LJWorld.com

Shawnee Mission West's Lizzy Jeronimus was fifth in the Sunflower League in scoring this season with a 14.6 points per-game-average.

Lawrence High senior Taylor Bird finished second at 17.5 ppg.

SM West's Heather Howard led the league with 9.2 rebounds per game and Bird finished right behind her at 9.0 rebounds per game.

As for assists, Jeronimus ranked 16th in the league at 2.5 per game. Bird, yet again, ranked eighth at 3.0 per game.

And then there's steals, where Jeronimus was 11th in the league with 2.5 per game and Bird finished fifth in the league with 3.1 per game.

Get the point yet?

Let me help you out. Taylor Bird is good. Really good. So good, in fact, that she's the only player in the Sunflower League to rank in the Top 8 of all four major categories.

Furthermore, she's one of only two players in the league (SM East's Janna Graf is the other) to rank in the Top 5 in points, rebounds and steals, and at 7:45 tonight at Free State High, she'll look to lead the Lions (10-11) back to the state tournament for the second straight season in a sub-state title game against No. 1 seed SM West (17-4).

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Putting up big-time numbers is nothing new for Bird, who has played — and starred — with the LHS varsity since her sophomore season. But her road to this point has been a poster for player development.

As a sophomore, Bird was a free-flowing, wild child, who preferred to chuck it up from the outside and run fast on every possession. It worked fine and she was among the Sunflower League's scoring leaders because of her superior athletic ability and ability to shoot the rock.

But the Lions lost in the sub-state title game that season and were sent home reeling.

Then came Bird's junior year and something changed. On a team loaded with talent — and one that relied on three sophomores — Bird grew up. She became the total package, deferring to teammates when necessary, digging in on defense more and more every week and changing her game to better suit the needs of the team. The result? The Lions won the Class 6A state championship and Bird went home with that contagious smile plastered across her face.

This year, things changed again. Gone was Bird's sister, Danielle, the Lions MVP of 2008. Out was fellow-senior Tania Jackson, down with an ACL injury suffered in the summer.

And left holding the reins was Bird, the team's lone senior, asked to shoulder the load of leadership, defense and scoring all at once.

No problem. There came that smile again.

Fast-forward 21 games and Bird's numbers are not surprising. She's been asked to do a little bit of everything for the Lions this season, and more times than not, she's delivered exactly what they needed.

Tonight, when the Lions play their second do-or-die game of the season, expect Bird to be at her best. And don't be surprised if she's among the game's leaders in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

It's just what she does.