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For just over 20 years, the 1,607 points scored by 2004 Miss Basketball Jaclyn Leininger stood as the mountain top for the Warsaw girls basketball program. It wasn’t until last Friday night that a new Lady Tiger great etched her name into the record books and took her place on top of the leaderboard.
Senior Joslyn Bricker is in the middle of her own Miss Basketball campaign, and in a season that has been filled with tremendous moments for the new No. 1 team in the state, Friday might have contained the most impressive one.
Bricker scored the record-breaking point on a free throw in the third quarter of Warsaw’s Lady Tiger Tournament game against Indianapolis Ritter.
“I was overwhelmed with gratitude,” Bricker said. “I’m lucky enough to have had so many people supporting me, from my friends and family to my coaches. I couldn’t have done it without them and I’m just so grateful.”
It had already been an eventful day for the Butler commit, as in the first game of the tournament, she broke the school record for points in a game with 43. In that same game, her teammate Brooke Zartman set the school record for three pointers made in a game with 10.
“I was just out there having fun. I was playing very relaxed,” Bricker said. “Lex [Neely] had a ton of assists that game, Brooke was shooting great. Everyone was just playing so unselfishly and having fun.”
The selflessness that has become a signature of Lady Tiger basketball starts with Bricker, who is quick to shift praise to her teammates and coaching staff whenever she has the chance. When asked if she was excited as she approached the scoring record, the senior said she didn’t really think about it at all.
“It wasn’t something I was focused on. At the beginning of the season my only goals were to win and do whatever I can to make my teammates better,” she said. “I knew it was something to strive for when I got close, but I did my best to not focus on it. I think the reason it happened was because I was doing things the right way and it happened naturally.”
“She’s extremely selfless. She does not really want the limelight,” Joslyn’s father and girls varsity assistant coach Ryan Bricker said. “She understands that basketball is not a zero-sum game. It’s we not ‘you get to do this so I don’t get to do this,’ It’s we do this together and we all get to benefit from it. She’s naturally aware of her teammates and wanting them to feel valued. She’d rather that be the case than she take any credit, and I think that’s what helps her lead so well.”
He's still processing what happened on Friday night.
“We’re so busy as a team climbing mountain after mountain right now, so when the season eventually ends we’ll be able to take a deep breath and soak it in,” he said. “We’re thankful for all the people that made it happen. None of this happens without great teammates, and she’s been blessed to play with a lot of high-end players.”
Bricker’s head coach for the last four seasons, Lenny Krebs, couldn’t hold back his pride when he described the moment the scoring mark fell.
“It’s pretty special just to watch. Seeing where she was as a third or fourth grader when I got to Warsaw, and how much work she’s put in since,” he said. “You don’t go into a high school career thinking a kid’s going to break a record, but practice by practice, game by game, and you see the development that’s gotten her here.”
Bricker pulls up for her signature midrange jumper against NorthWood. ...Nieter
Having set the record with at least a month left in her senior season and plenty of time to extend it further, Bricker is proof that while one’s ability can take you pretty far, it’s the consistency that separates the great players from the good ones.
Bricker has averaged at least 12 points per game in all four seasons she’s been on the varsity team. She’s increased her scoring output by at least three points per game in each season, and this year, she’s averaging just under 25 a night. She’s scored 20 points or more in all but three games this year, and her lowest total this season is 17.
The bottom line is this: don’t expect Joslyn Bricker to have an off night.
“I pride myself a lot on my efficiency and playing the right way under control. I try not to get wrapped up in how many points I score,” Bricker said. “Obviously I do have that pressure on me, but I feel like if I try to focus on playing as hard as I can and doing the little things, I find that I play better. I love to compete, so when I get in the zone, the rest just kind of follows.”
Having broken a record that stood for over 20 years, there’s a chance that Bricker’s mark stands for even longer. Her advice to the players that will wear that uniform after her is simple: put in the work.
“Keep your head down and work hard. It might not feel like it at the moment, but everything you do adds up,” she said. “I wish I could go back and tell myself all of the things that would happen because of the work that I put in.”
