SPRINGFIELD — As Leeton girls basketball lined up following the conclusion of its loss to Platte Valley in the MSHSAA Class 1 Show-Me Showdown third-place game, senior Jordan Crooks extended both of her arms around her teammates.
Her left arm comforted sophomore Jillian Mudd, while her right solaced junior Chezney Early. Mudd and Early were among a roster of Bulldogs fighting to extend Crooks’ season through the entirety of the playoffs, even when it was already over.
Twenty-three days after Crooks suffered an injury that ended her playing career, her time as a teammate, coach and mentor reached an end as the Bulldogs lost 46-42 on Friday, March 10, inside the Hammons Student Center in Springfield.
“I’m super proud of how the girls battled back,” Crooks said. “They could’ve easily rolled over there. It’s definitely hard not being able to be out there. Once I got hurt, I knew I had a bigger job to encourage the girls.”
Crooks went down with what was initially thought to be a sprained ankle in Leeton’s regular-season finale against Concordia. After icing it and a trip to the hospital, Crooks learned her fate for the rest of the season.
“I wasn’t raised by a soft fella, I wasn’t coached by a soft fella,” Leeton head coach Travis Fleming said. “I got to these girls and said, ‘you know what, we have to get this out. We need to have some emotion, let them get it off their chest.’ I thought it was just a get them in the circle. We stood there and said, ‘anybody got something to say?’ It was just cry time. Thankfully, Jo came back the next day.”
Beginning with a district semifinal win against Chilhowee, Crooks sat on the bench. Through each substitution, Leeton purposely sent its younger athletes directly to her.
Whether it be advice or comfort, she sparked a purpose in each athlete. Sophomore Hadley Shaffer stepped in within the starting lineup, alternating playing time mostly with Mudd.
The two sometimes also took the court at the same time through different situations.
“When they come off the bench, I just have to encourage them,” Crooks said. “They get nervous. These girls, they were nervous that [Bailey Fleming and Jadeyn Johnson] were going to get upset at them if they didn’t take a shot. They just had to know that if Bailey and Jadeyn couldn’t take a shot, they would have to step up. I just really enjoyed being able to put that in their mind. That they can do this. I think they really appreciated it.”
Though Crooks was absent on the inside, senior Jadeyn Johnson rose to the occasion.
The Bulldogs’ other typical starters, senior Bailey Fleming, sophomore Jayden Parsons and Early, also stepped up through a variety of purposes.
At first, opponents presented Leeton with junk defense. Come the Class 1 quarterfinal round, the trend finally broke.
Three close matchups ensued, including a 55-54 win against Macks Creek in the state quarterfinals March 4, a 51-46 loss to Meadville in the semifinals March 9 and Friday’s loss to Platte Valley.
“When [Jordan] went down, there were a lot of people that took our roster and wadded it up and threw it in the garbage and thought hell, Leeton’s over,” Travis Fleming said. “Every game we played, they had to unfold that piece of paper and get the wrinkles out, just like a sophomore trying to turn in an assignment that’s late. We made everybody unfold that paper every time. Every time at halftime that they thought we were done, we came back. That’s just a characteristic we have. I love it.”
Crooks, Johnson, Bailey Fleming and Judi Cavender make up Leeton’s senior class, which compiled a 97-16 record over their four years at Leeton.
The group also won four final fours and made three consecutive runs to the Show-Me Showdown. They finished as the runner-up in 2021 and third in 2022 before capping things in fourth.
With Crooks, Johnson and Bailey Fleming standing beside him on the podium, Travis Fleming couldn’t help himself from getting emotional about his relationship with the trio.
“What’s it been, the first grade?” Travis Fleming said. “As long as I’ve had these players. A lot of seasons, a lot of seasons. But a lot more birthday parties, sleepovers. Ever since we moved there. They’re like family … Tough, dedicated, played for each other. It’s really a dream. It’s really a dream that I get to send them out.”
Of Leeton’s 16 losses in the last four seasons, just five are against Class 1 opponents (Walnut Grove, Meadville and Platte Valley [three times]). Otherwise, the bulk of the other losses came against successful Class 2 to Class 3 programs in Tipton, Skyline, Wellington-Napoleon and Fair Grove.
The Bulldogs’ senior class did not lose a single game to a Class 1 opponent in the regular season throughout their high school career.
“People are going to look at Class 1 and pick a battle,” Travis Fleming said. “We’re not going to be their first choice. We have earned that. These kids have helped put us on the map and made us what we are.”
Though their career ended with a loss, Crooks, Johnson and Bailey Fleming still went out together, raising Leeton’s fourth-place trophy.
“I’m proud of them,” Crooks said. “They came up short, but still, fourth place in the state is amazing.”
Joe Andrews can be reached at 660-747-1823.
