It’s November 23rd and I am seven games into my junior season of basketball at Cornerstone Prep. I had a good game last night before Thanksgiving break, but we still lost. We are off to a 2-5 start, which has been fun but frustrating! Last season, I was the 6th man and we won our region and made it to the Final 4 in the state tournament. But all five starters have graduated and both varsity coaches are gone. This means I have a new role, new coaches, and mostly new/inexperienced teammates.
MY NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE: This season I am the main point guard and team captain, and one of just two (2) upperclassmen in the varsity starting lineup. I have two new coaches and a bunch of underclassmen as teammates. They’re all great guys, but most of them have no varsity experience, which has made games tougher.
SHOOTING SLUMP: Another big change this season has been that my coaches want me to score more. This is completely different from my past role as a “3 & D glue guy” in my freshman and sophomore varsity seasons. Last night (Nov 22, 2022) I had 16 points in our first region game, which is my highest scoring game so far this season. Unfortunately, I have started out in a shooting slump, only averaging 7.8 points per game. On the bright side, I am the assists leader, and among my team’s Top 4 for steals (1.8spg) and scoring.
“While I am excited about being a primary scoring option this year, I have felt a little more pressure to take AND make shots. Whereas, in previous seasons, I didn’t really think about scoring as much.”
Jace Freeman
Because I am constantly thinking about being the primary scoring option, this current shooting slump has made me feel like I’m not doing a very good job of leading my team. All the shots I would normally make just aren’t dropping, and it’s been frustrating. Regardless, I have been working on my shot daily so I can increase my scoring average and help my team win more games this season. I don’t expect to repeat the same success that our school’s varsity team had in 2021-22 season, but I do believe we will finish the season better than where we are right now.
