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Sports

Captain Meister Leads On and Off the Court

Senior helped power Madison to state semi-finals.

The boys basketball team boasted a number of weapons on the way to a deep run in the state playoffs, but one player, senior Jake Meister, stood out a little more than the rest.

Meister, who is listed at six-foot-three, has been a starter for head coach Bill Librera’s Dodgers since his sophomore year, leading Madison in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons.

And while Meister’s ability to find the net is unquestioned—Librera describes him as having a “a chest for scoring”—the Dodger captain impacted his team in a multitude of ways.

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“He’s a team leader through and through,” Librera explained “He’s a kid that when I think of Madison basketball, he optimizes it."

"I am so proud of how Jake has matured as a young man and I am honored to have walked with him as a coach over his four years at Madison," Librera said. "His work ethic has allowed him to be a premiere player not only in this league but anywhere we step on the floor. "

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In the regular season, Meister led Madison with 15.2 points per game and 5.4 rebounds, while ranking second in assists (3.4), and steals (2), all of which are improvements on his junior season numbers.

“Jake’s everything for this team,” Madison senior point guard Aaron Fant said. “He puts the ball in the basket, he plays defense, he gets a lot of rebounds and we look to him to hit big shots for us.”

Meister, who moved to Madison from Hasbrouck Heights his freshman year, is just as happy to be a Dodger, as his coach and teammates are to have him.

“I’ve had a great time playing here,” Meister said. “Once I moved here, coach put me on [the freshman team] and then moved me up to JV and I've been a starter since sophomore year. Being with coach Librera and coach [Stephen] Hughes helped me out so much, I just love playing basketball everyday. It’s like a family.”

And while opposing teams attempted to gameplan around him, opposing fans went right at him, directing much of their attention in an effort to distract him.

If you ask the Madison senior, he’ll tell you that the taunts weren’t a distraction. In fact, for Meister, they’re a welcomed occurrence.

“I like it, to be honest,” he said. “It gives me more confidence and makes me a little more enthusiastic as the game goes on.”

The combination of thick skin, confidence and a nasty jumper, make Meister a special player.

“He means more to this team than I think I let on,” Librera said. "We have rode Jake for multiple years and his presence on and off the court will be sorely missed next year.”

“I think he’ll miss this, but we’ll miss him more,” he added.

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