Don’t overlook the contributions that Jaleesa Garner makes to the Brandywine girls basketball team.

Her coach Josh Hood understands how valuable Garner is to the team.

“A girl that is an unsung hero for us is Jaleesa Garner,” Hood said about his 5-foot-5 junior point guard. “I don’t think she had a turnover (last Friday against Buchanan) and she was out there for 32 minutes. She handles the ball for us, she penetrates and gets assists, she provides defensive pressure and she can get to the rim and score.”

Playing in front of a capacity crowd last Friday at Buchanan High School, Garner scored nine points, had three assists and five steals in a 62-59 Brandywine win.

“It was very intense and very hard to play in, but we pulled through” Garner said. “We’ve played in this type of environment  before, like at Kalamazoo Central. We knew how it was going to be.

“I thought I did pretty good. I fouled when I wasn’t supposed to, but we got after it as a team. It was a team effort.”

On the season for the 12-1 Bobcats, Garner is averaging nine points a game, almost five assists, four steals and two rebounds. She has turned the ball over only 31 times.

Garner has rapidly improved as a basketball player. She helped the team off the bench last year after sitting out half the season because she transferred from Cassopolis High School.

“She’s playing with confidence now,” Hood said. “She was just a fast, crazy girl on the court last year. She gave us some good minutes and then she’d turn the ball over because she was trying to do too much.

“On this year’s team she realizes that she’s surrounded by great basketball players. She reminds me a lot of (former All-State Brandywine point guard) Mackenzie Shelton.”

Garner’s ability to run the offense helped teammates Makenna Hartline and Michaela Hartline each score 22 points against Buchanan. Brandywine also turned the ball over only seven times against the Bucks because of what Garner did as a floor leader.

“Just leading the team the whole time and being a point guard was a huge change for me,” Garner said. “It’s going great. I love playing on this team and being a leader. I’m just trying to help this team out in many different ways.”

Extra minutes were required of Garner against the Bucks because Brandywine was without top reserve Alyssa Bolen and starting center Brooke Smith was at less than 100-percent because of the flu.

“I felt that I had to step up quite a bit,” Garner said. “I’m feeling pretty tired.”

Fatigue is a small price to pay for Garner, who hopes her basketball extends deep into March.

“We want to win so much,” she said. “We lost in districts last year and we’re trying to go all the way this year.”

If Brandywine makes it to the state finals others will find out what Hood already knows about Garner.

“She’s probably the best point guard in the area,” Hood said. “There’s no reason she can’t follow in Mackenzie’s footsteps and be a first team All-State selection.”