Homewood-Flossmoor sophomore Jaeda Murphy is a prime example of what can happen if you work hard.
Last year, the 5-foot-2 guard played on the freshman team. Her work on the court impressed H-F coach Tony Smith. But not as much as what she did off the court.
“I noticed in weight training class that she was lifting, she was going hard,” Smith said. “Then when we had conditioning, she would come and always was going hard.
“She was at everything. That kind of stood out to me. I was like, ‘All right. Let’s see how serious you are.'”
Murphy was brought up to the varsity as a sophomore. Her contributions have been noticeable, including Tuesday night during a 40-25 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over Sandburg in Orland Park.
Rachyl Robinson led the Vikings (14-8, 4-2) with 14 points. Alyssa Latham and Ana-Liese Torian each contributed eight points, while Murphy added six.
Charlotte Trunk notched 11 points and seven rebounds for Sandburg (18-9, 2-5). Josie Canellis had six points.
Robinson was the key for H-F. Her four 3-pointers in the third and fourth quarters followed a scoreless first half.
“I just kept shooting,” Robinson said. “My teammates kept believing in me, even though I kept missing. They still kept swinging the ball to me and I knocked them down.”
Her efforts were ultra-important, coming after Latham had committed her fourth foul in the first minute of the third quarter.
“We were in a tough spot and Rachyl really came through,” Smith said. “She has been in kind of a cold spell. But we know she can shoot and she knows she can shoot. We just have to work on pushing through.
“I mean, just because you missed doesn’t make you a bad shooter. (Steph) Curry, the leading player in the NBA, he misses a lot. But people don’t worry about that because he makes some big ones. That’s what she did for us in this game.”
Murphy, meanwhile, hit a 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the third quarter. It put the Vikings in front 25-23 and capped a rally from a 10-point deficit.
“That came on a great pass by Rachyl,” Murphy said. “We were coming off of a transition. I knew I had to knock it down to get us the lead.”
Murphy is averaging seven points, three rebounds and two assists this season. She’s had a handful of double-digit scoring efforts, putting up as many as 20 points.
“She has been playing well,” Smith said of Murphy. “She has gotten better as the season has gone on. As a first-year varsity player, she was a little nervous at first.
“But she’s comfortable now. She is playing with a sense of being sure of herself. That’s what makes it nice.”
Murphy’s work during her freshman season is, indeed, paying off.
“As a freshman, it was hard,” she said. “With COVID, you had to keep working on and off the court. Being in the weight room and getting stronger was important for me.
“I wasn’t really surprised when coach brought me up. I had been working up to this point. I just had to keep my head up and make sure I made the right decisions.”
And she didn’t cut corners.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Smith said. “She just did the work. She learned how to lift. She learned how to run. She learned how to go at game speed at practice. And during games, the next thing you knew she had a 20-point game.
“Even though she’s small, she’s a feisty small. She doesn’t just bark at you. She packs a big bite.”