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Smithfield • Lindsey Jensen's life is built around basketball.
Whether it was shooting baskets at a Little Tyke hoop when she could barely walk, challenging her 6-foot-11 brother Riley at the family's driveway hoop, sneaking off to the gym to shoot baskets on a bad day, or watching the Aggies or Jazz, the Sky View star has been obsessed.
The 5-11 guard's efforts paid off handsomely this season, as she led the Bobcats to an unbeaten season, a Class 4A state championship and earned herself a scholarship to play at Utah State next season.
As a result, she is also The Salt Lake Tribune's 2015 Girls Most Valuable Player.
Asked what she likes to do for fun, Jensen smiled.
"Basketball," she said. "That's all I do with my life. It is where my joy comes from. In my free time, I'm always in the gym. When I hang out with friends, I usually end up getting a pickup game. We go to someone's house and watch Jazz games. I go to USU games when I can."
It helps to come from a family that enjoys hoops.
Lindsey's older brother Riley played for the Bobcats and, after his Mormon church mission, is at Western Nebraska playing college basketball. Her dad Brian was a Bobcat player. Younger brother Josh, at 6-4, is an up-and-coming freshman at Sky View. And even third-grader Nick gets into the action.
"The more I watch, the bigger fan I get to be," said Lindsey's mom, Liz. "That's all we do is ball. I don't even make a schedule. Every day is ball day."
Liz also said Lindsey has a rebel's spirit at times.
"She is that child that there is no persuading her that there is anything different than what she wants," said Liz. "She wants what she wants. She is relentless. She will hound you until she gets what she wants. There is never anything bad. If she wants to go out, she says give me my list of what I need to do so she can crank through it and get what she wants. … Strong-willed is a perfect word."
Lindsey doesn't consider herself a rebel.
"Mom said that because basketball is all I do," she said. "I kind of have that mean look on the court. But I am not really a rebellious child."
The results of that single-mindedness and strong will are impressive. This season, Jensen averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game on a team that some would argue was the state's best.
"She was a good leader for our team," said sophomore center Hunter Krebs. "She kind of helped direct the team. If someone got down, she lifted them up."
Junior Bobcat center Kelsey Chapman said the team learned that they could count on Jensen for her rebounding and scoring.
"Her experience with the tournament helped a lot," said Chapman. "She taught us to treat it like any other game."
Sky View coach Kimber Hall always admired his star's enthusiasm.
"She has been special ever since she was a sophomore," said Hall. "She was mature in basketball skills as a sophomore. Each year, she has been more impressive with her play and leadership."
That leadership was needed this season because the Bobcats had a younger team. Hall said Jensen led by example.
"I have never known Lindsey to come to practice without a smile on her face ready to practice," he said.
Perhaps it was growing up playing against her brothers, but one of the things Jensen loved was getting physical. She wasn't shy about driving the paint or crashing the boards against bigger players.
"My older brother is 6-foot-11," she said. "We made a rule that he couldn't block me if I was behind the three. It was like shooting over a tree. But anywhere inside the three, he was allowed to stuff me."
Jensen said she was excited coming into a season that began with an overtime win over Skyline and ended with a state title win against that same Eagle squad.
"I knew there was so much talent on the team," she said. "We had a bench and we could be good. We got our chemistry going. At Skyline, in that first game, I fouled out. Kaylee Carlson hit a 3-pointer to go into overtime. The sophomores were in and pulled out the win. That's when I knew we could be really good and go far in state."
Jensen, who has a 3.5 grade point average, also played volleyball this year. She isn't certain what she would like to do in college, but she is hoping it has something to do with sports.
That should not come as a surprise for a girl who has loved basketball since the first time she held a ball and has built her persona around her love of the sport.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton —
About Lindsey Jensen
• 5-foot-11 senior guard
• Averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game
• Led Bobcats to an unbeaten season and Class 4A title
• Signed to play for Utah State