Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Goldman Reflects On Career
LINCOLN — Jessica Goldman’s mother, Alicia Goldman, read to her as a toddler from a series of children’s books called “Jessie Bear” and an identity was formed.
“I guess I liked them so much and they started calling me ‘Jessie Bear” and that turned into ‘Bear’ and so it just kind of stuck,” Jessica Goldman remembers.
Even at that young age, Jessica demonstrated the kind of tenacity that served her well as a teenage basketball star for Lincoln High School.
“She was as tough as bear. If she fell down and hit her head or bumped her elbow she’d never cry. She’d just get back up and keep going,” says Jessica’s father, Greg Goldman. “She was tough as an old bear so it was a good nickname that fit pretty good.”
1,000 Career Points
The Enterprise-Leader selected Jessica as Female Athlete of the Year for school year 2018-19 at Lincoln.
Jessica became a 1,000-point career scorer as a senior joining older sister, RaShelle (Class of 2012), and brother, Shandon “Biggie” Goldman (Class of 2015) as all three siblings achieved the feat.
Many of Jessica’s buckets came the hard way, slashing to the basket, kissing the ball in off-the-glass while absorbing contact that frequently landed her on the floor. She didn’t always get the call, yet showcased consummate sportsmanship. There were never any technical fouls or brawls with opponents. Jessica simply picked herself up and concentrated on making the next play, often a freethrow opportunity.
In the midst of a frustrating sophomore season when the Lady Wolves went 6-22, losing 14 games by eight points or less Jessica remained resilient by striving to improve.
Shot Selection Issues
Alicia Goldman, an accountant, tracked Jessica’s basketball statistics. One category stood out, and the Goldmans took notice where that 2017-2018 team needed better shot selection.
“It became a big deal the last couple of years under (former head coach) Brian (Davenport) we shot so many threes. Nobody was making them, so we started keeping that stat,” said Greg Goldman. “It wasn’t good so you know there’s times when to shoot them and times when you need to shut it down and try to get to the hole. Those stats will tell you that.”
Jessica remembers her parents keeping track of the team’s 3-point attempts and how many they made and admits, “It was not good.”
Mom Kept Stats
Two years later during Jessica’s senior season Alicia was still on the job and would occasionally remind Jessica of lessons learned telling her daughter after a game, “Y’all shot a lot of threes.”
An assessment that was reenforced as Jessica studied footage and scorebooks.
“So I’d look at that. I’d watch film and say, ‘Yep.’ She was right.”
Greg said the temptation to shoot too many 3-pointers affects
teams at the highest levels including the NBA.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder have problems with that, too; so don’t feel bad,” he said.
Jessica appreciates her mom’s diligence which gives her a measuring stick.
“It helps me cause like I’d look at my turnovers for this year and I’d see how I’d improved; and (my) freethrow percentage, for an example, has gone up a lot since last year and my sophomore year,” Jessica said. “It just shows me at the end of the year what I need to work on. So it’s definitely helpful.”
Supporting Cast
Looking back on her varsity basketball career at Lincoln, Jessica mentioned people she wants to thank for their contributions beginning with all of her teammates, and coaches, who pushed the team to realize their potential resulting in an appearance in the 3A State tournament quarterfinals in 2019.
“Yeah, (head coach) Emilianne (Slammons) and (assistant coach) Michelle (Lumsargis), have been awesome and don’t forget the groundwork,” Greg Goldman said, adding, “I think for the hard work that (former coach) Brian (Davenport) laid. We didn’t win a lot of games over his two years here, but I think he did instill in the girls a hard work ethic.”
Determination to stay with basketball because giving up presented no viable option for Jessica, who landed a basketball scholarship to John Brown University, at Siloam Springs, after her senior season.
“I think he taught us a lot of grit I’d have to say cause losing was not good, but we stayed together and played hard every game,” Jessica said. “But we weren’t winning.”
Overcoming Adversity
Five losses came by two points and two more games were lost by a single point.
“We were competitive night in and night out but we just couldn’t get it together to win, but I think those guys deserve a shout-out, too,” Greg Goldman said. “Brian and Wayne (Davenport) did a great job with the girls, which, couldn’t win games, which ultimately coaches get fired for not winning games. It happens, but they did help the program in a way and Emilianne just took it and ran with it.”
Growing up, Greg Goldman and Bill Calico coached their daughters’ teams all the way through pee wee basketball.
“We didn’t have a lot of success,” Greg Goldman said. “We were pretty mediocre, but we always knew we were teaching them the right things. How to dribble with both hands, how to make a two-hand chest pass, how to play team basketball and that group, there wasn’t a whole lot of them left by the time they got to be seniors, but the core group, which was Jessie, Averi (Massey) and Libby Calico, they were kind of the core of this group that eventually had some success — so we can kind of take some pride in that.”
Basketball Heritage
Jessica played high school games at Wolfpack Arena while RaShelle didn’t get that opportunity. She played in the old Lincoln gym from 2008-2012.
“I think she was pretty jealous at first, because of her senior year, the next year was the year they opened the new gym,” Jessica said. “So, she was kind of jealous and so I felt grateful that we had such a nice gym and that’s something RaShelle never got to have. We still practice a lot in that gym and it’s a great gym still, but a nice gym.”
Greg also played in the old gym during a stellar career in the 1980s, and he sings praises of Lincoln’s basketball heritage.
“The old Wolf’s Den has got a lot of atmosphere, though,” Greg Goldman said. “When we used to pack that thing up, it would get loud. It would really get loud and it was when RaShelle had a good group that she played with there was some great atmospheres, some good crowds in that gym.”
Two Gyms
Jessica likes both gyms, having done her share of practices in the old gym.
“I think the old gym feels like homier,” Jessica said. “It’s like all the banners in there, all the old banners and just remembering RaShelle playing there and stuff, I think it’s more like homier than the new gym I would have to say.”
Still, one game played in the new Wolfpack Arena stands out in her memory, a 4A North Regional overtime game against Maumelle watching her older brother, “Biggie” play. The Wolves lost a lead on a last-second 3-pointer and Maumelle won, 73-72, in overtime.
“It was crazy. I just remember, even now I compare back to that Regional game against Maumelle. It was completely packed. People were standing up in the top and so I always compare things,” Jessica said. “Even in the 2019 3A State tournament I was like, ‘this even isn’t as busy as it was that game’ — so that was a crazy atmosphere. Everyone was cheering and it was real loud and I still think back to that game a lot. I still don’t think we had a game that was that packed as that Regional game for ‘Biggie.’”
Student Body Presence
The Goldmans acknowledge support of Lincoln students making the 400-mile trip to State at Osceola where the Lady Wolves pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind 48-47 overtime victory over CAC with Jessica scoring 30 points.
In the next round, Lincoln’s pep bus got stuck behind a wreck on I-40 that delayed them and didn’t arrive until halftime of a 53-44 quarterfinal loss to Trumann, leaving Jessica with mixed emotions.
“We had an awesome student section. I was so happy to see all those people there and I felt pretty bad after we lost because they didn’t get to show up until halftime because there was a car wreck on the interstate,” Jessica said. “I was like disappointed that we didn’t fulfill the expectations. I felt pretty bad, but I was pretty grateful we had such an awesome student section and we had so many fans there at Osceola. It was awesome.”