State College girls’ basketball picks up win on senior night with strong performance vs. Harrisburg
Less than 10 seconds remained in the first quarter at State College’s North Gym and the Lady Little Lions were set to inbound the ball from underneath the far basket.
Before the Lady Little Lions pulled off the 76-36 victory over Harrisburg, before senior Maya Bokunewicz netted a game-high 35 points, there was still no question early on Friday who was going to receive the ball.
As the ball passed midcourt, Bokunewicz — a Rice signee — collected it just beyond the elbow and drained a shot at the first-quarter buzzer. Her 10th point of the quarter gave State College a 21-4 lead on senior night, a lead which was never in doubt Friday in a lopsided victory over Harrisburg.
“We wanted to get a grip on the game early, and I thought we did that,” State College girls’ basketball coach Chris Leazier said. “Our kids executed. They concentrated. And that really made a difference early on, and then we were able to get out and run. And that was a difference in the game.”
Prior to the game, State College honored the four seniors on its team, making the blowout victory extra special for the Lady Little Lions.
“This is our fourth year as coaches, so this group started with us and they’ve been a really special group,” Leazier said. “They really invested in us as coaches. They allowed us to coach them, and my daughter is part of this group so it’s a pretty unique thing.”
And while the night was about all four of State College’s seniors, the main focus was placed on one: Bokunewicz.
Bokunewicz was electric throughout the contest, just like she has been all season for State College on her way to the game-high 35 points.
“I hope the State High girls’ basketball fans have an appreciation for what they are seeing,” Leazier added. “You don’t get one of these kids all the time. I mean, she is just special.”
After jumping out to a 21-4 lead in the opening quarter, State College did face some adversity in the second, as Harrisburg cut its lead down to just 14 and ended up outscoring the Lady Little Lions in the second quarter to make it a 16-point game at the half.
The Lady Cougars were able to press State College and cause some turnovers, including one on an inbound pass that led to an easy layup.
Ah’Nae Robinson led the way for Harrisburg with 16 points.
State College started the second half strong, though, on a 20-4 run to wrap-up the contest midway through the third quarter.
A big part of the outburst for State College was the shooting of senior Isabelle Leazier, Chris’ daughter.
Isabelle was able to rattle off four 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished the game with seven 3s and 29 points.
And for her father, it was a shooting outburst that didn’t surprise him at all.
“I’ve been telling her for a while, she’s been our highest 3-point shooter over the last couple years and she’s never had a game where she’s went for like six or seven,” Leazier said. “I just kept telling her ‘I think there is a game in you where you can really rattle six or seven of them off,’ so I was of course happy for her tonight.”
But, most of all, Leazier said he was happy for the team win. The season is still far from over, but senior night gave Leazier a chance to reflect on what a special class of girls he has.
“It will be really hard for me when the season is over,” Leazier said. “There are a lot of games left so, right now, we are just excited to continue to improve, but we’re going to miss these kids dearly.
“The way to think about it even though we will be losing four great seniors is that they’ve helped set such a foundation, we’ll see their contributions in the years ahead.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 10:30 PM.
