After the girls’ basketball season came to a close, I had a chance to sit down and talk with senior basketball standout Essa Jacobsen. I had Jacobsen in class as a freshman in World Geography, and now I have her again as a senior in Economics and Government. Four years seem to have flown by and Jacobsen has matured as both a student and athlete while still maintaining that fun-loving personality that makes the rest of her class and teammates smile.
Jacobsen had a great career at Cook County filled with numerous milestones, accomplishments, and victories on the court. Jacobsen played in 102 career games at Cook County, starting in all but one of those games. Jacobsen is the all-time leading rebounder in Cook County High School history with 1,444 career rebounds, which is also ninth best in the history of Minnesota girls’ basketball. She is also the girls’ all-time leader in blocked shots with 110, second in points with 1,249, third in steals, and sixth in assists.
A knee injury forced Jacobsen to miss the final week of the regular season and all of the playoffs. She handled her injury with class, and while Jacobsen would never say it, the team just wasn’t the same without her in the playoffs. Jacobsen was the heart and soul of this year’s team and led not necessarily with a lot of talk, but by her play on the floor.
Here is what she had to say in our conversation:
What exactly was the
extent of your knee injury
and will you need surgery?
I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (AC L) and some cartilage. I am having surgery this Friday (March 19).
How long will it take to
recover?
About a year. It will take six months to recover and then another six months to get my knee physically ready to play basketball.
What are your plans for next year?
I am undecided for next season, but I am looking to play basketball at the community college level. I would like to pursue a career in nursing or sports medicine.
Do you have any future goals?
I eventually want to play Division II basketball somewhere after a year or two at the community college level.
Let’s shift gears…When did you start
playing basketball?
We moved to Grand Marais when I was in fifth grade. That is when I started playing basketball.
When you were a kid in Cook County, did
you have any particular players that you
looked up to?
Dani Anne Larson and Carly Borak were our coaches that year, so we all obviously looked up to them. I also really looked up to Clara Waddell.
You played at the varsity level for four solid
seasons—do you have any teammates who
stand out to you?
Brea Boomer because she’s always working and giving her best effort. Christina Nelson because we have played together since the fifth grade. I obviously have a connection with her.
Of all the games in your career, do you
have one that stands out to you?
The playoff game against Floodwood during my sophomore season. I scored 21 points and had over 20 rebounds. We lost 60-64, but that game is very memorable to me.
You have scored over 1,000
career points, grabbed more
than 1,000 rebounds, and
had a tremendous win/loss
record as a player. What
accomplishment sticks out to
you the most?
Probably getting over 1,000 career rebounds. It is meaningful because no one in Cook County has done it before.
After being used to playing
in so many games, how hard
was it to watch the playoffs
this season?
It was very hard. I had to fight off tears in every game.
What was the most memorable experience
of your high school basketball career?
Going to Iowa this summer with the team. We played in a basketball tournament where we won five of six game. No one expected much from us as a small school in Minnesota. It was a great experience to compete against teams from Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota.
What will you take from your basketball
experience in Cook County?
Play your hardest every game. You don’t know when your last game will be.
After talking with Jacobsen, I asked Head Coach T.J. Super about Essa. I could tell it was hard for him to talk about her in just a few words. An emotional Super just pointed to a comment he used in a game program and said, “Use this. This is as close as I can get to summarizing what she has meant.”
In the program, Coach Super had these thoughts, “Essa’s commitment and dedication to basketball has inspired her teammates to put in time in the off-season to make this program much better. Her dedication has helped build a foundation that younger girls will continue to build on for years to come.”
Mitch Dorr, a Cook County High School Class of
1993 graduate, is now a social studies teacher
and coach at his former alma mater. Mitch
coaches Vikings football and boys’ basketball.
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