Herald/Robbie Scudder

When Jenna Plewes steps on the basketball court, everyone knows where she is. You can’t miss her. The Golden Eagle senior captain speeds up and down the court so much that everyone’s attention is naturally drawn to her aggressive play.

Cornerstone basketball fans have grown accustomed to hearing plenty of thuds and clunks each time they see her play.

Plewes plunges into defenses to draw fouls, tussles in the paint for rebounds and pesters opposing guards for feisty steals.

Sometimes she wobbles off the court after a collision, and other times she jumps right back up. Yet, tumble after tumble, Plewes hangs in, and then comes back for more.

“I hate to lose,” Plewes said. “I go out there every game knowing we can win if we play our hardest. Hustle takes a lot of heart and work. You got to work hard to chase after all the loose balls and never give up. That’s just been my style of play forever.”

It is the same style of play that has given her a reputation as one of the fiercest players in the WHAC.

“It’s a good thing she wears knee pads,” assistant coach Mike Riemersma said. “She goes after anything. She doesn’t care about her body and wants to hustle after everything. That’s how she’s wired. So if there’s a loose ball, she’s going to dive after it and do what it takes to get it.”

Plewes’s passion for basketball drives the team. She is the key that revs up the Golden Eagles’ engine each game, each practice, each moment.

“Jenna gives us that driving force,” head coach Carla Fles said. “Everyone knows she loves to drive. She gets it done.”

In a nutshell, she is all a coach could ask for.

“She gives you everything, all the time,” Riemersma said. “When she goes out, whether it’s a practice or a game, she’s going to hustle and work as hard as she can all the time. That type of personality and competitiveness is rare. People can feed off of that type of energy. And you can see how that type of personality can be infectious to others.”

The infectiousness — if that is what it is called — has become more of an epidemic on her team.

“When you see her do all her hustle plays it motivates you, because she’s just working her heart out,” teammate Tami Thelen said. “She’s a great teammate, encourager, hard worker, hustle player.”

She is the type of player Cornerstone would love to clone.

“She’s just one of those people you wish you could have a few more of on your team,” Fles said. “It’s kind of like, what doesn’t she contribute? She just contributes heart and hustle. She just likes to out-work everyone.”

Fortunately for the Golden Eagles, she has done just that for nearly four seasons. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, her ride is about to come to an end. But it is not over yet. Cornerstone is about to enter the national tournament and is only five wins away from a national championship. And you can bet anything that Plewes and the rest of the seniors will do everything in their power each game to make sure their ride does not end.

“It’s the seniors not wanting it to be their last game,” Fles said. “They play with a sense of urgency.”

It is a tall task, but with Plewes pushing the pedal to the metal, you never know what could happen. And that is exactly what scares opponents.