By JON BAKER

LINCOLN  — How 14-year-old Jessica Carrignan, a Lincoln High School freshman, has excelled so strongly in academics is somewhat a mystery to her father, Joe.

More curious to him, however, is how his daughter became a standout basketball player — not to mention a two-time state champion free-throw shooter.
“I have no idea where her athletic talent comes from,” stated Joe, a 39-year-old salesman for Frito-Lay, Inc. of Cranston, while sitting in LHS Principal Kevin McNamara’s office on Tuesday afternoon. “I can’t dribble a basketball, though her mother (Danielle) plays tennis just for fun. As far as sports go, neither her mother nor myself played anything in high school.
“I will say I have to give my wife credit for the academic part of it. She got straight A’s at Lincoln High. As for me? Let’s put it this way: I had a much tougher time at Cumberland,” he added with a laugh. “I’m not athletic, never have been, my parents aren’t and my wife really isn’t, except for the tennis, so it’s definitely not genetics.”
Fact is, the younger Carrignan owns a near-perfect 4.129 grade-point average at Lincoln High (a 4.3 grading system based on the weighting of each student’s course load). Just as impressive: She captured — on Sunday, March 22 at the Rhode Island State Council Knights of Columbus Free-Throw Shooting Championships held at Warwick’s Bishop Hendricken High School — the girls’ 14-year-old age group crown, nailing 24 of 25 foul shots.
Call that a stunning 96 percent, a number in which Boston Celtics’ head coach Doc Rivers would be proud.
With that triumph, Jessica defended her title from the year before, when she drained 19 of 25 at the same state competition, gleaning the 13-year-old girls’ title.
“The only one I missed was somewhere in the middle; I think it was the 11th,” Jessica said with a shy grin. “I hit the front of the rim, and it was because I didn’t give enough power from my knees ... I think I just got a little nervous. As always, I rotate the ball in my hands, bounce the ball four times, take a deep breath and then make sure my knees are bent before the shot. Then I just position it right in my hands and let it fly.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” she added. “I think, genetically, some people are more athletic than others, but I believe you have to love the sport you’re in and work hard at it. If there’s any secret, that’s it.”
Earlier this year, Jessica snared the local competition at Lincoln High, canning 13 of 15, then moved on to the district level, where she landed an amazing 24 of 25 before the same outing at states.
“I don’t know what it is, but I love shooting free throws,” she said. “I just find them to be an easy shot. Once you get in that rhythm, it’s just ‘muscle memory,’ but it took a lot of practice to get it.”
Because Rhode Island chooses not to send age-group champions to the national competition, she didn’t have the opportunity to “strut her stuff” and snatch another title, but that didn’t seem to faze her an iota.
“I’m competitive, so I would have loved to go to nationals, but we don’t. If I had, I would’ve given it my all.”

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How Carrignan balances her academics – she has earned virtual straight A’s in honors English, physics, geometry, early world history and multi-genre writing, not to mention music appreciation and health/physical education – with hoops is hardly “rocket science,” not to her anyway.
“I just study according to the course material; if I don’t understand something, I will just spend more time in front of the books,” she said nonchalantly. “Most things, though, come pretty easy to me. Then again, I really pay attention in class because I like to learn things the first time.
“Honestly, it’s not that hard for me, and – again – I don’t know why,” she continued. “I enjoy school, and it just comes naturally. I love learning about new things.”
To her parents, that’s been obvious for the longest time.
She’s always received top grades among her classmates, and – just last year – snagged the middle school’s Natalie Sutcliffe Award: Her teachers selected her one who most exemplified the overall premier female student.
When asked how she became a “hoopster,” Joe Carrignan smiled and offered, “We put a basketball in her hands when she was about six, and she hasn’t taken one out since. She started playing in a Parks & Recreation League in the fifth grade, and she was an average player, but started to fall in love with it in the seventh grade. Her sister (LHS junior Amanda) had started playing, so call it sibling rivalry. She wanted to do it, too.”
When she entered high school, she chose to try out for the varsity basketball team, coached by Mike Bedrossian, and spent time with both the varsity and JV programs as a 5’9” forward. Even she admits she’s not built like a power forward, as “I’m not 6’4” or 6’5”, but that doesn’t matter. I’m hoping to get a college scholarship somewhere, then become a collegiate assistant coach. My ultimate dream is to be head coach of a college team someday.”
Stated Bedrossian: “She was a ‘swing’ player for us, meaning she was half-varsity and half-JV. She helped us rebound down low, and scored some points for us … That’s great, her being a state champion. I didn’t know anything about it, but I’m not surprised.
“I just stepped down as varsity (girls’) coach as I want to spend more time with my wife and son. I wish I could coach her next year,” he added. “This couldn’t have happened to a better kid. Jess is a great person. She was always the first one at practice, the first to get the basketballs out and to shoot around. She worked on her game individually, but was a great team player. She also was a positive role model. She helped me out with my second-grade clinic I put on every March. She just goes above and beyond.
“You know, I think her ability to shoot free throws is a cerebral thing. To do that, you need to practice a lot, work hard on your routine, but you also need to be smart. I think her success is all intertwined … If she continues to work hard, there’s no question she’ll be able to play in college. She’s got the work ethic any coach would love, and that’s the truth.”
Jessica also represents the Rhode Island Breakers’ 14 (year olds) Amateur Athletic Union squad, all the while chasing her Girl Scouts’ Gold Award (equivalent to the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Award).
McNamara, as her principal, claimed he was proud of this young woman.
“Colleges want the total package; they want the student-athlete,” he said. “They want a good player whom they don’t have to worry about when it comes to education, in terms of eligibility. If Jessica continues along this path, she will have many more options awaiting her.”