FINDING HIS GROOVE

Local Sports

Arv Koontz

November 28, 2014

For the Tribune

Jacob Christopher feels like he made the right choice when he decided to attend Trinity Lutheran High School.

He said he likes the small school atmosphere, and he felt like he would have an excellent opportunity to play sports for the Cougars.

During the fall, he was a starter on the soccer team. This winter, he will act as a starter for the second-straight season on the basketball team.

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Christopher said he expects to see a lot of playing time at a wing position.

“I’m not the one that brings it up the floor, but I’m one of those that helps out if need be. I’m more comfortable shooting the outside, but I’m trying to change up my game so I’m not so easy to guard,” he said. “So I want to try and get the ball into the post and drive off the wing.”

His high games last winter were 19 points against Scottsburg and 14 points against Rising Sun.

“I would rather play against man defense,” Christopher said. “From my personal aspect, at Immanuel we played a lot of zone and we didn’t face a lot of zone, and I just don’t like zones. It feels like you’re just standing there.”

The senior feels that this year’s basketball team has chemistry.

“With Luke (Stuckwisch) handling the ball, we always get a good, fluid motion out of a good pick-and-roll,” Christopher said. “We all communicate back-and-forth to show that yes, if someone has a mismatch or this player is bad with help side so always attack toward him or something like that.”

When on defense, Christopher prefers man-zone.

“The other day we were practicing a zone and I was in the back, so I just felt like I was standing there, not moving my feet, making sure I was guarding somebody,” Christopher said. “I usually guard a guard, but the line up depends on who I have to guard.”

Christopher said he is pleased he changed from cross-country to soccer prior to his junior year.

“I just like the experience all together,” he said. “I was new to it, hadn’t played it since I was little. It had been 10-plus years since I had played. I didn’t know what else to do so I tried it.”

The past couple seasons, he has played defensive back and left midfielder.

In soccer, Christopher enjoys the contact.

“I like bumping against people and having them push me back because cross-country really didn’t do that, and it wasn’t extreme as football,” Christopher said. “Some people think a soccer match (two 40-minute halves) is long, but honestly when you’re playing, it doesn’t feel like a long time when you get through one half, and then the second one comes. It seems like it’s not as long as it should be. And then you’re always surprised when you look at the clock to see how much time has gone by.”

He said scoring the first goal is definitely important.

“A perfect example was first game of regional,” Christopher said. “When Chris (Rust) hit his shot and put us on top it gave us an extra boost. Going into that game, most of us probably thought our team, in the front, wasn’t as strong as last year, but when that first goal went in that is when all our hopes rose and we said, ‘yes we can win this game. We can beat them.’”

Christopher believes that a strong mental game translates to any sport.

“What I feel is that if you’re not mentally strong then you’re not mentally focused — you’re not mentally available to be put in certain situations where a coach would make you fit perfectly,” Christopher said. “So, if you’re mentally weak, then you always think of the lows and you’re not going to do this right. If you’re mentally strong, if you do mess up you are able to tell yourself that you’ll get it next time, or try one thing differently, and it’s easy to fix.”

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Parents: Kyle and Michelle Christopher

Siblings: Braden

Sports: soccer 2 years, basketball 4 years, cross country 2 years

Athletic honors: Helping Cougars win 2 sectionals in soccer and 1 sectional in basketball

Home soccer matches: “It was nice playing at home since we didn’t have to drive to drive. Soccer is not like a lot of sports where you expect to have a lot of fans come out. Sadly, the soccer program isn’t that big so its like we’re playing away. You only get parents relatives coming. You don’t have student-based atmosphere. I enjoyed playing at home, but it wasn’t like playing any other sport.”

Favorite away field: “It was last year against New Albany. Their field is nice. It was all turf, it was all even.”

Home basketball games: “I love them. There is nothing like playing a home basketball game against a good team, especially.”

Goals: “We plan on making another regional appearance, and maybe even making it further. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. We’re all dedicated, we’re all showing up working our buts off.”

Plans after high school: attend college to become a teacher, major in history

Attending TLHS: “I love it here. I would not change coming here for anything. I grew up at Immanuel and that just set the foundation of where I wanted to go. I like the 1-on-1 with the teachers and I felt I would get that more here than at a big school.”

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