Mya-Lee Jackson’s steady development has turned into a dizzying whirlwind this season.
Not only is the 5-foot-9 senior guard/forward starting for Merrillville for the first time in her career, having worked her way into the lineup over the years, but she also has been thrust into the spotlight as the team’s clear-cut focal point amid a series of significant injuries.
“It’s a whole lot, especially when other teams know that and they target me specifically,” Jackson said. “But I have trust in my teammates, and I know they have my back and I have theirs. I know my teammates will step up and help me out.
“It’s been a big jump, a really big jump.”
This season hasn’t unfolded as planned for the Pirates (4-17). But Jackson has continued to earn the respect and admiration of second-year coach Kelly Kratz.
“She’s having a really nice senior year,” Kratz said. “She was one of the few kids coming back with experience, and we’ve asked a lot of her, especially with all the adversity. We’ve had a brutal schedule. Anybody who knows anything about basketball knows we’ve played the best teams. Regardless, we’re not going to back down from a challenge, and she certainly hasn’t backed down from this challenge, taking over not only a scoring role but also a leadership role. She’s playing a lot of minutes.
“Everybody’s journey is different. It’s been a process, and I’m glad to see she’s been ready to handle it.”
Jackson is averaging 12.6 points, pacing the Pirates among active players, and 2.9 rebounds, and she scored a career-high 21 points in a loss to Hobart on Tuesday.
She had prepared for an expanded role, if not quite this one.
“It was hours on top of hours,” Jackson said. “When you first start working on your weaknesses, it can be a little frustrating. You see shots not falling. You notice you keep messing up. But over time, when you see it falling consistently, it’s like, ‘Oh, all of my work, it’s finally paying off.’ I noticed that this year.
“It was a lot of tears, I’m not going to lie. It was a lot of tears. I wanted to be this player, but you can’t be that player without putting the work in. It was a lot of hours, a lot of early mornings with coach K, getting up before school to get shots up. It was a lot.”
Standout sophomore guard Kylie Wells has missed most of the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Senior guard Ryell Sandifer is about a month away from being cleared after suffering a torn ACL over the summer. Midway through this season, sophomore guard Vivian McSpadden suffered a torn ACL for the second time.
All three players were starters or projected starters. Jackson and point guard Trinity Allen, who also starts, are Merrillville’s only two seniors who play extensive minutes.
“I knew in the summer I would have to step out of my comfort zone and be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Jackson said. “I really targeted my weaknesses, and stuff is starting to come a little easier. I really locked in on the fundamentals.
“Ballhandling was one of my weaknesses. We’re pretty low on point guards, and I wanted to take stress off my point guard, which is Trinity. If there was any trouble or foul trouble, I could take some of the weight off her shoulders. Another thing I worked on was my shooting. I feel like that was another weakness as well, and it paid off. Being able to knock down threes when we need them the most is important.”
Allen has appreciated Jackson’s efforts.
“In the summertime, she really worked hard on her shot,” Allen said. “She’s really stepped up for us, especially being our leading scorer. She’s the most vocal too. She tries to keep us positive, and she makes me step out of my comfort zone and talk a little bit more. She really does a lot for us.”
Indeed, Jackson praised the Pirates for continuing to compete. She also noted every team starts 0-0 once sectionals begin.
“With all the obstacles, we’ve had to stay positive,” she said. “We did lose a lot of valuable people, and we have a lot of younger girls. But we’ll be OK. It’s not the best season, but in our hearts, the record means nothing. We’re still going to go out there and play hard.”
Jackson played sparingly as a freshman, which was an eye-opening experience for her.
“It was a little frustrating, but looking back, it was understandable,” she said. “I wasn’t where I thought I was at the time. I had to work and come to terms with the fact that in order to see playing time on varsity, I had to work harder than other people and put in extra work.”
Jackson earned an uptick in minutes as a sophomore.
“I wasn’t satisfied,” she said. “Again, I had to work harder and not let up, and give it my all.”
Jackson ended last season as the Pirates’ top player off the bench. She averaged 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds.
“The thing about Mya that’s so great, you’ve seen her progression,” Kratz said. “She’s a true program player. It’s not like she started as a freshman. She didn’t even start last year; she came off the bench. But she’s a kid who will get in the gym, and she learned last year that if she wanted to play, she had to learn how to shoot consistently.
“So she became good friends with the shooting machine and just constantly getting an extra hundred shots up every day, staying after practice with coach P — my dad (current assistant and former Chesterton boys coach Tom Peller) — and not leaving before they made three in a row from each spot.
“It happened more last year, her progression in this role, but it’s been really fun to see it get to this point where she has a really exciting situation and opportunity.”
Jackson earned the opportunity to continue her career, having recently signed with Kaskaskia College.
“That’s what you want for your kids,” Kratz said. “You want them to have success on and off the court and get to the next level if that’s their goal, and it has been. She’s gone through ups and downs with it, and she’s handled it, and now she’s ready to go to the next level. Her best basketball is ahead of her too.”