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TOMBSTONE — Record-breaking senior Jaqi Bell is a girl too tough to quit in a Town Too Tough To Die.
Bell has had to overcome an upbringing that has been pretty rough on her.
“My father had bad diabetes,” Bell said. “I was taken custody by my mother, she lives in Tombstone. Then my dad had custody. I was in foster care during my sophomore year.”
 Tombstone High senior Jaqi Bell drives to the basket against Willcox Friday night in Tombstone. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) |
Since August, the 17-year-old Bell has lived with Cassi Morelock, a former English teacher at Tombstone High School who coached the Yellowjackets varsity girls basketball team from 2003-06 and helped out with the track and field and cross country teams until this season.
Her classmates even think Bell resembles Morelock a little bit.
“Everyone’s told me that since I was a freshman,” Bell said. “We’re like sisters ... I said ‘Uh-uh, I’m better.’ ”
When it comes to throwing the discus, Bell’s best was better than Morelock’s. On May 12 at the Class 2A State Track and Field Championships at Mesa Community College, Bell finished third in the discus throw. Her throw of 120 feet, 4 inches broke Morelock’s record of 117-10.
“She’s always the daughter you’d always like to have,” said Morelock, who threw the javelin at the University of Nebraska and competed in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. “She’s probably the most mature 17-year-old you’d ever meet.”
Bell will likely want to get 100 percent healthy, since she is still recovering from a right knee injury.
“Last year before we played Bisbee in Regionals, I was on the fast break in practice,” Bell said. “I went to go move away from my man. My knee popped left on inside, my body went to the right. I blew it out. After I had an ACL tear, I didn’t do my therapy until June.”
But the injury, along with two more tears in track and in softball, and a black brace on her right knee to remind her of them all, led her to think about pursuing a career in physical therapy.
Bell has been a key figure on four Tombstone varsity girls teams during the past two seasons. Now she is looking for the Yellowjackets girls basketball team to return the favor by her 18th birthday.
“We want to make it to state,” Bell said recently at the new Tombstone gymnasium. “The first round of state is on my birthday (Feb. 15). We have to get there.”
Since she was a freshman, Bell has been a part of three Yellowjacket girls basketball teams that have all lost in the first round of region tournaments. None of those teams made it to the Arizona Interscholastic Association Class 2A Girls Basketball State Tournament.
The Yellowjackets are 2-6 in the East Region (6-17 overall). They are fighting for the No. 4 seed, so they do not have to play at Willcox (2-4) when the East Region Girls Basketball Tournament begins on Feb. 6. The Cowgirls are currently the No. 4 seed.
“I think the most valuable thing is having her as a leader,” Tombstone varsity girls basketball head coach Mike Bunnell said. “She leads by great example. She helps with other girls with offense and defense. She’s valuable in assisting them, showing them what they should do.”
On a young team with just four seniors, Bell has averaged more than 15 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game this season as a 5-foot-8 guard. She has received looks and has talked with coaches from Adams State College, Central Arizona College, Cochise College and Western New Mexico University.
This spring Bell said she plans on playing for the Tucson Majestic, a traveling basketball team. That should help her get ready if a college is interested in her playing women’s basketball for them.
Bell also worked at the Lazy K Bar Guest Ranch in Tucson. She likes to hike and camp in the mountains.
She said she will try to compete in track and field, where she’s competed since her freshman year, this spring. She will not play softball in order to focus on basketball. Bell has been an integral part of Tombstone sports lore. Last season she played second base and helped the Yellowjackets reach the semifinals of the Arizona Interscholastic Association Class 2A Girls Softball State Tournament for the first time in team history. She also helped the Yellowjackets reach the quarterfinals of the AIA Class 2A Girls State Volleyball Tournament for the first time in team history.
“I’ll try to do track, but if my schedule conflicts with basketball, then I can’t do it,” Bell said. “If I do track, I’d want to set a state record in discus, which is about 131 feet. I’d want to break our team record, it’s only 35 feet.”
Wiillie wrote on Mar 2, 2009 7:42 PM: