The littlest Raven Small guard sparks FPU title surge

By Ken Murphy, Sentinel Staff



At first glance, Toby Martin may seem easy to underestimate.

It’s a byproduct of having one well-defined role as a junior guard on the Franklin Pierce women’s basketball team: find teammate Johannah Leedham, the Ravens’ All-America sophomore forward who has been busy assaulting the program record book since she set foot on campus.

It’s a byproduct of being from Wayne, Maine, a community of about 1,000 people nestled on the shores of Androscoggin Lake and perhaps most famous for being the home of Tubby’s Ice Cream.

It’s a byproduct of being generously listed as 5-foot-5 on the team roster, which is still the shortest player on the team even if accurate.

“If she’s 5-5, I’m 7 feet,” Franklin Pierce Coach Mark Swasey said from the team bus in Kearney, Neb., on Monday night as his Ravens returned to their hotel.

Franklin Pierce (27-5) faces Anchorage-Alaska (29-4) on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals. It is the deepest either team has ever advanced.

Swasey hopes opposing coaches underestimate Martin, a first-year starter and a second-year transfer from Division III Thomas College in Maine. He hasn’t.

In Martin, the Ravens had the right person at the free-throw line after Holy Family made a serious late run in the Northeast Regional final March 17 in Philadelphia. In less than a minute, Holy Family used an 8-0 run to cut the FPU lead to 75-63 with 4:58 left.

Martin hit two free throws, then added two for good measure in garbage time to finish 6-of-6 from the line. She finished with 11 points, making her one of four Ravens to reach double figures in scoring.

“Any game, that’s when we want her on the floor (at the end),” Swasey said. “Her free throws against Holy Family really sealed the deal.”

Martin’s 86.2 percent free-throw shooting (56-for-65) is best on the team. She is shooting 44.3 percent from the floor (54-for-122) and averaging 5.9 points and 1.7 assists while playing 19.3 minutes a game.

While those are not all-conference numbers, Martin knows her value to the team lies elsewhere. She also knows — with her team about to play in its first-ever Elite Eight — that team success is more gratifying than individual glory. Many players say that winning supersedes individual statistics. Martin backs it up with hard numbers.

At Thomas, a North Atlantic Conference program in Waterville, Maine, Martin was the Terriers’ Leedham. She led Thomas in scoring at 18.7 points a game, steals (2.5), minutes (18.3), shots taken and, naturally, free-throw percentage (.790).

“At Thomas, I had to take 15 shots a game, I needed to score 20,” she said. “That’s obviously not the case here. It’s better to find other players to score. Being on this team I’m on right now, I can’t even describe the feeling of being here in Nebraska right now. Being part of a great basketball team and doing what I can to help out, it’s awesome.

“My biggest thing is penetration. If I have the lane I’ll take it, but if not we have great scorers and great shooters in Jen (Leedham) and Jo (Leedham) and go on down the list.”

Johannah Leedham leads the Ravens at 22.7 points per game, with her sister Jennifer, Martin’s teammate in the starting backcourt, next at 10.9 points a game.

While Martin has put up fewer than half the shots Jennifer Leedham has taken, and about one-fifth the shots Jennifer Leedham has taken, she is still one of the team’s most accurate shooters. Martin is 54-of-122 (.443) from the field, including a 24-of-55 clip (.436) from 3-point range. That’s second on the team behind Josie Lidke, whose 48 percent accuracy is on pace to shatter the single-season record.

“She’s very quick. She keeps the ball nice and low and that enables her to get through traffic,” Swasey said.

Being able to keep the ball low is one of the advantages to being 5-5. Except for when it’s time to guard the opposition.

“She continues to work on her defense, but at times this year we haven’t been able to play her a lot of minutes, especially against Stonehill and against teams with bigger guards,” Swasey said. “Five-9 seems to be the height. She matches up better with players 5-8 or shorter.”

Unless it’s time for a clutch free throw. Then all bets are off.