Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jackets
By: Matthew Florjancic, Sun Sports Correspondent
BEREA—Baldwin-Wallace College women’s basketball coach Cheri Harrer has built a dynasty during her 15 years at the school. Harrer’s teams have had nine straight 20-plus win seasons and are already off to a perfect 6-0 start this year.
In the last 10 years, Harrer’s Yellow Jackets have made eight appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. A big reason for the program’s success has been Harrer’s ability to recruit excellent local high school talent, and that includes current junior forward and Brooklyn High School graduate Jessica Latimer.
The five-foot, nine-inch Latimer has played well for Harrer during her three years in the system. This year, she is again coming off the bench and providing a spark both offensively and defensively as she is averaging a career-best 8.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Last Saturday, Latimer led the Yellow Jackets with a career-high 16 points on eight-of-10 shotting from the floor in an 88-43 Ohio Athletic Conference victory versus the Muskingum College Fighting Muskies.
Latimer is happy to be producing on the court. She credits her success to her love of the game.
“I just love the game of basketball,” said Latimer, a two-year letterwinner. “Every day has its ups and downs, but basketball has always been something I look forward to playing. Without it, I do not know where I would be college wise.”
The 21-year old psychology and early childhood education double major also credits here former AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) coach and high school teammates for her development as a player.
“Scott Douglas was the one who got me started in sports,” said Latimer, the all-time leader in rebounds and second most prolific scorer in Brooklyn High School history. “Two of my high school teammates, Dana Dempsey and Sarah Douglas, and I have played together since third or fourth grade.”
Collectively, Douglas, Dempsey and Latimer were known as “The Three Amigos.” Douglas currently plays for the Hiram Terriers, and earlier this season, Dempsey and Latimer lined up on opposite sides of the court when B-W beat Case Western Reserve University in University Circle. Dempsey had 15 points compared to nine for Latimer, but the Yellow Jackets won the contest, 61-58.
Latimer enjoyed the challenge of competing against her former Hurricane teammate.
“It is a fun rivalry because we know each other’s tendencies,” said Latimer. “It is also kind of difficult for us because we do not see each other as much anymore. And when we do get to play against each other, one of us is always upset after the game because we lost. Luckily,that was not the case for me this year.”
Harrer and her teammates are happy to suit up with Latimer every day.
“We are very happy that ‘Lats’ [Latimer] is at Baldwin-Wallace College,” said Harrer, who enters this Wednesday’s home game versus Ohio Northern University with a 307-114 career record. “She always works hard and gives her best effort in practice and games.
“Jessica is an excellent student and athlete and is physically strong and mentally tough,” added Harrer. “We really pay attention to how players complement each other on the floor. That is why we bring Jess off the bench. She adds great spark and depth and gives us a different dimension compared to the starters.
In the B-W system, Harrer regularly plays 12 and will switch all five players at times. It keeps her players fresh and ready to play.
“Jessica is not as tall as most other players in the post, but she plays like she is six-foot tall,” said junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Michelle White of Hudson. “She is in there battling for every rebound. When she has the ball on offense, I am confident that she will put the shot up or at least get to the line.”
At 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the rugged OAC, B-W is ranked seventh nationally in Division III in the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association) poll and ninth in the d3hoops.com poll. This weekend, B-W travels to Bexley to play sixth-ranked Capital University Latimer, who chose B-W over cross-town John Carroll University and OAC rival Mount Union College, embraces the challenges of playing a great OAC schedule.
“I want to continue to get better and expand my game,” said Latimer, who averaged 2.6 ppg. and 4.4 rpg. a year ago when B-W finished 23-6 overall, won the OAC regular season and OAC Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. “I am really counting on my field goal and free throw percentages to get better because I have worked hard to improve in both areas.”
As a senior in high school, Latimer shot 54.1 percent from the field to set a Brooklyn High School record.
Latimer also feels that this year’s Yellow Jacket team has outstanding potential to meet and exceed last year’s success.
“I think this team has great potential,” said Latimer. “We started off strong and I feel that we can get better.
I just love winning championships,” Latimer stated proudly. “Being on a championship team is great. It also is an attitude that we can relay to our younger players. We want them to know that we win championships at Baldwin-Wallace College and that to win championships that you have to work hard and play hard in every practice and in every game.”
At Brooklyn, Latimer was a three-sport star. However, when she got to Berea, she decided to give up volleyball and softball to focus on basketball.
“It was not that hard to give up volleyball and softball,” she said. “I loved volleyball, but basketball always fit. Volleyball was something I did in the offseason. It was not something I was looking to pursue in college.”
Chemistry is one of the key ingredients to a championship team. In Latimer’s eyes, when she runs out of the tunnel with her teammates, she views them as a part of her family.
“My best friends in college are my teammates,” said Latimer. “I would not trade any of them for anything. I look at it as having 13 sisters on the team because we have such a close-knit team.”
Coach Harrer has taken notice of this chemistry and feels the team has great depth because of Latimer’s efforts on the floor.
“Our lineups and rotations are determined more by player strengths and how those mesh with other players,” said Harrer. “Therefore, our starting line-up is not nearly as big a deal for us as it is for other teams. Everybody in the rotation is going to get playing time.
“Jessica is a blue-collar player that does a lot of the hard work under the basket that is vital to our team success,” Harrer added. “She takes charges, plays hard on the defensive end, rebounds and sets good screens. She does all the little things that the casual observer does not notice.”
Following its trip to Capital this Saturday, Latimer and the Yellow Jackets will prepare to travel to the Last Desert Classic in Last Vegas, Nevada where they will play 15th-ranked Bates (Maine) on Dec. 20 and Simpson (Iowa) on Dec. 22. B-W also hosts Wheeling (W.Va.) Jesuit University on Dec. 30 in Berea at 6:00 p.m.
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