North Meckenburg (67) vs Hopewell (62) ,12-17-19 – Player Profile: Jessica Timmons
Jessica Timmons is a unique talent. I know – not exactly breaking news. Last night she led her once beaten North Mecklenburg Vikings team to a 67-62 victory over previously undefeated Hopewell. In fairness to the Titans, they…
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Jessica Timmons is a unique talent. I know – not exactly breaking news. Last night she led her once beaten North Mecklenburg Vikings team to a 67-62 victory over previously undefeated Hopewell. In fairness to the Titans, they were without 2 starters (Sophomore Point Guard Layla Wall and Senior Center Nijah Cunningham) and were saddled with a 10-2 lead before normal starting Shooting Guard Nevaeh Caldwell was inserted into the game. Yet that shouldn’t and doesn’t diminish the impact and greatness of Timmons. 37 points and an assortment of “I can’t believe what I just saw” moves don’t begin to do justice to her performance. She was the best player on the floor by far and refused to let her team lose, even after squandering a 25-10 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Here are three observations about her and the game that deserve mention:
- She understands her importance to the team. Both in her previous game against West Charlotte and in this game, players from the opposing team tried physical play to get under the skin of Timmons and goad her into a confrontation of some kind. She didn’t take the bait. She clearly understands that the ultimate ability is availability and she will do her team no good if she is saddled with foul trouble or even worse, ejected from technicals or a fight. She literally just looked over the other player to the referee to make him aware of what was happening and continued to play. This type of calm and composure is not only appealing to coaches at the next level, but it is instrumental in keeping her young supporting cast grounded and focused on the task at hand.
- As great as she played, Timmons really helped Hopewell get back in the game by settling for the 3 point shot in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I kind of equate this with the reliever who can throw 102, but then gets cute and falls in love with his curve and gets beat instead of relying on his best pitch. Timmons is so talented and can beat you and dominate in multiple ways that you get the impression that she is bored and trying to challenge herself by raising the degree of difficulty. She is so strong and has such marvelous handles that she can use her quickness and get to the basket at will. In addition, she is an outstanding shooter from range and can beat you from three on occasion. Last night was not one of those occasions. She went ice cold from distance in the middle quarters and it was a big reason why Hopewell mounted a rally that eventually had the Titans pulling even at the end of 3, 53 apiece.
- Lost in all of her offensive wizardry is the fact that Timmons is a plus defender who can guard both perimeter and post players effectively. Fast forward to the 4th quarter. After a slow start (3 consecutive turnovers in the first quarter), Player of the Year candidate Aniyah Finger (25 points) started to heat up and was the main reason the Titans had erased a 15 deficit and taken a 62-60 lead with 3 minutes left. At that point, Timmons switched onto Finger, She did a great job of using her quickness to deny the ball and her strength to push Finger off of her sweet spot. Final 3 minutes – North Mecklenburg 5 Hopewell 0. While that wasn’t the only factor in the Vikings’ final spurt (see Nevaeh Farmer Player Profile to Follow), it was not a coincidence that Finger stopped scoring the basketball once the versatile Timmons accepted the defensive challenge. Bottom line – through the first third of the season, this young lady has my vote for area Player of the Year.