FENTON FEATURE: Undefeated Massasoit women’s basketball team resumes season Tuesday

by Jim Fenton, The Enterprise

BROCKTON ---- The Warriors, ranked No. 3 in the national Division 3 poll and idle since Dec. 10, have the country's leading junior college scorer in Ty Hawkins at 38.6 points per game.

For the second straight year, the Massasoit Community College women's basketball team is undefeated and nationally ranked to begin January.

The Warriors, idle since Dec. 10, are off to a 9-0 start and are third in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 3 poll behind a pair of teams from New York state – Nassau Community College of Garden City (13-0) and North Country Community College of Sarnac Lake (11-0).

At this time a year ago, Massasoit was sitting atop the national poll with a 12-0 record on the way to a 20-3 finish.

After a four-week break, the Warriors return to action on Tuesday night, traveling to Newport, Rhode Island to face Naval Prep, their first game since a 100-85 win at Gateway Community College on Dec. 10.

Massasoit returned just one player from a year ago, guard Alyson Reid, but the newcomers have made a quick transition with the Warriors outscoring their opponents by an average of 106.1-47.

They have reached 100 points in all but three games, and the 15-point win over Gateway was the closest margin of the season.

Unlike a year ago when Massasoit had an inside presence, the Warriors have been keyed by quickness with the team averaging 24.4 steals per game.

"They're totally different teams,″ said second-year coach Mark Leszczyk. "Last year, we had a lot of transfer kids and we were post-oriented. We had some nice guards, but we were a lot bigger. A lot of our offense came from the post where this year we're a lot smaller, a lot quicker.

"We rely a little more on full-court defensive pressure. This is the smallest team I've had in my career, top to bottom.″

Ty Hawkins, a transfer from Jones County Junior College in Mississippi, is leading the way for Massasoit.

The Brentwood, New York resident is the top junior college scorer nationally in all three divisions, averaging 38.6 points on 55 percent shooting.

The 5-foot-4 Hawkins exceeded 40 points in three straight games against Holyoke, Roxbury and Bunker Hill and later scored 43 against Bristol. She is also averaging 6.9 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 steals.

Hawkins spent just one semester at Jones County JC, coming off the bench for a Division 1 program before returning home.

"She's been an absolute pleasure to coach and she can light it up,″ said Leszczyk. "She's opening a lot of eyes at the four-year level.

"She is a shooter, but what is fun to coach with Ty is she has every offensive element there is. She can shoot the three, she pulls up in the paint. She has a mid-range game. She can get to the rim, she passes the ball well. She handles the ball well. She's a fantastic defender, too.

"Ty's a Division 1 basketball player. There's no ands, ifs or buts about it.″

The other guard is 5-foot-3 Shardajah Collins of Winter Haven, Florida, who is scoring 24.7 points on 49 percent shooting with 6.2 assists.

"She came off the bench for a team that won two state championships in Florida and was overlooked,″ said Leszcyzk. "We were fortunate to get her out of high school.″

The rest of the team includes Adrianna Grant (16.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.6 steals), Aliza Bell (10.3 points, 11 rebounds), Ranasha Fraizer, Reid and Kashly Reyes of Brockton, a Holbrook High graduate.

"We're playing a very up-tempo style, both offensively and defensively, to maximize our speed,″ said Leszczyk. "Teams that have big kids to give us troubles, but we're undefeated. We have to do a good job denying entry passes into the post and take care of their guards. So far, so good.″

Massasoit will be hosting the Region 21 tournament Feb. 29 and March 1 when a berth in the NJCAA Division 3 tourney in Rockford, Illinois, will be on the line.

"I always say the goal of the season is not to win a national championship,″ said Leszczyk, who recently won his 300th game in a career that has included stops at Dean and Roxbury. "The goal is to put ourselves in a position to win a national championship and I think we can do that.″

The Warriors will be traveling to Maryland later this month to play Cecil College on Jan. 11 and Anne Arundel Community College on Jan. 15. They will also be hosting Union County College (10-4) of Cranford, New Jersey on Jan. 25. 

Leszczyk said that in addition to the perfect record on the court, his players excelled in the classroom during the first semester.

"This is a great group,″ he said. "They have the highest team GPA I've ever had. It's impressive how well they did in the classroom. It's been a fun year with this team.″