Senior year is a year of many “lasts” for high school athletes, and this includes many students’ final season of sports.
One B-A senior is getting the most out of of hers, making her final basketball season for Bellwood one to remember.
For this reason, Leigha Clapper is this week’s BluePrint Athlete of the Week.
Leigha Clapper is a senior point guard for the Lady Devils basketball team. 18 games into the season Leigha is averaging, 8.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 1.1 SPG, Leigha is also playing the most minutes a night for the team.
When asked about what being a senior means to her, Leigha said, “This season is exciting and sad at the same time. After this I get to take my game to the collegiate level, but I will really miss everyone. There is nothing that us seniors can leave behind, we need to go all out this season.”
Leigha has been seeing playing time ever since she was a freshman at Bellwood-Antis. During that time she has made a lot of lifelong memories, her favorite being her freshman year final four run.
“Leigha has a lot of basketball experience. She has put in many hours in the gym,” said Coach Kyley Longo-McGarvey. “It has been nice to see her cash in on the preparation and reap the benefits. Being her senior year we would love nothing more than to send her off with a successful post season.”
Leigha has been playing basketball for her entire life. She has had numerous coaches and instructors help her get to the point where she is now at. She accredits her parents, AAU coaches, Ryan Lestochi, Jim Swaney, Kyley Longo, and Ryan Mcgarvey.
Leigha’s goals for the rest of her senior season are to win out the rest of the games in the regular season and then win the district title.
While this may be Leigha’s final season here at Bellwood-Antis, she is not done with basketball entirely. She will be continuing her basketball career and golf career at Waynesburg university. While at Waynesburg, she will be studying business.
