By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Six years ago, Joyce Fleming, then the Lucas-Luray girls' basketball assistant coach, walked up to head coach Bryan Weatherman. Fleming told Weatherman that seventh grader Jenna Ulrich could jump and touch the bottom of the backboard, an impressive feat for an athlete that young. Weatherman didn't believe it.

"No she can't," Weatherman said

"Yeah she can," Fleming said.

Ulrich ran up, jumped and touched the backboard.

"That kind of fueled the fire and hopefully she will get better and better," Fleming said.

Ulrich, now a senior for the Cougars, has grown in stature and continually improved her athletic ability. The 6-footer, who can now jump and touch the rim with her fingers -- "I can't dunk, that's my next goal," she said -- averaged a double-double and earned third all-state Class 1A as a junior. In the fall, she signed with Fort Hays State University for volleyball and basketball.

"I was just really impressed with the way she played volleyball and her athletic ability," FHSU volleyball coach Kurt Kohler said. "You can see she is a good leader on the court. ... This is a 6-foot-1 kid playing every rotation, which you usually don't see at the high school level. She hits the ball hard, she gets her block set every time. Very coachable kid. Anytime her coach was saying something, there was eye contact. That just really impresses me with any kid nowadays."

This winter, Ulrich, who has scored in double figures in all but one game, has again posted all-state numbers with 16.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists, and led Lucas-Luray to a 13-3 record and an opportunity to reach the state tournament for the first time since 1998.

"We have all of the spots filled," she said. "We have an inside and we have an outside. We have fast people and we have good defense. We have what it takes to be a state team. We just need to make sure that when it comes to that time, that we pull ourselves together and we play as a team. I think we will be fine. I really think we can make it to state this year."

The Cougars, who have won six straight games, are in their final season of Lucas-Luray High School. Next year, Lucas-Luray with consolidate with Sylvan Grove-Sylvan Unified. The two already co-op for all spring sports.

"It's tough, seeing the school kind of disappear and knowing that we are the last class," Ulrich said, one of several seniors with a 4.0 grade point average. "Kind of all the memories are ending with us. It's sad. All my life, it has been Lucas-Luray for me. It's been my school and growing up, it has been everybody in the community."

Ulrich, the youngest of three siblings, was pushed often by her older brother, Jonathan, and sister, Jessica, currently a senior at Kansas State University.

"When I was really little, especially when I got into organized sports, I didn't want to lose and he kind of helped me push. I like to do what I can, I like to do the best that I can," she said. "He just pushes me."

The competition fueled Ulrich's jumping ability and seventh grade feat.

"Everything was competition with us," she said. "He could jump and he could touch it, so I wanted to."

Ulrich, a four-year starter for one of the state's smallest schools (Lucas' 43 students in grades 10-12 tie for 11th fewest in Kansas), averaged 17.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists for a 17-6 team last winter. This year, she has upped her all-around game, especially her passing, as the Cougars have suffered just three losses, two by four points each, including one to Smith Center, ranked in Class 3A.

"She has gotten a lot better," Chase head coach Jason Briar said. "She has gotten a lot more composed. When we played her in the past few years, we have been able to rattle her and get her off her game and get her in foul trouble.

"She is a lot more mature," Briar added. "She is a more aggressive player. She is stronger. She has got better moves. She is better off the dribble. She has really learned to use the glass as a weapon. She misses a shot and catches it on the other side and then finishes it on the other side. That's something she couldn't do in the past. You can tell she has really worked in the summer."

The summer helped Ulrich -- and also started her recruitment with FHSU. For basketball, Ulrich spent time playing with the Great Bend girls' basketball team, a state power that earned Class 5A runner-up in 2009 and features first team all-state Class 5A forward Alex Hartig. For volleyball, Kohler watched her play at a showcase in Hutchinson. During the fall, Kohler went to watch Ulrich, who was also recruited by several junior colleges, NAIA schools and Washburn University, in Osborne. Ulrich, who will likely play middle hitter, could see "significant time" as a freshman for the Tigers.

"Her size alone, with the type of build she has, she is a very athletic, muscular kid that is very coordinated," Kohler said. "So many times, when you are in high school, there are some coordination issues. She plays very, very coordinated, very athletic. She was heads above so many of those players there."

Ulrich has also become more focused with Lucas-Luray senior point guard Kisha O'Meara, the Cougars' second-leading scorer at 14.6 points a contest. The two lift weights before school and shoot baskets during lunch.

"It was kind of a really important step for me to hit it hard this year," Ulrich said. "I have been trying to do what I can."

"It shows in the game," O'Meara said.

Ulrich has scored more than 20 points four times and tallied 17 rebounds on three occasions. Outside of one blowout win, Ulrich's longtime leaping ability has helped her grab eight or more rebounds in every game.

"She is a great jumper," Fleming, now the head coach, said. "That helps. Usually when we get in a bind, we just throw it high and she can go up and get it."