Highland Park senior Julia Leshtz loves playing sports.
Her list of high school sports includes basketball, lacrosse and diving. In the fall, she also helped start and organize a flag football team.
“I have always been into sports since I was very young,” Leshtz said. “I grew up playing Park District boys basketball because they didn’t have any girls basketball. No one could get me off the court.
“I did every single sport you could imagine and tested them all, but the one that stayed with me was basketball.”
When she’s not participating in a sport, Leshtz likes to spend time drawing, particularly mandalas.
“I’m pretty active in the sports aspect through the year, so I’m pretty busy, but I do love art,” she said. “I hand-draw mandalas. That’s my side thing.
“I submitted a portfolio for my college application. Mandalas are very intricate, detailed and symmetrical. Within a circle, it’s very detailed with many layers. If you mess up, it’s very obvious. It requires a lot of patience and methodical planning.”
Maybe that’s where Leshtz learned the value of patience. No doubt the 5-foot-6 guard’s patience has been tested often during her four-year varsity basketball career.
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Leshtz endured a prolonged period before experiencing her first on-the-court victory. The Giants lost all 16 games during her abbreviated freshman season amid the coronavirus pandemic and then went 1-23 in 2021-22 before improving to 12-14 last season.
Leshtz said winning just one game in her first two seasons took a toll on her. She even missed that one victory due to an injury.
“My freshman year was definitely hard,” she said. “It was the shortened and delayed COVID season. Loss after loss was tough to be able to come back and practice every day and have no success. It was a struggle for two years without winning a game.”
Illustrating the magnitude of the moment and her various emotions after Highland Park’s first win last season, Leshtz said some of the details of that game against Wheeling remain hazy.
“That first win on the court for me, I don’t even remember the opponent,” she said. “I just remember that feeling. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had, the adrenaline when the buzzer went off. I left everything on the court. It wasn’t an easy game. It was a close game.”
Despite all the losses, Leshtz has kept a positive attitude throughout her career, according to her father, Daniel.
“It was definitely tough, but Julia made it easy,” Daniel Leshtz said. “She never got down and was always excited to play. The losses never really dragged her down. She loves the game, win or lose. She’s always ready to play.”
The Giants (13-8, 6-3) have built on their improvement from last season, rising to second place in the Central Suburban North, and Leshtz is a key part of that progress. She’s averaging 7.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals.
Playing tenacious defense remains Leshtz’s forte, but she scored 16 points in the Giants’ conference loss to Vernon Hills on Jan. 19, had 13 points in their conference victory against Maine West on Friday and had 15 points in their win against Grant on Monday.
Highland Park coach Jolie Bechtel said Leshtz, a team captain, has become more assertive as a leader and a scorer in the new year. Bechtel points to their talk during a blowout loss to Naperville North on Jan. 5.
“The last three weeks she has started to be one of our best offensive players,” Bechtel said. “I think her leadership was lacking a little bit. I talked to her a bit on the bench about the importance of being a leader and leading by example. The last three weeks she really took it to heart.”
Leshtz, a two-time team MVP in lacrosse, prides herself on her teamwork and work ethic. She credited Bechtel for changing her mindset.
“After that talk, my last few games have been pretty decent offensively,” Leshtz said. “Coach is truly a wise woman. That talk lit a fire under me. I wanted to be able to be better for my teammates. I’m the oldest in the program.
“It’s been really fun to see how the team has grown. It’s been truly something amazing.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.