Record-setting night for Amanda Leary and Olivia Agunzo
Carle Place's Amanda Leary shoots for a layup against Port Jefferson during the Long Island Class B girls basketball final at Newfield on March 9, 2020. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was a record-setting evening for Amanda Leary and Olivia Agunzo on opposite ends of the court. And although the two were opponents, it was as if the two girls basketball players helped one another reach that milestone.
Leary, a senior guard for Carle Place, and Agunzo, a junior guard for Division, both set school records for points in a game when Carle Place defeated Division, 63-60, on Dec. 28. Leary had 43 points and Agunzo finished with 40 points.
Whenever one girl would score or go on a run, the other seemed to always be there for the answer.
"She would hit a [three-pointer], then I would hit a three," Leary said. "I started hitting my shots and I felt like one of us would get a basket, and right after that, the next one would. I felt that throughout the game, but I just didn’t think it was that many points at the end."
Neither player said they’ve been in a game with players on both teams scoring at that rate. Leary made 15 field goals, including five three-pointers, and eight foul shots and Agunzo sank 15 field goals, including six three-pointers, and four foul shots in the contest.
"It was really fun, it’s great to compete with a player like Amanda," Agunzo said. "The crowd was loud, it was back and forth the whole game. It was just a fun game."
"No matter what happened, whenever there was a run by one team on each end, the other girl responded," Carle Place coach Conor Reardon said. "They just kept responding to each other."
Olivia Agunzo of Division takes her shot on Oct. 24, 2021, in Amityville. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Reardon worked his game plan around containing Agunzo. But when elite players feel strong, sometimes even the best game plan is hopeless.
"The game plan, and I’m sure their game plan was the same, was to stop her and I threw the kitchen sink at her and it seemed like nothing could stop her," Reardon said. "She was hitting shots from NBA range all night."
But in the game’s pivotal moments, Carle Place needed other girls to make plays. Renee Burden, who finished with nine points, made a pivotal layup with 12 seconds left for the game’s final points with Division’s focus on Leary. The Frogs double-teamed Agunzo on the final possession, forcing her to pass up the final shot to a teammate.
"That’s what happens when someone is going off like both girls were going off," Reardon said. "Sometimes it’s that next option that’s going to find themselves in a position to score after taking away option 1."
With the game being so close, Leary wasn’t even aware of how many points she was putting up. But both she and Agunzo could sense the two of them were having great games.
"Even after the game, I didn’t think I scored that many points," Leary said. "I wasn’t even paying attention to that because it was such a competitive game and going back and forth the whole time. But I felt accomplished with that many points, especially because we won the game, too. Especially with her scoring 40 points."
From downtown
Lauren Genna hit nine three-pointers for Clarke in a 60-42 victory over Lawrence Wednesday. The senior guard also had five three-pointers in games against Island Trees and North Shore. The strong outside shooter has 29 three-pointers in nine games.
On the glass
Emily Plachta has eight games of at least 12 rebounds this season and is averaging 23.2 points per game to lead Huntington to a 10-0 start. The 5-10 guard/forward is averaging 12.2 rebounds per game this season and has at least 10 rebounds in each game as one of the toughest rebounders on Long Island.
