Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation
| Subscribe Now Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation
|
 |
 |
|
Weather  Calendar Obituaries Classifieds Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Coupons Ad Center |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
Home News Sports
Free Time Life Money Nation/World Opinion Blogs/Columns Archives Site Map |
| SportsThursday, January 19, 2006 12:34 AM CST |
 Comments (0) |  E-mail this page |  Print this page |  Enlarge type |  Reduce type |  Search archives |  RSS feeds |  Add to My Yahoo! |
Basketball no day at beach for Fisher standout center
FISHER - The most remarkable thing about Jessi Beachey is not the way she fills out a basketball stat sheet for Fisher High School. No, her 17.8 points per game on .480 field goal shooting and .711 free throw shooting to go with 10.2 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 3.2 assists are amazing considering the chronic knee pain she endures. The 6-foot-1 senior says, in an unconvincing tone, her knees "are all right," which Coach Ben Derges believes is code for: you don't want to know how bad they are. "She doesn't want Coach (Krista Kuhlman) or I to know if it is hurting her a little bit," Derges said. "Anyone who has nagging injuries knows (pain) is always kind of there. Sometimes you just learn to deal with it and play through the pain." Beachey hasn't missed a game this season as the Bunnies have gone 14-5 overall and 4-1 in the Sangamon Valley Conference West Division heading into tonight's rescheduled home game with league-leading Champaign St. Thomas More (20-2, 5-0). Beachey will be there with a brace on each knee. An anterior cruciate ligament injury in her right knee kept her sidelined her freshman season. "That was very hard for me because basketball is my favorite sport," said Beachey, who suffered another knee injury the following summer, but returned to earn all-SVC Special Mention as a sophomore. Beachey was a first team pick last year as the Bunnies went 15-12 with her averaging 18.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.3 assists. Derges, in his first season as coach, expected Beachey to hit the ground running this season, but the wear and tear of volleyball season made that impossible. "She didn't practice for the first week and a half," he said. Just when Derges was starting to have doubts about her ability to contribute, the first game arrived and Beachey was her old, consistent self. "Overall, she's just a product of hard work," Derges said. Beachey spent most of the summer in the weight room, just trying to make sure her knee would hold up for one more year. How much strain her knees can handle beyond this season is a question which may end her college career before it begins. "Doctors have warned against it, saying 'you're talking major surgery when you are in your early 20s,'" Beachey said. "I don't know if I can live without (sports), but I want to be able to walk." If there is a silver lining to her knee nightmare, it's that it has sparked an interest in athletic training, which she hopes to study in college. Whenever she retires, basketball will be losing a rarity. "She's got a lot of skills most six-footers don't have," Derges said. Those skills include the ability to break a press, dribble penetrate and pass out of double teams. "She has every post move that you can think of," added Derges. "She can shoot from the outside. She is very multi-talented." All those skills might be wasted in the wrong hands. "She's very dedicated," Derges said. "She loves to play basketball. She's real passionate about it. Injuries or not, she wants to get out there and play. That's refreshing to see. "She's definitely a very confident player. She's very much a team leader. She's got a very good relationship with the three other seniors." Those classmates, all of whom are 5-5, include Kayln Keith, Maggie Kirby and Casey Hannah. Together they reached the Elite Eight in junior high. "They each have their own special thing," Derges said. "Kalyn is the slasher and the outside shooter. Casey is the 3-point threat and Maggie is kind of like the defensive specialist and then Jessi is the inside presence for all-around play. They all blend in very well." Keith contributes 13.2 points, 3.6 assists and 3.2 steals. "Kalyn Keith is like my sidekick," Beachey said. "We know each other very, very well. She is such an aggressive player and somebody who will always be there to give it her all. To me and our team, she's just a very important player." Tonight begins an important seven-game stretch for the Bunnies, who play CPCI (17-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Olivet Nazarene University and play St. Thomas More again Jan. 26 at Champaign. "We've had problems in the past where toward the end of the year we kind of slack off and let the season go," Beachey said. "I hope we can finish this season at the top of our game." Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|
Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.
Please read the rules before posting comments.
You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.