‘She put us on the map.’ Bonney Lake’s Shipp is TNT’s 2024 All-Area player of the year
After starting all season for the Bonney Lake High School girls basketball team as a freshman, Jazmyn Shipp still was worried she might not make the cut as a sophomore.
“She went home crying,” Bonney Lake coach Kim Peters told The News Tribune this week, laughing. “She’s just super humble that way. She never took anything for granted.”
Shipp, of course, was a lock to make the team. Her spot on the roster was as safe as it gets. Not only did Shipp make the team, she won league MVP honors that season as a sophomore in the 3A Pierce County League.
She won league MVP honors again her junior year and in the 2023-24 season, her senior year. She leaves Bonney Lake as the best player the school has seen in its young history with a handful of records in tow, including 1,399 career points.
She led Bonney Lake to a 20-6 overall record this season and an undefeated run through the 3A PCL and a berth in the 3A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome. For the first time in her high school career, she beat the mighty Lincoln Abes — three times. The most memorable contest against the league rival came at the Tacoma Dome, a 56-34 win for Bonney Lake on the opening day of the tournament, sending Bonney Lake through the 3A state tournament quarterfinals.
Shipp is The News Tribune’s 2024 All-Area girls basketball player of the year.
“She doesn’t get complacent,” Peters said. “She works hard offensively. She doesn’t just stand around, she posts up strong. She can shoot with her left, she has some really good moves. … She demands the ball. I just think it’s super difficult to guard.”
Shipp, a 6-foot-1 center, is a throwback basketball player, comfortable playing with her back to the basket. Her elite footwork, strength, wide array of post moves and ability to finish with either hand made her a matchup issue for opponents throughout the entirety of her career.
She averaged 15.3 points and 8.2 rebounds and a team-leading 4.2 assists for the Panthers in her senior season. She also was named to the 3A state all-tournament team at the Tacoma Dome.
“She’s a kid that can take over a game, for sure,” said Sumner coach Katie Hyppa, who coaches the other high school program in the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District. “From an opposing coach’s point of view, the scouting report changes a little bit with her on the floor. She’s dominant in a lot of ways.
“Especially on the female side of the game, it’s more unique and rare to see a post that likes playing with her back to the basket. In the high post, she was so dominant being able to fake left, go right and what not. It was something that you didn’t see a lot. Defensively, it was something for us that our players weren’t used to.”
For Shipp, playing in the post is akin to a chess match. When defenders wised up to her step-through move, she countered with a spin. When they took away her dominant right hand, she worked tirelessly on finishing with her left. When they took away the middle of the key, she worked the baseline.
“It’s really just figuring out what people think I’m gonna do and doing the opposite,” she said. “That’s really how I’ve developed my game. I just don’t want to be predictable.”
For all her on-court skills and accolades, people who spend any time around Shipp walk away more impressed with her magnetic personality and team-first attitude. During the summer, she took it upon herself to organize workouts for the incoming freshmen.
“I’ve been looking forward to (playing with) these freshmen since my freshman year, so I wanted to do everything I could to take them out of their shells as early as possible,” Shipp said. “It was just fun to be able to bond with them early and kick that off. I that that really did make a difference because our chemistry was just so there.”
Peters did not instruct Shipp to organize the workouts, but it came as no surprise to her.
“It’s just who she is as a person,” she said. “She encourages kids. If kids want to get better, they have to work in the offseason. She knows that. She tried to help people feel more comfortable. … That really helped, as far as just the camaraderie.”
Shipp will continue her career at Westmont College in Montecito, California, an oceanside town in Santa Barbara County. The Warriors are an NAIA program. For years, she has felt pulled to Westmont, its campus and coaching staff. The coaching staff watched all her AAU games during a tournament last spring before offering her a scholarship. She jumped at the chance after visiting and spending time paddle boarding with the team on the beach, despite her crippling fear of sharks.
“Even though I didn’t want to get killed by a shark, I knew this is where I wanted to be,” Shipp said, laughing.
She leaves Bonney Lake with records to her name, a legacy of thoughtfulness, selflessness and a team-first mentality.
“When you think of Bonney Lake basketball, you think of Jazmyn Shipp,” Peters said. “She’s the glue of this program. She put us on the map.”
