10/10 equals consistency.
That’s the equation for Clyde’s Taitum Jeffrey every game as the junior averaged 17.1 points and 10.5 rebounds this season.
“You just go out and try to stay consistent and not have a roller coaster,” she said. “Without your teammates, you can’t stay consistent. It’s a big thing to me; you’re helping your team out every night in more than one way. If shots aren’t falling, I can get a rebound or get the ball to somebody who is scoring.
“Being well-rounded helps your team be balanced.”
Jeffrey made it a preseason goal to average a double-double.
“I have pride in it because it’s difficult,” she said. “I push to make myself better and those around me better. Without my teammates improving, I can’t improve. It’s good to be diverse, and not just score. You put in the hard work.
“Rebounding is a mentality. When the ball is up, you tell yourself to go get it. You work in the summer and you keep building to get those goals.”
Clyde (14-9, 4-6) earned three more wins overall and in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division than last season.
“The team stepped up because we wanted to be better,” Jeffrey said. “The group jelled. If a girl was down in a game, they’d get picked up by another girl that night. We scored more and we rebounded well and we executed the little things day in and day out.”
Clyde trailed Sandusky by double digits before responding to win by 13. Sophomore Ember Andres canned a 3-pointer at the horn to beat Upper Sandusky by one point.
“I didn’t play in that game but it’s still my favorite,” Jeffrey said.
Jeffrey missed the game because she tore her ACL in a win over Edison two games prior. She was told to anticipate it will take 6 to 9 months to recover.
“I came off a screen for a layup, did a jump stop and ‘pop,’” she said. “My mindset is to do what the doctor and therapist tells me to do. Do my exercises to be stronger than before. Trust my body.”
Jeffrey, a pitcher for softball, earned player of the year honor as a sophomore in the SBC Lake Division as the Fliers were unbeaten in the league last season.
“The hardest part is knowing I can’t be out there with my teammates this spring,” she said. “I have to find a new role for the time being and help from the bench. It will be tough.”
It’s not necessarily a silver lining, but at least Jeffrey is a junior. Still, there is always fear after surgery.
“I can still play my senior year,” she said. “No matter when it happens, it’s going to suck. And it’s sad you see it so often. So many girls are tearing their ACL. I can’t play, but in the back of my head, you know you have to work to be better than you were the season everybody just saw you.
“There’s a fine balance.”
Jeffrey will work to return to form, without rushing the process. In many ways, the basketball team will hope to pick up where it left off as well.
“We lost at home in a sectional final,” Jeffrey said. “That will sting to make us want to get past that point. The goal is always to win the league and advance as far as you can. We came up short. It’s a long ways away, but everybody is kind of anxious for next season.
“What we had going, we’re anxious to get going and play together. With your best friends, doing what you love to do.”
mhorn@gannett.com
419-307-4892
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: It always adds up to double-double for Clyde’s Taitum Jeffrey
Reporting by Matthew Horn, Fremont News-Messenger / Fremont News-Messenger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
