Bessette breaks scoring record
By Greg Seubert
Someday, a basketball player at Manawa’s Little Wolf High School will score more points than Laynie Bessette.
For now, however, Bessette is at the top of that list.
The senior broke Molly Lieberman’s previous record of 1,280 points – set in the early 1990s – Feb. 14 in the first half of the Wolves’ 47-42 loss to Wabeno/Laona in Wabeno.
“It definitely shows that the work you put in does pay off,” Bessette said. “I’ve put in over 100 hours every summer since eighth grade. Everyone says I’m an athlete, but no one knows the work I put in being an athlete.
“It means a lot,” she said. “I hold a record in this school. I’ve tried to turn the Manawa basketball program around as much as I could and I feel like I’ve been pretty successful.”
Bessette came into the game with Wabeno/Laona needing six points to break Lieberman’s mark and finished with a game-high 18.
“My grandpa keeps track of my points and I knew how many I had to average,” she said. “It was always like 15 (points per game) and I average 18. The whole time, I knew I’d be fine.”
Bessette knew she’d eventually get the record, but a nonconference game with New London was postponed due to the weather and later cancelled, while Wisconsin Valley Lutheran ended up forfeiting the Wolves’ final regular-season game Feb. 15.
She broke the record early in the game with a steal and layup.
“My mom got a video of it,” she said. “The whole time, my dad said, ‘If you break it, you break it.’ It was in the back of my mind, but I’m just playing ball at this point.”
Bessette passed another milestone earlier in the season. She scored her 1,000th point Dec. 6 in a 53-37 win over Tigerton on the Wolves’ home court.
The scoring record, on the other hand, came more than 100 miles from home.
“I thought it was almost better to go far away because you didn’t have the crowd making you nervous over it,” Bessette said. “We didn’t stop the game for this record at all. We just kept playing. I knew when I scored it because I needed only six points, but if it would have been like 20, I would have had no clue because I lose track after four points.”
Bessette’s dad, Brian, is an assistant coach on the team and sparked her interest in basketball.
“My dad coached the boys’ JV team when I was little, so my mom and me always went the games and watched,” she said. “He has such a love for it that he got me into loving it. It was kind of forced thing, but as an athlete, I wanted to go out and do it right away as a little kid.”
Besides playing four years of high school basketball, Bessette also played AAU basketball and now plans to continue playing the game at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
“I played with a bunch of girls from the Valley, which was a great experience,” she said. “I definitely improved the most from my sophomore year to my junior year. Otherwise, I do leagues with our team on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I do the youth camp, go to open gyms and weight lift every day.”
On top of setting a new scoring record, Bessette and the Wolves won the Central Wisconsin Conference North Division, the program’s first championship since 2007. Manawa’s boys’ team also won a division title for the first time since 1985.
“The town and the school are talking about it a lot,” Bessette said. “Teachers always ask about it and they come to our games. The stands are a lot fuller than they used to be. We were 6-14 my freshman year and to completely turn it around in my senior year is pretty cool.”
The girls’ team is seeded fourth in its WIAA Division 4 regional and opened state tournament play Feb. 19 with a home game against Coleman.
“I’m going to miss this team so much,” Bessette said. “They’re easily my favorite team and we have such a good bond together. I’m excited for what’s next, but I’m going to miss this atmosphere.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead, but there’s potential for us to go places,” she added. “We’re not done yet.”
Bessette may not be finished setting school records, either.
She also competes in volleyball and track and set the school’s triple jump record – 34 feet, 3 inches – in May 2018 at a track meet in Wittenberg.
“I’m going for the 300-meter hurdles now,” she said. “I went to state in the 300 hurdles, but it was weird. I had only done it five times, including state. I want to leave my mark on this place for sure.”