Freshman not short on fans

When Tess Hayes played basketball for Higbee High School, the teams were six-on-six.

And when Hayes played basketball for Higbee High School, her team didn’t lose.

From 1952 to 1956, Higbee lost only two of 88 games. From 1952 to 1956, Hayes scored 29.3 points per game.

Now, when she plays horse with Missouri’s Jessra Johnson, Hayes is allowed a “discount” — moving a few feet closer to the basket to make her shot.

“She’s always quick to play someone in horse,” Johnson said. “She still has a shot. She wants to play ‘Horse.’ She never wants to play one-on-one.”

From 2002 to 2006, Johnson played high school basketball for Fayette High School, amassing over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 blocks. But her high school scoring average, 18.8, falls shy of her mentor’s.

Hayes, who Johnson pegs as one of the most influential people in her basketball career, is one of Johnson’s most ardent fans. She is also one of many.

The night of Nov. 17 at Mizzou Arena, nearly 100 people sat behind the home team’s goal to get the best view of their beloved player. Wearing the No. 4 jersey, Johnson came in off the bench in the Tigers’ win against Arkansas State.

Lured in by ‘Paint It Pink’ night and discounted tickets, several of Johnson’s fans were from Fayette. A few came from Quincy, Ill. Her best friend was there. Former coaches were there. Former teammates. Her mom and grandma.

“This is Fayette. This is it,” Johnson’s mom, Denise, said. “They love Jessra Johnson. They love my baby.”

On Nov. 14 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Jessra Johnson scored her first collegiate points. Against Arkansas State, she made her first 3-pointer. And Jessra Johnson’s fans got excited.

“Last Tuesday,” Denise Johnson said, “it was like she had 100 points and it was only two.”

The Tigers open play in the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Tournament in Moraga, Calif., at 7 tonight against Alabama. Jessra Johnson, who lived in Long Beach, Calif., before high school, said friends and family will cheer the Tigers on in the tournament, as well.

Hayes, who Jessra Johnson calls Grandma Tess, will miss only her second game of her protege’s career. Hayes also missed Tuesday’s loss at Stanford.

Four years ago, Hayes retired after working as postmaster in Armstrong, Mo., and answered an ad in the paper to volunteer at Fayette High School. Working as the statistician for the Fayette basketball team, she met Jessra Johnson.

“You could just see what she was going to be,” Hayes said.

For four years, Hayes worked with Jessra Johnson, estimating she rebounded several thousand balls for her in the summers and after school. She took her to Missouri basketball camps and Tigers games, sitting in the same spot in Mizzou Arena.

Jessra Johnson said she brought a mental focus to her game, and Hayes brought cookies. After every game since her freshman year in high school, Hayes made her cookies. Peanut butter cookies, specifically. Hayes even brought a batch to the Arkansas State game.

“Every time I see her, she brings me cookies,” Jessra Johnson said.

You can see a mother’s love in Denise Johnson’s brown eyes as she proudly talks about her daughter. On a Missouri possession in the second half, her daughter was back on the floor. Those same brown eyes darted from the one who had the ball on the court to her daughter, who was wide open on the three-point line.

Jessra Johnson got the ball, paused, and kicked it back to another player.

“In high school, she’d never pass up the shot,” Hayes said. “Now when she gets it, she looks around a bit, a little more cautious.”

The program for the Arkansas State game featured Jessra Johnson and her basketball endeavors, spreading to an 11-by-17-inch poster of Fayette’s favorite player. Denise Johnson was counting how many she would need for family and thinking of what could be added with a permanent marker.

“Last night was my night to sign autographs (for fans),” Jessra Johnson said. “Just my luck, over 80 people from Fayette decided to come. It was a long line and I was signing my name over and over again.”

Some games Jessra Johnson’s cheering section will be larger than others. Some day, it might even have an official name. But in the meantime, you can bet her mama will never be far away.

“I’m so proud of her,” Denise Johnson said. “I love watching her play. Some things are just in the heart of a person, and she’s got basketball in her heart.”