03-22-2004Her name already No. 1 in the record books at Warsaw Community High School, 18-year-old Jaclyn Leininger will wear that number this June when she leads the Indianapolis Star Indiana All-Stars against rival Kentucky.
Leininger, a three-year varsity starter for coach Will Wienhorst, was officially named 2004 Miss Basketball Sunday when it was released in the Indianapolis Star, which sponsors the 29-year-old award for the state’s top senior basketball player.
Coaches and members of the media vote on the award.
“It’s a great honor,” said Leininger, who finished her four-year varsity career with 1,608 points and 522 rebounds. “There are so many well-deserving seniors. It’s a great honor to receive.”
Leininger will wear the coveted No. 1 jersey for the Indiana All-Stars whey the battle their Kentucky counterparts June 19 in Owensboro and June 26 when they play at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The rest of the Indiana All-Star team will be announced April 12.
Touted as a two-person race, this year’s battle for Miss Basketball was just that.
The 6-foot Leininger, who hit two free throws in overtime to lead No. 2 Warsaw past Valparaiso in the semistate and into the state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse, received 92 1/2 of the 223 votes turned in to the Indianapolis Star by the deadline.
University of Wisconsin-bound Ben Davis guard Janese Banks, whose brother James was selected 2001 Mr. Football, was second in Miss Basketball voting with 66. Banks led her team to an undefeated regular season, but the top-ranked Giants lost in the sectional semifinal.
Rochester’s Courtney Felke, who garnered the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award and led the Zebras to the 2A state championship over Heritage Christian, was third with 16 votes.
In all, 18 girls received at least one vote.
“I’m very elated (as a coach),” said Wienhorst. “I’ve been a part of Jaclyn’s life for a long time and have seen her improve on the basketball floor, but more importantly I’ve seen how great a person she is. She definitely deserved it and I’m really happy for her.”
Leininger, who will play basketball on scholarship next year at Miami of Ohio, is the third Warsaw player to garner the state’s top individual honor, following in the footsteps of Judi Warren (1976) and Chanda Kline (1978).
No other school in the state has had more than one Miss Basketball.
“I think that says a lot about the Warsaw program,” said Leininger, who averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game this season in leading the Tigers to a school-record 26-3 mark. “Judi Warren got the whole thing going in the state when she got the first Miss Basketball. Years later it shows how great things are still going.”
Leininger, who shot 55 percent from the field, 56 percent from three-point range and 85 percent from the free throw line, averaged a team-best 21 points per game as a junior.
She put her name out there as a frontrunner for the award this past December when she scored 33 points in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic in front of a large media group, including Indiana All-Stars Game Director Pat Aikman.
In two games in the Chicagoland Classic, Leininger scored 69 points against some of the best competition in the midwest.
Wearing her No. 32 jersey for Warsaw for the final time, Leininger scored 18 points and had eight rebounds against No. 5 North Central while being double- and triple-teamed in the state championship game.
“I think that had a great effect on it,” said Leininger. “The success the team had this season, the Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Classic, I think all that really helped.”
Leininger was notified Thursday that she had won the award, and when the call came she was where else but playing basketball.
Leininger’s mother called her at the YMCA and told her she had a phone call and to come home.
“I was at the ‘Y’ and my mom called and told me to come home,” said Leininger. “I knew it was it, I had a gut feeling. I was so anxious to get home. I can’t describe the feeling.”
When Leininger suits up for the Indiana All-Stars this June, she’ll be the eighth Warsaw player to do so, following Warren (1976), Kline (‘78), Anita Folk (‘78), Claudia Kreicker (‘80), Angie Johnson (‘90), Liza Reed (‘91) and Dana Creighton (‘91).