Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

After helping the Amherst High School girls basketball team reach the WIAA State Championship Game last season, Geena Jensen will miss the rest of her senior season with a knee injury.

The daughter of Amherst girls basketball head coach Gregg Jensen, Geena suffered a torn ACL during a win at home over Shiocton Dec. 4, and will watch from the sidelines as the Falcons try to return to state this season.

“The one thing with sports is, any injuries are tough,” said coach Jensen. “You don’t want to see kids get hurt, and there’s so much ACL, and you hope it doesn’t happen.

“And it’s just difficult, knowing that it’s your senior year, and especially the five (senior starters) have played so much together,” he said. “They put a lot of time in and you want to go out and enjoy your senior year and play, but she’s done an outstanding job of handling it so far.”

“Geena’s my AAU buddy and we always spent the summer playing basketball together for the past five or six years, so it was really hard for me, especially when it happened,” said Amherst senior guard Ashley Groshek. “This is our dream, senior year, to be the best you can.

“We’ve been at Jensen’s house every day, she’s definitely not alone in it, and she knows that,” she said. “And we’ve definitely, as a team, made the best of it. But that’s all you can do, really.”

Amherst High School girls basketball head coach Gregg Jensen (left) hugs his daughter Geena on the sideline, as they celebrate a trip to state in the final seconds of the third-ranked Falcons’ 50-39 victory over Southern Door in a Sectional Final at Kaukauna Saturday, March 3, 2018.
(John Kemmeter photo)

After playing in a few games on varsity as a freshman, Geena contributed off the bench as a sophomore in 2016-17 when Amherst was a win away from the State Tournament, before it fell to Wrightstown in the Sectional Finals to finish 24-2.

She was part of the team’s rotation off the bench again last season as a junior and was third on the team in scoring and second in state in Division 3 in three-point shooting to qualify for the WIAA 3-Point Challenge, before Amherst went on to earn a trip to the State Tournament.

The Falcons advanced to the State Championship Game against Marshall, where Geena finished with 13 points and four rebounds and hit a three-pointer with 1:04 left to bring Amherst within 54-53, before it lost 63-55 to finish as the State Runner-up with a 26-2 record.

“She had the ability to shoot the ball, and the nice thing is that she had the experience of playing in the State Tournament and playing in the finals,” said coach Jensen. “And in the State Final Game, she was pretty good.

“She knocked down some big shots, but she had that experience, where some people play all four years and never get that,” he said. “So she had the opportunity to go through that great run.”

Geena Jensen (right) looks inside to feed the post during the Amherst girls basketball team’s 63-55 loss to Marshall in the 2018 WIAA Division 3 State Championship Game at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
(John Kemmeter photo)

As a senior this season, Geena moved into the starting lineup for the first time, where she was joined by four other seniors, as Amherst opened the year ranked third in Division 3 in the WisSports.net Coaches Poll.

After a 55-47 double-overtime loss at home to currently-top-ranked Laconia Nov. 27, Amherst was at Shiocton Dec. 4, when Geena went down with a knee injury.

“She fell down, and you hear the scream, then you know instantly,” said Groshek. “So I didn’t need someone to come up to me and tell me she tore her ACL, I heard her yell and I knew she tore her ACL.

“And then for the three seconds we had to play before they blew the whistle, it was the hardest three seconds I’ve ever played,” she said. “Just knowing that she’s done.”

“I had to watch the film to actually see what happened, because I thought something totally different happened,” said Geena. “And I had to keep relaying it a few times, because I was just like, ‘how did that happen?’

“It was just a simple plant and twist, it’s something that I’ve done so many times,” she said. “I was just really shocked after it and just upset obviously, because I’m done.”

After undergoing surgery, Geena was back the next day to watch her teammates from the bench in a 66-30 win over Wausau East Dec. 21, while she said she’s been able to see a lot more during practices of what her dad is always yelling about.

She will continue to help from the sideline this season for the Amherst girls basketball team, where her older sister Molly is the video coordinator and her older brother Marcus is an assistant coach, while she is looking forward to doing what she can to help Amherst get back to state this season.

“They mean a lot to me,” said Geena of her senior class. “We’ve been playing since third grade, so we all just have a great bond together.

“When all five of us were out on the court together, we all just knew everything about each other, and it was really cool,” she said. “Sadly I don’t get to be out there with them any more, but I’m glad I can still come and watch and support all of them.”

Geena is set to attend the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire next school year and doesn’t plan to play basketball in college, while she said what she’ll remember most about playing at Amherst is going to the State Tournament last season.

“That’s going to be a memory that I’ll never forget,” said Geena. “That was really incredible, and I’m really grateful that we were able to get there last year.

“Even though we didn’t win the Championship, we still got there, and that was a main goal for us,” she said. “So that was really cool.”

“Being in coaching, you know it happens,” said coach Jensen of the injury. “It hurts and it’s not easy, but she’s had tougher things to battle in life, and she’s doing a great job of battling those.

“Some things a young male or female should not have to go through, but there’s some that have worse situations,” he said. “So she’s going to keep plugging away, and she’s done a good job and had a really good attitude about it, and will continue to have a good attitude.”