Dymond Crawford set to join elite club in Jeannette basketball history

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 | 4:54 PM

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Dymond Crawford ranks among the elite girls basketball players in Jeannette history.

She should make it official next week.

A sharp-shooting 5-foot-9 senior guard, Crawford is 20 points shy of 1,000 for her career.

She will be the fifth girl at Jeannette to eclipse the milestone, joining Ciara Gregory (2,130 points), Kayla Cook (1,777), Lisa (Marquis) Abreu (1,028) and Olivia Sirnic (1,013).

“I definitely am blessed,” Crawford said. “I never thought I’d be in the place I am now, but I worked for it, so I’m beyond happy.”

Crawford is averaging 21.7 points and about five assists this season.

That’s in addition to 2.7 steals per game and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Jayhawks (3-12, 2-6 Section 2-2A).

“Dymond has grown so much in her senior season,” first-year Jeannette coach Jonathan Bass said. “She has become an effortless scorer. However, the most impressive part of her game this year, to me, is her ability to pass the basketball.

“Her leadership ability has come a long way. She is very competitive. She’s learned to control her competitive drive, to be an effective leader. She rebounds very well, also. She does whatever is asked of her. I am very pleased with her growth and performance this season.”

Crawford, who suffered an ankle injury in her team’s loss Monday night, is a four-year varsity player. She scored 53 points as a freshman, 153 as a sophomore, 449 last season and 325 so far this season.

She scored a career-high 38 points against Bentworth last season. Her top offensive game this season was 32 points against Springdale.

“It’s been exciting watching myself improve from my freshman year to now,” Crawford said. “I take pride being a Jeannette Jayhawk. It’s been great playing for Jeannette my whole life.”

Said Bass: “Dymond has meant a lot to our program, especially this year. She really helps out with the younger girls and has helped us, as a coaching staff, develop a competitive culture.”

Crawford’s athletic heritage includes her father, Paul, who was a three-sport athlete in the early 1990s, and her cousin Robert “Poogie” Kennedy, a former football standout.

“Dymond’s strengths are her basketball IQ and work ethic,” Bass said. “That is something I think few people know about her. She knows the game and has worked hard to be were she is.

“As a middle-schooler, she was a very average player. But through hard work, she has become one of the WPIAL’s best, in my opinion. She’s an effortless scorer with great court vision, and she is an excellent passer.”

Crawford, who also played soccer this year, attends Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center for half a day to study sports medicine. She hopes to continue her basketball career in college.

“I definitely have plans to go to college and play basketball, but I’m not sure where yet,” she said.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Jeannette