Leyden’s Amalia Figueroa hit a career-high six 3-pointers in a 57-45 home loss to Taft on Friday. And it might not have been the most impressive thing the senior guard did.
“She’s a true two-way player,” Leyden girls basketball coach Stephanie Kuzmanic said. “She has turned herself into a really good shooter, she can guard just about every position and even though she’s only 5-foot-3 she’s also one of our best rebounders.”
In fact, she guarded every position on Friday in Northlake.
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As a defender, Figueroa has long arms and she is strong and relentless.
“She’s not a big kid but she plays so hard,” Kuzmanic said. “She goes after every rebound, every loose ball, and even though she’s small, she’s very long. She just plays aggressive and hard, every game.”
For Figueroa, height is just a number.
“It’s mind over matter,” said Figueroa, who lives in Franklin Park. “I don’t let the fact that I’m 5-foot-3 get in my way. And we can’t let bigger teams get in our heads. We may be short but we’re fast, and that can definitely make up for it.”
What the Eagles (4-4) couldn’t make up for Friday was a rough first quarter. Leyden trailed 21-13 after one quarter and it was never able to pull even.
Figueroa hit two 3s in the first quarter and one in the second. Her fourth 3 cut Taft’s lead to 35-29 in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Eagles would get. She hit two more in the fourth quarter and finished with a season-high 18 points.
Two years ago as a sophomore, Figueroa didn’t figure to be a long-range specialist.
“She might have shot two 3s all season as a sophomore,” Kuzmanic said. “She really worked on her shot and in her junior year, she started making some shots and started realizing that she could do this. Now she knows she has the green light and her teammates support her.”
Figueroa’s previous best from long-range this year was the four 3s she hit in a 59-35 win over Addison Trail on Nov. 18, and she finished with 16 points.
The key to becoming a good outside shooter has never changed.
“It’s just confidence,” Figueroa said. “Last year I got more confidence in myself, where I didn’t let one missed shot take away from everything else. I stopped getting inside my own head that way.”
Despite the loss, Figueroa liked what she saw from her side against Taft.
“We played as a team today,” Figueroa said. “They had a lot of strong post players and we just had a bad first quarter. We need to come out strong for all four quarters.
“But we play as a team. We don’t try to do our own separate things because that doesn’t win us games. But playing together does.”
Notes
Leyden junior point guard Jasmine Igartua scored nine points Friday, senior guard Megan Michorczyk added eight off the bench and the Eagles got a fine defensive effort from junior post player Gabby Hurtado. She guarded a top-shelf player in Taft freshman Krystyna Ellew.
“(Ellew) was a hard matchup but Gabby played really well against her,” Kuzmanic said. “Gabby’s very long, she gets a lot of blocks, and she’s been a great addition.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press