Grapevine girls basketball junior learns as she plays

Success brings its own pressure, but Grapevine’s Jessi Prater is taking it in stride.

The junior has taken on the first year of varsity play with an attitude of learning, even though the pressure is more than she has ever experienced.

“It’s a little trickier than I thought it would be,” Prater said of her first year on the varsity team.

But the 5-9 forward is leading the team in scoring. The added pressure from what she was used to on the JV team is helping her improve, though, she said.

“I thought it would be easier, but there’s pressure from the coaches as they’re depending on you. It does put pressure on you but it motivates me to do better,” Prater said.

Grapevine head coach Lindy Lombard said even though it’s Prater’s first year on varsity, not only is she leading the scoring with nine points per game, but she’s also averaging about five rebounds per game.

“Jessi has made tremendous improvements over the course of the season,” Lombard said.

Indeed, the full Lady Mustangs team has continued to show it’s above all others in the district, now at 11-0 with just the regular season finale against Fort Worth Polytechnic remaining before the playoffs.

Prater has shown to be strong in the post and shows versatility with her ability to dribble and shoot.

Lately, Prater said she’s been working on finishing her shots down low in the post with pressure on her from the opponent, especially with contact.

“On JV, I wasn’t used to the contact,” Prater said. “I guess it comes with varsity experience.”

Prater said she likes shooting from the 3-point line but admitted she’s more effective from mid-range. “I take what they give me, though,” she said.

Although defense was something Prater said she struggled with, she said this year there’s been improvement.

Guarding another post player or taking on a guard, Prater knows she has to have the footwork to stay with someone smaller and quicker.

In addition to staying with her assignments, Prater said one of her goals is to bump up her rebounding average to about seven or eight per game.

Those types of improvements are likely attainable as Prater said she’s only been playing basketball for about five years, having started in middle school.

“I was tall in middle school and I wasn’t good at anything else,” she joked.

“The first day I liked it so I’ve really been working at it,” she said. “I was not the best player in middle school so I played in the summer and knew I had to get better.”

Grapevine, along with Prater, has continued to improve and is well-positioned for the playoffs.

“Personally, it’s going a lot better than what I thought it would be. We have a young varsity this year but the younger players have a high basketball IQ,” Prater said.

Even being a first-year varsity player, Prater said she still feels she has a positive influence on the younger players and other teammates.

“Even when we’re down, I can be positive in motivating and helping everyone keep their head up,” she said.

“But if we keep working hard and competing with the good teams, we should be successful. We can still beat any team we play if we play how we’re taught and do what we work on in practice,” Prater said.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Grapevine girls basketball junior learns as she plays."