Danni Jackson makes things happen for Bruins

A crossover dribble near the 3-point line nearly left a George Washington defender resting on her backside.

Only Danni Jackson wasn't around to see it happen. Forest Park's junior guard had already used that AND 1 juke to make her way to the basket.

Then the visiting Eagles were really in trouble. Once Jackson finds room to maneuver, virtually anything can happen.

On most occasions, she would have pulled up about 12 feet from the hoop and floated a fade-away jumper through the rim. But Jackson was in playmaker mode and the move she made in-stead—a one-handed, no-look pass across the lane to center Briana Scott—had the Eagles stumbling once again in what became a 60-24 Forest Park victory.

"So many things she does are so obvious," Bruins coach Rebecca Tillett said. "But the things that she does on her own are difficult to teach."

And they are even harder to defend, especially now that Jackson has embraced the notion that there is more to running a championship basketball team than bringing the ball up court.

"She runs our show offensively and can attack the basket," Tillett said. "But the other thing she does is sense the game and make decisions about whether we should push it or pull it back and those are the areas where she's really become the leader that she needs to be.

"I think even at the beginning of the season we were very difficult on her, saying that the way she practices is a lot of times the way we play. She took that on as a challenge and it's paying off for us right now."

When she arrived at Forest Park as a freshman, Jackson didn't have to worry about any-thing except scoring points. The Bruins were Monica Wright's team back then.

But now, in her third season as a varsity point guard, the 5-foot-3 dynamo is the Bruins' marquee player with 1,128 career points and, perhaps more importantly, the team's deci-sion-maker.

"I know I have to score and do more than I did when I was a freshman for us to be able to win," she said. "I have to be more vocal and be a team leader."

And, at 16, she is more equipped to handle that responsibility than at any other time in her ca-reer.

"I've been getting more and more confident with my shooting and my capabilities on the court," said Jackson, who averages 15.6 points per game for the Northwest Region champions. "Last year I was still really immature about the whole varsity thing. This year I'm trying to lead this team in the best way I can."

With Jackson at point, the Bruins (23-4) have won 18 consecutive games and are back in the state tournament for the sixth straight season. She's scored at least 20 points in each of Forest Park's five postseason games, including a season-high 27 in Saturday's regional championship game, was recently named the Northwest Region's player of the year and has already received a scholarship offer from at least one Atlantic Coast Conference school.

"It's overwhelming," she said. "I never thought I'd be this good at basketball."

Jackson was 2 when she offered the first evidence that she was destined to become a point guard. Only it was at a slowpitch diamond, not the basketball court.

While attending one of her mother's games, a restless Jackson picked up a softball and started bouncing it in the dirt. Within two years, she was the "defensive stopper" on a rec league basketball team and went on to star for the Prince William Virginians AAU team.

"When I was younger one of the main things I worked on was ball-handling," said Jackson, who now plays for Boo Williams Elite and is currently ranked as one of the top 10 junior guards in the country by Scouts.com. "I didn't think I was going to grow and, obvi-ously, I haven't so I'd just dribble in my basement and go outside to the playground dribbling the ball."

Her shooting ability evolved over time, too.

As a varsity rookie, she scored 289 points, including 14 in Forest Park's 57-56 victory over Edison in the Group AAA state finals.

This winter, with Cardinal District and regional championships already in hand, Jackson is trying to lead the Bruins to their third championship in five seasons.

"We're trying to keep the tradition alive," she said.