Tenorio: Anderson’s rebounds deserve second look

On the court at the Cavanagh Field House, the Lynn English girls basketball team was defending its undefeated record against Lynn Classical. In the stands, members of the Bulldogs junior varsity and freshman squads were counting out numbers on the wall – “Nine ninety ? Nine ninety-one ?” Only those numbers weren’t points. They were rebounds.They were rebounds pulled down by Jeanette Anderson, a senior captain on the Bulldogs. A minute and seven seconds into the third quarter, Anderson would record her 1,000th career board.Most of the players who get headlines in basketball do so because they score points. The pro stars we remember are often those who find the net, such as Larry Bird and Michael Jordan in the 1980s, and the Boston Celtics’ Big Three today. This holds true in high school, too. The players we honor are those who connect on field goals, which is why coaches celebrate their 1,000-point scorers.Anderson is a proven scorer as well. She could end her final season at English having surpassed the 1,000 mark in both rebounds and points, standing 132 shy in the latter category. But just as Anderson’s rebounds allow herself and her teammates a second look at the hoop, the fact that she reached 1,000 boards in four seasons also deserves a second look.Scoring baskets is tough business, as even the best pro players know. Paul Pierce, who led the Celtics with 31 points in their loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday, made 10 of his 17 field-goal attempts – 58.8 percent. Ray Allen, who scored 16 points, made only 38.9 percent of his shots.Rebounding can help a team trying to score. When someone comes down with a teammate’s missed shot, or uses a defensive board to defuse a threat from an opponent, it gives a vital extra chance to players who need it. Anderson has consistently provided these chances for English.”You’ve got to have a nose for the ball,” her coach, Fred Hogan, said, “and know how to go after it. She’s so big, physical, and athletic ? She’s a hard worker. That’s what Jeanette is.”Sometimes it’s being in the right place at the right time, but Jeanette, one thing about her is that she jumps. She’s six feet tall and makes herself 6-5, 6-6.””It seems like I’m already under there ahead of those people,” Anderson said. “It’s hard sometimes.” However, she added, “Once I come down, I go back up.”Lynn English has commemorated Anderson’s 1,000th rebound with a plaque in the school trophy case, and the school merits praise for doing so. Not only has the English administration recognized an achievement that took four seasons of work, it also honors an aspect of the game that might otherwise go unnoticed.”It’s unbelievable,” Hogan said. “You almost take it for granted. You take a shot and look for Jeanette to get the offensive or defensive rebound.”Here’s hoping Anderson’s plaque gets plenty of second looks from English students, both this year and in years to come.Richard Tenorio is an Item sports copy editor.