Highland junior guard Jordan Steele can’t believe it either.
As Steele tried to pinpoint her scoring average, the figure seemed inconceivable to her.
“Twenty … five?” she said, the disbelief showing in her hesitation. “It’s crazy to me. In my freshman year, my season-high was 24. It’s mind-blowing.”
Steele may struggle to comprehend it, but the numbers are unambiguous. Through Thursday, she was scoring 25.6 points per game, the seventh-highest average among girls in the state, according to MaxPreps. Morton sophomore Kylah Patterson ranks fifth at 25.8.
Confidence is key, according to Steele, who has led Highland (10-8) in scoring in each of her three seasons. She averaged 11.0 points as a freshman, when the Trojans won their first sectional title since 2007, and 18.0 points as a sophomore.
“It’s just come from playing the game so long,” she said. “As a freshman, I was so timid all the time. But now, as a junior, I feel like I’ve grown into my role on the team.”
Highland coach Eric Kundich said he has encouraged Steele to shoot from any open spots she can find on the court, making her a threat to score as soon as she crosses midcourt.
“She’ll let it fly from almost anywhere now,” Kundich said. “But she’s not thinking about it as much now. If she’s open, she’s taking the shot.”
Steele is shooting a team-best 40% from the floor, including 30% from behind the arc, and 75% from the free-throw line.
“She’s an excellent one-on-one basketball player, so she can take advantage of that, and we try running her off screens because she’s a good 3-pointer shooter as well,” Kundich said. “Our offense is geared toward getting her an opportunity to make something happen.”
Teammates like senior guard Alyssa Niemann know Steele can make those things happen in a variety of ways.
“She’s really fast, so she can beat people off the dribble, and she’s great at making space and taking smart shots,” Niemann said. “She has a high basketball IQ, so she’s able to see what’s open.”
Highland senior forward Haylie Houchin said Steele’s basketball IQ also comes into play on the defensive end. Steele is averaging 6.3 steals, and most of those come from her spot atop the trap-heavy 1-3-1 defense that Kundich implemented when he took over Highland’s program this season.
“It’s almost like she knows what the other team is going to do before they do it,” Houchin said. “She’s just a good all-around player.”
Steele hasn’t been a secret to opponents. Kundich said teams started changing their defenses to devote extra attention to her by the third game of the season. Steele recalled Highland’s game on Dec. 3, when Andrean kept substituting the player guarding her. But Kundich said Steele remains undaunted.
“She’ll take a beating on the floor, getting fouled all the time, but not once have I heard an excuse from her,” Kundich said. “She wants the ball in tough spots, and she wants to be the leader on the offensive end.”
Steele wants to be the leader in her family too. Although she struggled to recite her scoring average, she didn’t hesitate when she was asked about the number she’s chasing.
“It’s 1,569,” she said.
That’s her older sister Taylor’s career points total. Taylor Steele, a 2017 graduate who played at Eastern Illinois, ranks second in Highland history behind 2001 graduate Jenny DeMuth, who scored 1,829 points.
As of Friday, Jordan Steele had scored 1,122 points in her career. She’s on track to set a high bar for her younger sister Avery, a freshman guard with 68 points this season.
Jordan Steele won’t have much time to rest after this season. She’s a three-sport athlete who was a regional qualifier in cross country in the fall and will return to softball after hitting .333 last spring.
But at least for a few days, Steele won’t worry about how she’s going to beat a defense.
“There’s a week where I take a break and don’t do anything after basketball,” she said. “So those days off are very nice.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.