Ravens all-star coming of age

By Ken Murphy, Sentinel Staff


PHILADELPHIA - Johannah Leedham has made more than a few big plays at key moments throughout Franklin Pierce's run through the Northeast Regional of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.

But the chest-thumping, though, followed by a fist pump and an almost violent "don't mess with me" head shake are reserved for perhaps two or three plays per game.

It looks like a combination of Sammy Sosa after a long home run and Tiger Woods after a big putt in a major - and it's likely the most intimidating show of emotion by anyone with a pink feather in her hair tying up a ponytail.

It's new this year, Leedham said after Sunday's walkthrough at Holy Family University in preparation for tonight's regional final against undefeated Holy Family at the Lady Tigers' Campus Center home court.

"It's usually for (conventional) 3-point plays and stuff," the 5-foot-11 sophomore All-America forward said. "We always feed off each other's energy, and when I'm running around doing my crazy stuff everyone seems to love it.

"We get excited after big plays and it gets everyone going."

No. 3 Franklin Pierce (26-5) and No. 1 Holy Family (32-0) tip off at 7 tonight with a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at stake, and Leedham's play thus far is a large part of the reason why the Ravens are confident they'll be the Northeast Regional representative in the national quarterfinals.

Leedham, of Ellesmere Port, England, had game highs of 21 and 30 points in wins over Dominican and Stonehill. Her line from Saturday night's upset over No. 2 Stonehill, which includes five rebounds, five steals and two assists along with the 30 points doesn't even begin to explain her dominance. She owned the first half, scoring 19 points, including 14 of the team's first 20.

Leedham's regional performance is earning her a growing reputation as a player who delivers in the postseason, when the stakes are highest. That is, of course, one of the hallmarks of a great player. Unfortunately for Leedham, her own big mistake cost her the opportunity to prove that last season.

After Franklin Pierce lost to lowly Saint Michael's in the third-to-last game of the season last year, Leedham punched a hole in the wall in Franklin Pierce's locker room, breaking her hand. The injury sidelined Leedham for the rest of the season, and two weeks later she could only sit on the bench and watch as the Ravens lost to Assumption by six points in their NE-10 tournament opener.

"I was still on the court, shaking hands with the other coach," Franklin Pierce Coach Mark Swasey said. "I was on my way back to the locker room to talk to the team when I heard a scream and then someone came running out for the trainer."

Leedham said she knew instantly that she had broken her hand.

"I just sat down and looked at my hand and turned to Josie (Lidke) and said 'I think I broke my hand as well.' She said, 'Shut up' and I said 'No, seriously,' and she went running for the trainer," Leedham recalled. "I was angry with myself.

"I felt I let the team down. I felt it was my fault that we lost the game, and I punched the wall."

Teammates were angry as well. Angry that their best player let her emotions get the better of her.

"I was very upset that she punched the wall because we needed her those last few games," Lidke said. "But she learned from it and I think we all learned from it."

The lesson learned, everyone agrees, has given Leedham a new-found maturity that she and Swasey said was the one of the weaker parts of her game as a freshman. Now, instead of punching walls, Leedham is putting her fist to better use, thumping her own chest after yet another big-time play.

"Her maturity level and her ability to handle players being more physical with her and bumping constantly and grabbing her (as a freshman) that gave her some problems," Swasey said. "She'd grow flustered and frustrated. I have not seen that nearly as much this year."

Leedham had a lot of time to learn the lesson as she stewed on the bench watching last year's lone playoff game, knowing that punching the wall because she believed she cost the team a win ended up costing her, and the team, a lot more.

"It's good to show emotion but it's got to be with some point of control," she said. "Everything's not going to go your way all the time. When stuff goes wrong you have to look at things in a better way. You've got to take a deep breath and count to 10. I'll do that instead.

"One of the biggest things I've had to improve in my game is mentally and maturity and having a bigger role as a leader. Being a captain (for Great Britain's under-20 team) this summer, that helped out a lot as well."

With the way Leedham has played this season on the way to being named the NE-10 player of the year and her 696 points just 10 shy of the program single-season record, it seems as if she's intent on making other teams pay for her mistake at the end of last season.

"You look back in retrospect - and not that it was a good thing that happened, it was awful - but she did learn from that and it had to happen for her to understand the importance to being composed, particularly in the face of adversity," Swasey said, "and that's something I've seen out of her and the whole team this year.

"The biggest jump we've made is our ability to handle adversity. And (tonight) is going to be the biggest test. It's going to be the most adverse situation we've faced all season long and I think our kids are ready. They've turned the corner and I think we're ready to handle it."