It is easy to appreciate the finish. Melissa Jones dribbled from midcourt to the paint in a couple of easy strides and glided toward the basket for an uncontested layup. Another two points in the book.
But rewind to the other end of the court, where the Legacy senior is crouched in a determined defensive pose on the perimeter, staring into the eyes of the ballhandler across from her. The move is subtle: Jones slides to her right and slowly drops her hands to her knees. The bait is set. And as quickly as the pass is made Jones breaks back to the left, snares the ball out of midair and is running free before anyone can react.
It is one play, a couple of seconds, in a high school basketball game. But it is the type of play Jones seems to make every couple of seconds in every game she is in.
“I love playing the game. Whatever I can do on any given night, I’ll do it,” Jones said.
Jones, a 5-foot-10 senior guard who chose Baylor over Colorado State, is among the best players in the state, along with Hannah Tuomi of Horizon and Jaclyn Thoman of Class 5A defending state champion Highlands Ranch.
All three will play for Division I schools next fall, and all three could not have more contrasting styles.
“It’s hard to compare us,” Jones said. “I think of Tuomi as unguardable in the post and a monster rebounder. Jaclyn is just a total threat. If you have to guard her, you’ll be scared.”
The long and lean Tuomi, who will play for Vanderbilt, is one of the grittiest rebounders the state has seen, while Boston College-bound Thoman is a tireless point guard who can penetrate and pass or pull up and shoot with equal ease.
Jones, it seems, can do all of the above.
“When she starts next fall there at Baylor, they will have a kid who won’t need to be taught much about the game of basketball,” ThunderRidge coach Bill Bradley said. “She understands how to play defense and she understands how to run an offensive scheme. She’s a very, very good passer and she can take it to the hole. But a lot of kids can take it to the hole. The mark of a good player is if they make the players around them better, and Jones obviously does that.”
Even with opponents zeroing in on Jones, she still puts up huge, all-around numbers. Jones scored 32 points in a season-opening loss to Highlands Ranch and averaged 22.5 points in two ensuing victories. She had 12 rebounds and seven steals in a victory over ThunderRidge on Tuesday.
However, after a couple of seasons in which Legacy Lightning basketball meant Melissa Jones and Melissa Jones only, her teammates are stepping up and doing more than just providing support.
Sophomore Mara Cosgrove lit up ThunderRidge for 26 points and has scored in double digits in all three of Legacy’s games this season. Freshman Quincy Noonan scored 30 points in her first two games, and the Lightning is 2-1 with big ambitions.
“It’s good that Melissa doesn’t have to carry so much of the weight anymore. The whole team is coming together, and we all learn so much from her. I’ve learned a ton just by watching her for two years,” Cosgrove said.
Legacy coach Jody Welch is more than pleased to see a team filling in around the star player, but she also sees the big picture.
“Keeping it in perspective, I don’t know if they would be getting those numbers if they didn’t have Melissa Jones on their team. I’m not knocking their skills; we have some good players, but Melissa draws so much attention. I think they are all pretty happy to be on Melissa’s team. If they’re not, they should be,” Welch said.
Jones owns every school record for a career and season, and another big year would put her among the top all-time scorers. She entered this season with 1,286 career points and could move into seventh place by matching her sophomore year output of 542 points.
She has averaged 9.1 rebounds and 5.6 steals a game in three seasons, including 10.1 rebounds and 6.6 steals per game as a junior. She made 34 percent of her 3-point attempts as a sophomore, and she has shot better than 55 percent from the floor in her prep career. One scouting website ranked Jones as the 13th best player in the nation, and another listed her as the seventh best at her position.
Jones’ national ranking means little to any defender trying to contend with her wicked crossover dribble, stop-and-pop 3-point shot and ankle-breaking head fakes that open a lane. And then there is her power, something ThunderRidge’s D’Ambra Evans felt firsthand.
“She is a lot stronger than most girls you come up against. Her strength is her biggest advantage when she’s going to the basket,” Evans said. “It was great defending her. It will definitely make me better.”
