Shadle senior contributes through moral support
Shadle Park girls basketball coach Chad Dezellem will tell you that the success of this season’s Highlanders has been because of their willingness to accept whatever roles they’ve been called upon to fill.
And the toughest role of all has been the one played – or not played, to put it more accurately – by senior Jenae Hollenbeck.
Hollenbeck, a 6-foot senior, had expected to spend her final season logging more minutes than she did a year ago and helping the Highlanders in their attempt to reach the 4A state tournament for the first time since 2000.
Instead, because of a lingering back injury, she finds herself doing everything but playing. She runs the clock during practices, shags balls, rebounds for teammates, everything but sweeping the floor. Wait a minute, there – Dezellem says she does that, too.
“Jenae’s an outstanding kid,” he said. “Her teammates love her because she’s fun to be around. She had to shut it down in the middle of the season, but her team is like her family, and they’re there to support each other however they can.
“Jenae’s a great teammate, encouraging, supportive and enthusiastic. She was disappointed when she learned she couldn’t play, but she’d been frustrated because she wasn’t able to do what she knew she could if she was healthy.”
The Highlanders had a 17-3 regular season and made it to the title game of the district tournament, where they lost to defending state champion Lewis and Clark. They also dropped their first game in the regional to Pasco. They finished 20-6, losing 60-51 to Moses Lake in a winner-to-state game Saturday at Kennewick.
“It’s kind of a bummer,” Hollenbeck said, “especially since it’s my senior year. I didn’t play a lot on varsity last year, so I was looking forward to contributing more this season. But that’s the way it works; I’m just happy now to be with the girls on my team and to do whatever I can.”
She’s also an outstanding golfer, No. 1 on the Highlander squad last spring, and is hoping that rest and physical therapy will help her heal in time to play this year. Her injury is to the sacroiliac joint, so she’s working with her therapist to strengthen the muscles in that area.
“It was hard when my therapist told me I needed to take some time off,” she said, “and that’s basically turned into the rest of the season. But just being on the team means something to me. I’ve always been a leader and kind of outspoken.
“I think it helps the girls to be around someone who got hurt and stayed with it, and being around them helps me not to think about my injury all the time. It’s hard in a close, intense game because I want to play so badly, but it’s OK, and I think the girls appreciate that I’m there.”
Hollenbeck concurs with her coach’s explanation of this season’s success, and gives her take on what makes things work.
“It doesn’t work when players are only thinking about themselves on the court,” she said. “I think it really helps when coaches and players are encouraging and keep things personal and positive. That’s kind of my role right now, being inspirational, to have the girls know that I’m always there.”
She and teammate Lexie Pettersen, Shadle’s leading scorer, completed their senior Culminating Project recently on the topic of positive coaching, and conducted a basketball camp last summer for younger girls, designing strategies on how to motivate and coach effectively.
Her mom is a teacher and her uncle an elementary school principal, so it’s no surprise that Hollenbeck hopes eventually to pursue a teaching career, although she’s not sure at which level she wants to work. One thing she knows for sure, though.
“Being at Shadle has been great the last four years. I’ve got a lot of family history here. I’m definitely green and gold!”