Howell Puts Heart Into Memorial Meet

When Jaxon Salenbien was getting close to reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career, he had some pretty good people to turn to for advice.

Salenbien is the third member of his family to reach 1,000 points. Both of sisters scored more than 1,000 points while also playing for Adrian Lenawee Christian and his father, Jamie Salenbien, is a state-championship winning coach.

“My dad has coached ever since I can remember,” said Jaxon, a junior. “My sisters were always playing. I just kind of flowed right into it. I’ve just always been around it. I’ve watched a ton of basketball. I think that’s helped.”

The talent certainly runs deep in the family.

Jamie Salenbien played high school basketball for Hudson and set the school’s single-game scoring record. His wife, Deborah, played in college.

Jaxon’s older sisters Dani and Bree both were all-state players at Lenawee Christian and led the team to back-to-back Class D/Division 4 championships. Dani scored more than 1,000 points before playing at Hillsdale College. Bree scored more than 2,000 points, won four straight Associated Press Class D/Division 4 Player of the Year honors and is now playing at Gonzaga. Jaxon’s older brother Tyler was all-state in football.

“I used to watch them; now they are watching me and cheering me on,” Jaxon said. “We always have supported one another. It’s harder for Bree since she’s so far away, but when she’s home, she comes to my games.”

Salenbien was an instant starter on the LCS varsity team as a freshman, scoring nearly 450 points. He had a knack for getting to the free throw line and was a dangerous 3-point shooter.

Last year he teamed with senior Brandon Summer – a 1,000-point scorer himself – to light up the scoreboard but was also a top-notch playmaker, dishing out more than six assists a game.

This winter, as a junior, Salenbien has been even more assertive with the basketball, shooting from the outside more often and driving with authority. He’s twice scored more than 30 points in a game, including 37 in an overtime win over Springport. It was during that game that he surpassed the 1,000-point milestone.

"Jaxon is not only super talented but also one the most dedicated gym rats I've ever coached,” Cougars coach Matt Summer said. “He is a great leader and a phenomenal teammate. His passion for the game is second to none. I'm super happy for him to hit this scoring milestone in his career."

That Springport win also was his first back in the lineup after an ankle injury forced him to miss two games.

“(The milestone point) had a weird timing to it because the game was so close,” he said. “They never said it over the PA system or anything because the game ended up going into overtime. I didn’t know exactly when I got it, but my coach told me.

“It’s a cool milestone to get as a high school player,” he added. “It was on my radar, but we just want to win as a team.”

Salenbien said there has been no magic formula to being more assertive on the basketball floor – he’s just playing the role on the team that an upperclassman should.

“Being an upperclassman, that’s what you are always going to do,” he said. “Taking control down the stretch is important for the junior and senior guards.”

The Cougars are off to a 12-2 start with a key stretch of Tri-County Conference games coming up. They lost their first TCC game recently to Petersburg Summerfield, which is 13-0.

The Cougars have excelled at 3-point shooting – averaging nearly 10 made triples a game.

“It’s so much fun,” Salenbien said. “Teams can’t key on one person. If they do, we have shooters everywhere.”

Jaxon is the youngest of the Salenbiens, who are all two years apart. He was in third grade when Dani started on the varsity. In fifth grade, his dad – who won 104 games in five seasons as the LCS girls varsity coach – coached him. Since then, his dad has been an assistant coach on several of his teams, including this year.

“When I was younger, he coached me in maybe fifth grade, but he’s never been my head coach, but always an assistant,” Jaxon said. “He’s always coaching me even if he’s not my coach.”

His sisters were definite basketball role models.

“Watching them has helped and just conversations we get to have,” he said. “Dani comes to pretty much every game now. Right before I reached 1,000 points, Bree and I had an hour-long conversation about things I need to work on and being coachable. It’s helpful to have those two to look up to on and off the court.”

Bree’s advice: Be coachable, be a leader and never think you can win a game by yourself.

His mom, who keeps the scorebook for LCS, offers her own advice – sometimes during games when he reaches the scorer’s table and checks in.

“We always say she’s the emotional support, and my dad is the basketball support,” Jaxon said. “She keeps me in line. She tells me to not complain to the referee and keep my head.”

Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Jaxon Salenbien (24) pushes the pace bringing the ball upcourt against Blissfield. (Middle) Salenbien elevates to get a hand on a loose ball. (Photos by Michelle Sullivan.)