LEADING AND LEARNING

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jenna Leet is a 5-foot-11 sophomore, a bright young player who still has much to learn and accomplish in the game of basketball.

She carries herself with an undeniable swagger on the court. She's confident and talented. She's capable of taking over a game, capable of carrying her team to a district championship. But despite her ability, her potential and her determination to win, she sometimes tries to do too much. She is a work in progress.

Then there's Andrea Koeper, a high school veteran who has accomplished about all that can be accomplished at the high school level. The all-stater has been through four years of varsity basketball battles and is making her second trip to the Final Four. She's invested hundreds hours of training, practice and physical therapy.

Calm and collected, Koeper has a settling affect on her team. Her younger teammates mimic her composure whether the shots are falling or not.

"She's not just their best player, she's the heart and soul of that team," said Steve Baxter, coach of the Parkway West Longhorns, Jackson's Class 4A semifinal opponent. "She's the link with the past. And if anyone will carry a team on her back, it will be her."

Together, Leet and Koeper have scored 61 percent of Jackson's points in the postseason. They're both irreplaceable parts on a team which will return today to the Class 4A Final Four one year removed from an unusually mediocre 13-11 campaign.

Although the Lady Indians have gone through some highs and lows this season and last, three sentences can sum up the big picture:

Andrea Koeper is leading.

Jenna Leet is learning.

And Jackson is winning.

Passing the torch

There's probably not an athlete in this section of the state who has been asked to be more of a leader than Koeper.

And there's probably not a girls basketball player in Southeast Missouri who has improved more in one year than Leet.

That can't be a coincidence.

"The things I've learned from Andrea is you have to stay under control no matter what happens," said Leet, who is averaging 14 points per game. "And how to handle pressure situations. Through her example, I've learned some leadership qualities."

"She's more of a do-er than a vocal leader," said Jackson coach Ron Cook of Koeper. "She'll say something every so often at the right time. What's great is her dreaming to get back up there and accomplishing it. You have to be a leader in that sense because we're so young."

Koeper is one of only three seniors on the team. She's Jackson's leader in points (16 per game), rebounds (8) and assists (3). Koeper, who has started since her sophomore year, is surrounded by mostly freshmen and sophomore varsity players -- players still trying to discover their niche at the varsity level. And that includes Leet.

"We've had our ups and downs this year," said Koeper. "Sometimes she'll run down the court and take a shot and I'll say Hey, calm down.' And other times, I'll take a bad shot and she'll give me a look. But we have a real good understanding of each other and the whole team knows how each other works."

Leet, a good outside shooter and slasher who has a knack for getting to the free throw line, showed flashes of splendor her freshman year as a starter. Those flashes turned into waves this year. Leet became more consistent and her role increased.

"Jenna has improved to a different level this year and I still think she has a ways to go yet as far as reaching her potential," Cook said. "She has a couple more levels to go."

There's no telling what Leet will be able to accomplish in the next two years. Leet is part of a sophomore class that includes several talented players. Fans have caught a glimpse of Leet's potential in the postseason. In four postseason games, she has scored a team-high 72 points (18 per game). In Jackson's 46-43 district championship win over Poplar Bluff, the defending state runner-up, Leet poured in 18 points, while Koeper had just four.

Looking ahead

If Jackson makes more Final Four trips in the next two years, the Lady Indians will look back on 2001 and appreciate the things that Koeper showed them.

If the young Lady Indians take anything away from Koeper, Cook hopes it's "the strong desire to get the most out of your potential. I still think she's got more potential left at the college level, but she puts so much time in and that's what they need to learn from her to work hard and get the ball out and shoot by yourself. Don't wait for your friends, but be an individual and improve yourself."

It appears that Leet has the same attitude.

"You can never practice too much," Leet said. "You have to work in the offseason because you can lose what you worked for during the season."

Said Koeper, "You always tell them to treat practice like a game because you'll play like you practice. You can't come into practice and goof off and expect to perform your best in the game."

Perhaps the most important thing the underclassmen learned this year was not how well they can play with Koeper, but how well they can play without her. A couple of weeks before district play, she came down with mononucleosis and missed several games.

"We all know she's the leader and the stuff she would say could get us up when no one else could do it," Leet said. "But when she was out, we all picked up our game a little bit and that's why we're playing so much better and why everything is working out."

Noble servant

It just so happens that the team's leader is also its best servant.

"Andrea's played five different positions on the floor," Cook said. "We don't have a dominant player inside so sometimes we have to move her there. That's very difficult to play five different positions at different times."

Leet, mainly a perimeter player, hasn't quite developed that all-around game yet.

"She needs to work a little bit on her ball-handling skills," said Cook. "And she needs to get a bit stronger for rebounding. But that will come with maturity."

Different personalities

Leet and Koeper have very different personalities and different styles on the court.

And that more than anything could be why they've played so well together this season.

When this season finally finishes, Leet and the rest of the underclassmen will look back at the long journey that led them to Columbia.

Koeper showed them the way.

It will be up to them to find their way back.