Stacy Clinesmith Mead Year: Junior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard

Stacy Clinesmith was at a loss for words.

She was scoring champion and MVP at the girls State AAA basketball tournament with a 22.5 average and 16 assists, while leading Mead to a 3-1 record and fifth place.

“I had no clue through the whole tournament (the points were piling up),” the 5-foot-4 point guard said.

Most Valuable Player?

“I didn’t expect it at all,” she said. “I haven’t pictured myself as MVP.”

Her coach saw it a little differently.

“I’m just proud,” Jeanne Helfer said. “It’s easy to have expectations … but when they go out and do it, you just sit back and watch. She doesn’t surprise me. The only thing that surprised me about Stacy is how easy she makes it look.”

Despite a 25-4 record, the Panthers were inconsistent much of the season, a reflection of just one senior in the usual nine-player rotation. However, in one state game, a 66-47 win over a good Shadle Park team, Clinesmith scored 29 points and had six assists as Mead showed a promising future.

“I’ve always said one thing a great player does is make their teammates better,” Helfer said. “Stacy made her teammates better.”

“I thought maybe I had to step up more,” Clinesmith said. “When we lost, I knew I wasn’t playing my best. I had to make something happen.”

She did.