Jacksonville, AL – Ohatchee standout turns in final gem of her prep basketball career, but Plainview pulls away to advance in Northeast Regional
By Joe Medley
Jorda Crook left those who have followed her special high school sports career with a memory Monday. It’s just hard to decide which memory should lead. Were there too many times she outjumped three Plainview players to catch passes then maneuvered through to score for any one such time to stand out? Or was it the reverse layup plus and-one against Plainview’s Gracie Rowell, not long after Rowell snuck behind her, blocked her shot and stared her down?
Crook’s 46-point, 12-rebound, seven-steal high school finale wasn’t enough for Ohatchee’s girls to overcome a Plainview team that puts “Family” for last names on its jersey. The Bears hit 10 3-pointers and more than withstood the one of these things who just wasn’t like the others, beating Crook-led Ohatchee 74-53 in the Class 3A Northeast Regional semifinals in Pete Mathews Coliseum. From straight out of the life’s-unfair file, Crook’s basketball career ended at 15.4 seconds in the fourth quarter, with her grabbing for her right calf on the sideline, just in front of Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn. He subbed for her, and she got well-earned applause from Ohatchee’s cheering section.
She can be forgiven a calf cramp. Her relentlessness Monday came after she played in an AAU volleyball tournament all weekend in Chattanooga. From the that’s-appropriate file, her final play saw her lunge to tip a Plainview pass then come down out of bounds … hustle in a game that had long since slipped into hopelessness. “I just wanted to win this game,” she said. “This is a team that I thought could go to state, and I wanted it to happen, and it just didn’t work out for us that way.” Ohatchee finished 27-4, and Crook finished high school basketball second on the Alabama High School Athletic Association single-season scoring list with 1,188 points. Her 3,091 career points leaves her in 16th place all time. “There’s probably not enough adjectives or adverbs … to describe how she’s played,” Ginn said. “I’m extremely proud of her. Her hard work has paid off. She’s an excellent player.”
Crook’s basketball dominance almost makes one forget her greater volleyball dominance. She cashed in 2,035 career kills, 873 digs, 345 blocks and 264 aces for a UAB scholarship. Crook and Alexandria’s Kailey Dickerson, the Calhoun County 1A-3A and 4A-6A players of the year for 2022, were co-MVPs of The Rocky Top Sports Complex “Queen of The Court” tournament this past weekend. In both sports, Crook plays bigger than her list height of 5-foot-9. She jumps highly enough to hit downhill in volleyball and moves well enough to handle the ball against a press. She’s strong enough to gain position on high school triple teams. “She essentially said, ‘I’m going to get the ball every time, and I don’t care if you all double me,’” Ginn said. “That’s a testament. Not many people do it. I’ve never seen a girl do it. I’ve seen maybe a handful of guys be able to do it.” [read more…]
