Angelica Do dropped a triple-double (35 points, 15 rebounds, 10 steals) as Leonia advanced to the North 1, Group 2 state sectional quarterfinals with a 47-44 win over Pascack Hills on Thursday.
LEONIA – At first glance it looks like the story of the Leonia girls basketball team is in the numbers. There were only seven Lions in uniform on Thursday as they opened the state tournament and they needed their coaching and training staffs to get in position so there was a run-through line long enough for pregame introductions. Including junior varsity, there are 10 players in the whole program, barely enough to play 5-on-5 on any given day in practice and that is if all of them are present.
"We have 10 players in the program, there were three JV players that were not able to be here today, but that is it for us," said head coach Joe Prenenski. "We rock with the numbers we have."
Leonia's roster size is not the story, however, it is what the Lions have been able to do within its constraints. With a 47-44 win over Pascack Hills in the opening round of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament, Leonia is heading to the second round of the states for the third straight year, just the latest accomplishment in a season in which the Lions have punched well above their weight.
They qualified for the Bergen County Tournament proper for the first time in nearly 30 years and, after losing in the opening round to Mahwah, the Lions dropped down into the BIT and made a run to the semifinals. They are now 16-10 on the season heading into the quarterfinals at No. 2 Westwood on Saturday.
And, oh yeah, they have Angelica Do, the best Leonia player in a generation.
The senior is the all-time leading scorer in Leonia girls basketball history. Now over 2,000 points for her career, she has zoomed past Christine Powers, a 1991 graduate, on the all-time scoring list and added to her legacy by dropping a triple-double on Pascack Hills.
Do scored 35 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and added 10 steals and, of course, called game with a 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key with 1:28 left in regulation to give the Lions the lead for good.
If there is a motto for this season and for Do's career at 100 Christie Heights Street, it has to be, "We shall overcome."
"It's been very hectic. We started off barely even having enough for a JV team. We've lost a lot of players along the way. We had people quitting, we had family issues, injuries, we have one of our better players [Dani Daproza] out right now. It's been tough, honestly," said Do, who recently committed to Division 2 Queens College. "But we push through. We don't make any excuses and I am so glad that we won today. It was a tough game. We were playing a good team, we had a foul out and an injury and we were down to five [players] at one point."
Kate Glass scored 11 points for Pascack Hills, which finished the season at 10-15.
Leonia even uses its squad size to some kind of psychological advantage. The Lions do not sit during timeouts, preferring instead to show their opponent that they are always up for the run, but there is no denying the constraints. It's part of the game within the game for Prenenski.
Fresh and at full strength at the start, Do scored the game's first seven points and Leonia was up 12-3 at the end of the first quarter. Four straight points by Juliet Sclafane to start the second quarter gave the Lions a 16-3 lead.
Meanwhile, Pascack Hills got off to a tough start from the field. The Broncos missed their first 11 attempts from 3-point range and had just one field goal through the first 10:45 of the game. When Kaitlyn Wittlinger finally made PH's first 3 with 3:11 left in the first half to kick off an 8-2 run, it dragged the Broncos back to within 20-16 at the intermission.
Attrition was also started to creep up on Leonia as Do picked up her third foul with 1:01 left in the first half, Emriqua Jario was tagged with her third 31 seconds later and Amaya Nunez was called for her fourth just 1:22 into the second half. It was no coincidence then that Pascack Hills scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 23-20 lead.
Leonia recouped a 2-point advantage, 31-29, by the end of the third quarter, but the game reset to start the fourth and than halfway through it was not all that rosy for the Lions. Senior Celeste Garzon fouled out on a charge call with 5:52 left in regulation to leave Leonia with just six available players and it was down to five when Nunez went to the bench in obvious pain after having her finger bent back while going for a steal with 4:24 to go.
"I bent my finger all the way back in the Bogota game (on Feb. 11) and then in this game towards the end when I tried to get a steal it went all the way backwards again," said Nunez, a promising sophomore. "I was just thinking, dang, I need to stop getting hurt. I needed to play, not just for me but for the team. We were almost out [of players] and I needed to be out there."
Right after Nunez went out Lilly Terhune's up-and-under move in the post gave Pascack Hills a 36-33 lead, but Do scored the next 7 points to put Leonia back in front , 40-36, just under the 3:00 mark.
Juliet Sclafane scored 4 points for Leonia, which will play Westwood in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Pascack Hills' Olivia Juliano and Wittlinger scored on back-to-back trips to tie the game at 40 with 2:12 left, but then the final swing of momentum went in Leonia's direction. Nunez returning with 2:01 to go was the first part of it and then its own missed shot helped the Lions' cause. Jario grabbed the rebound and turned it into a scramble situation. At the end of it, Do wound up with the ball behind the arc and nobody in front of her as the defense tried to recover.
Do was not going to miss a wide-open 3 with the game on the line, there was never a doubt from the time it left her hand, and she made all four of her free throw attempts in the final 34 seconds to seal the win and add another highlight to her four-year varsity career in maroon and silver.
"The cream rises to the top and Angelica proved why she is one of the best players in the state," said Prenenski. "At halftime today I said to her, 'I need you to take over the game.' She is unselfish and she is a great teammate, but we were going to win or lose based on what she did in the second half. Then she scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, she hit two big 3s and lived up to the hype."
Do scored 35 of Leonia's 47 points with Nunez (5 points), Sclafane (4 points) and Naomi Markowski's third-quarter 3 providing just enough of a compliment. Wittlinger and Kate Glass led Pascack Hills (10-15) with 11 points each. Terhune finished with 8 points, Sabrina Madonick (7 points) made two second half 3s, Emily Driver made a 3 and Juliano and Brooke Sawyer split the other four points for the Broncos, who had a resurgent year despite the loss.
Pascack Hills reached double digits wins and qualified for the state tournament for the first time in seven years.
"It was a great run and the girls did a great job in a short period of time. They really worked hard and we just fell a little bit short at the end today," said head coach AJ Alaprantis, who was named Coach of the Year in the Big North- Patriot Division. "That girl [Do] is good. We put our toughest defender on her and did everything we could, but sometimes you just have to tip your hat."
Do could have gone to numerous other places to play her high school ball, but home was the best choice for her. Proving once again that a player can both represent a hometown program regardless of its perception and get recruited at a high level, Do chose to leave her legacy in the same place where she grew up.
"I don't regret it. I love the people here in Leonia, I love the atmosphere, I love the coaches. I've had the question asked before of why I didn't go to a private school, it's just that I am happy here with these people," said Do. "What matters to me most is the environment that I am in, the support that I get. I love my teammates and they help me push myself."
Think her attitude has rubbed off?
"This was Angelica's last home game and she wanted to make it special for her. She's great. She's a great player, she's a great person, she is a great teammate," said Nunez. "She is a great student, too, a great example, and we are so happy that we got to spend this time with her."
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