Rikki Jackson Central Valley Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard

Long passes with seemingly no chance to get through the defense find an open player under the basket for an easy hoop.

The defense rests and a shot from well behind the 3-point arc swishes.

Rikki Jackson has been doing those things for two years with an experienced Central Valley girls basketball team.

As a senior, she is doing even more.

“She has to lead the team,” CV coach Dale Poffenroth said. “She gives the ball to the kids who need it and shoots the ball when we have to have it.”

And she has.

Jackson has made more than 100 3-pointers in her career and is probably the GSL record-holder if those records were kept. She had six in a win at Lewis and Clark on Saturday and four more in the win over Mead on Tuesday.

“Of course,” she expects those near-NBA shots to drop, she said with a grin.

That is one reason the Bears are tied for the league lead.

“I have to be a leader, that’s the bottom line,” Jackson, a three-year starter as a 5-foot-9 point guard. “They look for me to do a lot, but there are four other players on the court. It’s a team game.

“The team is clicking now but we’ve got a lot of improving to do, too. There’s a long way to go, we’re not looking past anyone.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo