. We know there are haters out there, but all we do is work hard as a team and that’s why we get where we are.”
The basketball court isn’t the only place where Cathedral is getting it done. With the constant prodding of Lassiter and athletic director Larry Merritt, every member of the girls basketball team has a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Jenkins takes more pride in her 3.7 GPA than her 17 points a game.
“I feel like if I am paying to go to school, I should make the best of it,” Jenkins said. “I work hard to do my best in the classroom.”
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