Jen Janiak a Standout Basketball Player, Leader

The girls basketball team has been having a great season so far, and after a key win over Dracut last week, the Lady Lions boast an impressive record of 8-5.

Junior Captain and Chelmsford Patch Athlete of the Week Jen Janiak credits the team’s success to the close bond that the players have.

“I think we have a lot of team chemistry this year, and everyone has their role on the court,” said Janiak. “Together we make a good team … We work hard at practice, and everyone wants to be here.”

Coach Kevin Branco agrees.

“We have a great group of kids this year,” he said.

Janiak, an accomplished player, serves as an ideal leader for the team. Janiak was first Junior Branco has ever awarded captain. He says she leads by example on and off the court.  Janiak is a stellar student, and won the Scholar Athlete Award this fall for the volleyball team, he said.

“She gets along really well with her teammates,” said Branco.  “(Jen) can get them going mentally. She understands where everyone is.”

Branco said that Janiak exhibits a humble attitude despite her intimidating stats as a player.

“She has got a great personality. If she was 10 times better than a certain player, you would never know it by the way she talks. That is a huge quality for a captain,” said Branco.

Janiak begun her basketball career at an early age, and her experience, combined with her love for the sport has proved to be a winning combination for the young basketball star.

 “I started in the second grade for CYBL,” said Janiak. “I probably started becoming serious about it in the seventh grade. I’ve always loved basketball, and I want to play every day.”

Janiak played for Chelmsford Youth Basketball League's traveling team in middle school, and plays for an AAU team during her off season now.

“Two weeks after the season, I’ll be playing again. I’m going to be playing with the Panthers this year," she said.

“Jen loves the game. She plays our 20 games, and probably plays another 50 or 60 games a year with AAU and summer league. I think Jen is just going to grow. She always works hard,” said Branco.

Janiak aspires to play basketball in college, and although she hasn’t narrowed down her choices of schools just yet, she is working hard on the court now to solidify her chances of making a team in the future. As a junior, Janiak is arguably one of the top players in the Merrimack Valley Conference, and has one of the best shooting records.

This season, in the past 13 games, Janiak has scored an average of 14.3 points each game.  From the floor, Jen has sunk 53 percent of all shots she has taken, and last week, in the past three games, she sunk 67 percent. Jen’s strongest attribute is three point shots, and she has made 48 percent this season.

To put Jen’s stats into perspective, Branco said, “As a team, 35 percent is a great night in girl’s basketball. Elite teams may be close to 40 percent. A good quality three point shooter is in the 36 percent range. So she’s a great shooter.”

“(Jen is) in a situation where she has a legit shot for 1,000 points,” said Branco. “She’s at 609 now she has about half a season left. I think she’ll have under 300 (to go) for next year.”

Jen scored 152 points her freshman year, and 271 last year. With the season only about halfway over, Janiak has already tacked on another 186 points this year. With another year to go, she is certainly on pace to break the 1000 mark before her high school career is over.

Janiak and Branco alike are pleased with her career thus far, and Branco is confident that she will only continue to improve.

“Every single year she has gotten better and better,” Branco said. “First year she hung around the three point line, and now she really understands every offensive set we have.”

“She can be a lock down defender, and on top of the fact that she can score, that’s going to make her (an elite player),” he said.  “Defensively, she’s come a million miles just in the 13 games we’ve played this year.”

In the coming weeks, Chelmsford has a series of very important games. The team is currently in first place for small schools in the MVC, and if they win their next two games, they will pull off an MVC victory.

Coach Branco feels that Janiak, as well as her teammates, have the talent and chemistry to play well on the court when it matters.

“I think we have a great mix now with Jen and Donovan (Driscoll) and (Carolyn Cote and Allison Cote). We have always had just one thing, and now we have scorer and inside presence,” said Branco.