Jen Andes Named BCR Player of the Year
by Brad Martin, BCR
March 11, 2008
2008 All-BCR Player of the Year
The direct link
All four of Hall's regional titles come under Andes' watch
By Brad Martin
bmartin@bcrnews.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:13 AM CDT
SPRING VALLEY — Over her four-year career, one thing was certain to
fans and coaches. Jen Andes was a special player and worked as hard
as anyone. And during the 2007-08 season, her senior year, Andes
saved her best for last. That earned her the 2008 BCR Girls’
Basketball Player of the Year.
During the 2007-08 season Andes averaged 16 points a contest and 10 rebounds, as well. Andes was awarded for her play by being named unanimous selection in the NCIC Lincoln, first team Illinois Basketball System, second team Associated Press and second team Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.
“I really enjoyed coaching Jen Andes the past three years,” Lady Red Devils coach Pat Cinotte said. “Without a doubt, she is a special player. Jen Andes is just a workhorse, and she is tremendous for the Hall girls’ basketball program.”
Perhaps, two of Andes’ strongest points is her passion for the game and the dedication that she knows it takes to be successful on the basketball court.
“I am in the gym and playing 10 months out of the year,” Andes said. “I also play AAU, and I just love to play. I wish we could’ve gone further this year, but it was a good year.
Andes’ passion for the game can probably be summed up during her sophomore year.
That’s when the Lady Red Devils made history by advancing to the Elite 8 for the first time ever. She was in tears after a heart-breaking loss, with two years still left to play.
“She just loves to play the game, and that’s part of the reason why she is going to play in college,” Cinotte said. “The other reason is she has a ton of talent. I think she’s going to be very successful at the next level.”
Andes will be taking her talent to the University of St. Francis in Joliet this fall, and she is very excited to get the chance to play for the Lady Saints along with former St. Bede graduate, Katie Carls.
“It will be nice getting to play with Katie,” Andes said. “It was impossible, it seemed, like trying to stop her, so getting to play with her will be nice.”
Andes also thinks that the Lady Saints are going to be a very good team, and she says wearing No. 33, the number Carls now wears, will not be a problem.
“Yeah, we have already talked about the No. 33,” Andes said laughing. “Next year, St. Francis is getting new uniforms, and the coach knows Katie wants to wear No. 30, and I want 33, so it’s all good. I also think St. Francis is a couple post players away from being a very good team.”
The Lady Red Devils senior center says it was a no brainer about picking St. Francis to continue her education and basketball career.
“It really came down to being a family decision,” Andes said. “I have quite a few people in my family who come to watch me play, so being close to home is something I was looking for when I was thinking about playing college basketball.”
When the Lady Red Devils were winning ball games this year, Andes was a big part of that success by driving in the lane and drawing the foul.
Knowing that was a strong point of her game. Andes spent a lot of time practicing her free throws.
“Jen (Andes) shot 74 percent from the foul line this season,” Cinotte said. “We just practiced with her being more focused at the line. She gets fouled a lot, so we knew she would have to step up and hit them or teams would start to take advantage of us by fouling her.”
Andes couldn’t have agreed more with Cinotte and she spent countless hours in the gym practicing.
“I slipped a little percentage wise my junior season,” Andes said. “I knew I had to shoot better, because I like to drive to the basket, and I get fouled a lot doing that. If I don’t shoot well, then teams would start fouling me more to take advantage of that.”
Cinotte is also quick to point out, what makes Andes such a good player is not limited to the offensive end of the court.
“Rebounding on both ends of the court was a strong point of her game, as well,” Cinotte said. “On top of that, she anticipates what’s going to happen, very well, on defense. There were many times where she grabbed the rebound and brought the ball up the floor. That shows what a good ball handler she was, also.”
Playing such a tough schedule made the Lady Red Devils a tough team in postseason, and that loss to St. Bede, in the regular season, was a big wake up call.
“I think playing in the Bloomington tournament was good for us as a team,” Andes said. “I think it showed us that we needed to play better. And then I think we all felt we played about as bad as we could have the first game against St. Bede. It was nice to come back in the second game and see that we learned a lot from that game and win our fourth regional in a row.”
Andes finishes her basketball career at Hall second on the all-time scoring list with 1,265 points and is the only Lady Red Devils basketball player to ever win four regional championships.
