Jerimya Henderson-Sims has turned a corner with 21st Century.
Something has clicked for the 6-foot-1 guard in his junior season.
“I’ve matured,” he said.
Henderson-Sims has emerged as an important player off the bench for the talented and deep Cougars (10-3), who are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A in the poll by The Associated Press. Coach Larry Upshaw has noticed a difference.
“Jerimya’s role is increasing, mainly because of the work he put in,” Upshaw said. “He’s been in the system since he was in seventh grade. He had to feel his way to this spot, and he’s carving himself out a good spot right now.
“It’s mainly due to him starting to listen and understand the game more, just where to be on the court and how hard he needs to play to make good stuff happen.”
Henderson-Sims is averaging a modest 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds this season. But he scored a career-high 13 points in 21st Century’s most recent game, a 67-63 win against Indianapolis Attucks on Saturday.
The aftermath of that game impressed Upshaw even more. He shared a text he received from Henderson-Sims as the time approached 10:30 p.m. Upshaw ordinarily wouldn’t do so with such a message, but he felt compelled as a means to underscore Henderson-Sims’ growth.
“He said he was watching film, and he felt we did a lot of bad things on defense, not being disciplined, fouling for no reason and having bad rotations,” Upshaw said. “Those were things we’re going over in practice every day.
“For him to notice that, I know he’s been listening, even though I don’t think he listens. For a long time, I was like, ‘He just doesn’t listen.’ But I know he’s been soaking it in. It just showed his maturity. It made me feel good. I finally taught him something. When he leaves, I’ll know I taught him something.”
Not that Henderson-Sims has any intention of leaving anytime soon, especially after moving well beyond the trials and tribulations of his first half of high school.
“Freshman year, it was quite hard coming into my high school season,” he said. “My head wasn’t ready for it. I wasn’t growing up. I still wanted to be a kid. I wasn’t focused. It was quite hard.
“Sophomore year, it got a little better. But it was kind of hard too. But I was still learning from my mistakes, learning from my teammates, just learning the game of basketball so coming into my junior year I would know what to do and what to say to my teammates and learn from my coaches. I came ready to play.”
With a roster that includes the stellar senior trio of McDonald’s All-American nominee Ashton Williamson, Quintin Floyd and DJ Moss, Henderson-Sims understands much of his responsibility involves doing the dirty work for the Cougars. He’s part of a strong supporting cast that includes several promising underclassmen.
“Just getting on defense, making a big impact on that end and letting the game come to me so my shots can fall,” Henderson-Sims said. “Putting my teammates in the right positions to score, just being a team player, motivating everybody on and off the court, being vocal and helping everybody keep their minds steady and not let themselves get down.”
The Cougars have been concentrating on putting together a deep postseason run. They lost an overtime heartbreaker to Lafayette Central Catholic in a semistate last season.
“We’re working on state,” Henderson-Sims said. “We have to take it one step at a time. But that’s our mindset. Our goal is to win state. We’re ready to work, and we have the talent, so hopefully we can make it happen on that next level.
“The group is great. We’re building better chemistry. Everybody contributes something, from the role players to the star players.”
Upshaw is happy Henderson-Sims factors into that equation.
“He’s a great athlete,” Upshaw said. “The kid’s a physical specimen. He’s great in the weight room. His attitude’s gotten better. He’s just starting to figure out what he needs to do to get himself better as well as the team.”
