Girls hoop players at Jackson High, NDHS have lot in common

Jessie Koeper and Ashley Millham were best buds in elementary school. They both went to Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Jackson and cut their teeth on basketball, the game they both love.

But when their high school choice came around, they went in different directions.

Millham, along with her older sister, Lisa, went to Notre Dame. Koeper followed her older sister, Andrea, to Jackson High.

No matter their different paths, today both friends will find themselves at the same destination, the University of Missouri's Hearnes Center, where they will represent their schools -- and root for one another -- at the state's final-four tournament for girls basketball.

On the court, Notre Dame and Jackson are rivals. Off the court, many of the girls are friends. Today, both teams will showcase Southeast Missouri's basketball talent against the best that the rest of the state has to offer.

The best around

This year, Jackson and Notre Dame proved to be the area's basketball titans, the best two teams in the region. They faced each other three times and went full tilt, with Jackson winning the series 2-1. Notre Dame, however won the game that counted, by 10, to take the SEMO Conference championship. All the head-to-head competition is over now, and the schools demonstrated their support by exchanging good-luck fruit baskets on Thursday.

Notre Dame is making its third consecutive trip to the final-four tournament level. The girls won the Class 2 title last year and took second in 2001. This year, the school was bumped up to Class 4 after the Missouri State High School Activities Association added an additional class. Notre Dame's enrollment grew, plus a MSHSAA ruling forced all private schools to multiply their enrollment by 1.35 in order to, MSHSAA says, balance the playing field between private and public schools. The multiplier is intended to put private schools at a higher class size to compensate for their ability to draw from a larger area than public schools.

Because Notre Dame was bumped up to Class 4, this will be the first time that the schools have ever played in the state tournament on the same weekend.

While Notre Dame has elevated its program in the last few years, Jackson, which plays in Class 5, has been a success for quite some time. Jackson is making its seventh trip to the final-four playoff. Its last came in 2001.

As Notre Dame has improved, the rivalry between the two teams grew more intense. When they play each other, no matter what is at stake, it's a big game. The fans cheer a little harder and the players play a little harder.

Jackson all-stater Jenna Leet says Notre Dame may be an even bigger rival than Central High School in Cape Girardeau.

"Especially since some of the girls live in Jackson," Leet said.

This year, Millham is the only Jackson resident who starts. But last year, when Notre Dame won state in Class 2, the team's top three scorers -- Deana McCormick and sisters Lisa and Ashley Millham -- were from Jackson. All three hold at least one Notre Dame school record. Ashley is the school's all-time leading scorer. She took that title away from McCormick this year. Lisa is the school's all-time leading 3-point shooter.

But neither the Jackson players nor Jackson coach Ron Cook seem bitter that some girls chose Notre Dame over Jackson. He said going to a parochial school is a privilege offered in this country.

"If they would have been here, it would have made our program a lot stronger, but you don't concentrate on that," Cook said. "You concentrate on the players you do have and that will work hard for you."

Mutual respect

Cook said he has a lot of respect for Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim and vice versa. Grim is in his 21st year coaching the girls. Cook has coached Jackson's team for 22 years. Some years, the coaches faced each other as many as four times.

"I'm a good friend of Cook's, and I always root for him and his girls when they're not playing us," Grim said.

The respect extends to the players too.

Almost every starter from Notre Dame has at one point played with a starter from Jackson on a summer league team, whether it was during high school or in elementary school years.

Jackson's Leet said she played summer basketball in St. Louis last year and is not friends with any of the girls from Notre Dame. But there is a level of respect.

When Jackson plays Notre Dame, "You know they want it as bad as you do," she said.

Leet and others on Jackson's team said they get a little extra satisfaction from beating Notre Dame, especially since the Bulldogs are now a state power.

"It means more than beating a Dexter or New Madrid," said Jackson senior Kristen Howard.

Notre Dame's Sierra Ellis said both teams put their friendships aside once they step on the court.

"It may seem like we don't like each other on the court, but off the court we like to hang out," she said.

Koeper of Jackson said the games, while intense, are bittersweet.

"I feel they are good, competitive games, but I hate beating them or losing to them because I have so many friends over there," she said.

But tonight, though the teams will play on the same court, Koeper won't have to worry about that.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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