Healthier Leondis Leads Garden City Past Elmont

Diana Leondis' ankle may not be completely healed, but it's strong enough to help carry the Garden City Lady Trojans' offense.

Playing in her first full game since injuring her right ankle over two weeks ago, Leondis scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the first half and Barbra Sullivan added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead Garden City past Elmont 56-45 Wednesday night at the high school.

The Lady Trojans' second-leading scorer was originally hurt during the opening game of the Freeport Tournament on Dec. 28 and missed three games. She returned to play approximately 15 minutes in last Thursday's loss to undefeated Division and four more in Monday night's win at New Hyde Park.

"Tonight was the official, no restrictions, just go out and get it (game)," Coach Anthony Sparacia said. "I'm shocked she was able to do what she did. There were a couple of times that second quarter where I probably should have given her a little bit of a breather. She was tired, but I needed her on the floor. She can do a lot of things and she's even better than what she did tonight."

Sullivan was also thrilled to have her fellow tri-captain back on the floor.

"It's awesome," she said. "We were missing her. It was tough filling her space."

Leondis hit two of her four 3-pointers in the first quarter, including a buzzer-beater from the left arc that gave Garden City (9-2) a 14-7 lead. She added another during the Lady Trojans' 12-2 run early in the second quarter that increased the advantage to 26-9.

"I'm getting there," Leondis said of her ankle. "It felt good. I wanted to play for a while, but it felt finally better so it's good to finally play."

But Elmont (3-7) refused to go down quietly and went on a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to close the deficit to 48-41 with 2:23 remaining. But Kim Ryan immediately drilled a 3-pointer from the right arc and Amalia Debrosse and Leondis each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to thwart the late rally.

"They're better than people think," Sparacia said of Elmont. "They are so athletic and if you really don't handle it the right way, they can really do some damage."

Jasmine Cobbs scored 17 points and Alexandra Clark added 13 for the Lady Spartans.

Ryan finished with 12 points, while Christina Mangels added six to go with her 13 rebounds, which included seven on the offensive side. Two of Mangels' three baskets came on putbacks immediately following an offensive rebound.

"Kim Ryan has come on really, really well," Sparacia said. "She's only a sophomore and they're doing a good job getting her the ball when she's open and she really knocks them down. I think Christina Mangels rebounding the ball and Ryan being that third option is a huge plus for us."

The Lady Trojans hit seven 3-pointers on the night, the other three coming from Ryan, and made 11 of 13 free throws.

Garden City will play three of its next four games on the road, starting with this Saturday morning's contest at Wantagh.