As a sophomore, Hailey Jenkins is growing up fast on the basketball court.

Last season, Jenkins quickly caught the attention of the Lehigh Valley girls’ basketball community with his stellar and steady play. She developed into one of the area’s better prolific scorers, but her Catasauqua team fell a game short of making the district playoffs.

This season, Jenkins is in the spotlight again, and she plans to build on her experience from last season. Heading into the new year, she and her Rough Rider teammates are 5-3 with their second-half of the season opener against Southern Lehigh Jan. 4.

“I think we are off to a great start this season,” said Jenkins. “My teammates and I have an amazing chemistry. We get along off the court and that helps us a lot on the court. Most of our chemistry comes from senior Delaney Troxell. She communicates the most on defense and tells people where they need to be.”

Averaging 19.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.7 steals per game, Jenkins is cognizant of her role.

“Sometimes being the go-to player can be a lot of pressure,” stressed Jenkins. “However, it feels good knowing that my teammates and my coaches trust me with all this responsibility.”

Jenkins spent the offseason working on her jump shot and has noticed the improvement.

She also has appreciated playing with her older sister and senior Heaven, who is in her fist year of varsity ball.

“It has been fun playing with my older sister,” said the younger Jenkins. “It must be nerve-wracking playing as many minutes as she does on varsity, especially this being her first year.”

The older Jenkins also has cherished the moments with her younger sister.

“It honestly has been fun playing with my sister,” said the older Jenkins. “She never gets nervous and she has just so much confidence when she plays because she knows she is a good player. She knows what she is capable of doing.

“I’ve seen her become more confident on the court when she attacks the basket. For example, she has the ability to just drive right past or through people. She’s a very strong player, and I’ve been playing with her for about a year because we play on my stepdad’s AAU team. Playing with her makes me a better player, and she is a huge help to me.”

Head coach Mark Seremula doesn’t have any doubts about his standout player.

“Hailey is a great student-athlete to represent your school,” he said. “She works hard in school and leads by example on the court. She’s a better kid than an athlete, and that’s nearly impossible to believe when you watch her play a sport.

“The kids on the team accepted her right away.”

Seremula is confident about his team’s second half.

“We are excited for the second half of the season to begin,” he stressed. “We showed that we can ply with the best team in our league. Our goal is to take one game at a time and to get 11 wins to qualify for districts.

“Then hopefully, we can get a pot in the league playoffs as well. It should be a lot of fun the next two months.”