Vytas Mazeika, mercurynews.com, March 20, 2019
Archbishop Mitty senior Haley Jones will share another accolade in common with Diana Taurasi after flying to Atlanta next week to participate in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Eighteen years ago, the four-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time WNBA champion and three-time NCAA champion capped her high school career as not only a two-time Gatorade California player of the year, but also as the Naismith national girls basketball player of the year.
It’s an eerily similar résumé to the one Jones compiled during her four years at Mitty, with one missing element for both: a state title.
That’s an asterisk, not a punctuation mark for Jones, the 2018-19 Bay Area News Group player of the year.
“My freshman self would probably be in shock of the position I am in today, but truly grateful and humbled,” said the 17-year-old, who also received the top honor from this publication as a sophomore and junior. “When I was a freshman I didn’t expect for myself to be in this position, so it would push my freshman self to work even harder.”
That’s certainly the work ethic that landed Jones a scholarship to Stanford, which nabbed the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation away from Connecticut, where Taurasi went, along with fellow finalists Notre Dame, Oregon and South Carolina.
“Haley being mentioned in the same sentence as Diana Taurasi is an incredible compliment; and, yet, an appropriate high school comparison given Haley’s level of dominance, versatility, and skill set at the point guard position,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said.
“Basketball is something that Haley loves to do and has experienced an enormous amount of success, but it does not define her. Basketball is how people know Haley, but she is much more than a game. Haley is bright, kind, compassionate, and driven.
“She can be or do whatever she sets her mind to. And whatever she decides to do, she will positively influence those around her.”
From Day 1 at Mitty, the talent was undeniable.
Jones never lost in the Central Coast Section playoffs, coming away with a quartet of Open Division titles — all against Pinewood senior Hannah Jump, her future teammate on The Farm.
“And to Haley’s credit, she trusted in our vision that we wanted to develop her at all five positions,” Phillips said. “We alternated days in practice by having her work out with points, wings and posts on a rotational basis. In turn, she worked on all facets of her game to become the epitome of a position-less player.”
As a senior, Jones led Mitty (25-3) in virtually every statistical category by averaging 26.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.8 blocks per game.
By the time it was all said and done, the 6-foot-1 guard/wing broke the program’s all-time scoring mark that had stood for 23 years and previously belonged to Kerri Walsh Jennings, a three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist who also claimed two NCAA titles in women’s volleyball at Stanford.
“She was a human highlight reel,” Phillips said. “Even when Haley was guarded, she was open to score. And while we have touched upon her ability to score, she also led our team in rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.”
Her only trip to a state final came in 2017 as a sophomore, then was eliminated in excruciating fashion as a junior in triple overtime to Pinewood in the NorCal Open title game — the Monarchs went 29-1 and finished as the No. 1 team in the nation — and came up shy of the ultimate goal again this month to Salesian in the NorCal semifinals.
“I definitely learned from success, but mostly from setbacks,” Jones said. “Whenever we didn’t achieve what we wanted to as a team, it gave us more motivation to make it happen the next time around and it fueled our fire to go even harder during practice so we wouldn’t have to feel that way again.”
It will be fun to find out how the incoming freshman at Stanford will view herself after four years on The Farm as her time as a Monarch comes to a close.
“I have had some of my best high school memories alongside my Mitty teammates,” Jones said. “They have become some of my best friends on and off the court. We have accomplished so many things that most people could never dream of and we do it all for each other. The bonds what we have made will last a lifetime.”
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