North’s Leo, Force net girls hoops awards

The North Rangers made it a clean sweep March 19 as The News-Herald announced junior Destiny Leo as its girls basketball player of the year and Paul Force as the area’s coach of the year.

The announcements were made in front of a jam-packed, capacity crowd at Hooley House a part of the Varsity Chalk Talk show.

Leo emerged as the winner of the player of the year over Euclid’s Constance Chaplin and Gilmour’s Annika Corcoran.

All three were first-team All-Ohioans, Leo and Chaplin in Division I and Corcoran in D-II.

A 5-foot-10 guard, Leo led the Rangers to a 25-2 record and a D-I regional runner-up finish in Canton.

She finished the season averaging 27.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. She shot 47 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point arc (including 85 made) and 84 percent from the line.

“I definitely think my game grew over (last) summer,” Leo said. “There was a little bit more weight on my shoulders with us graduating eight seniors last year. I think I had a pretty good year, but I think next year we’ll do even better.”

Force guided the Rangers to a Western Reserve Conference title, the program’s first district championship since 1999 and the program’s first regional final appearance since 1994.

Other finalists for the Coach of the Year honor were Perry’s Roy Infalvi Jr. and Cornerstone’s Lisa Stopp.

“We’re all about relationships at Eastlake North,” Force said. “We have family members on our staff, and we have former players. There’s a strong connection between our current players and our alumni. At the end of the day, regardless of how many games you win or how many years you coach, relationships are what matters most, and we stress that.”

The presentations were made in front of a huge crowd. When the winners from North were announced, the crowd erupted in applause.

“It was great,” Leo said. “We had a lot of people out here. There was a big crowd. It’s good to have everybody come out and support us.”

PAUL DICICCO — FOR THE NEWS-HERALD North coach Paul Force and Destiny Leo pose with their respective NewsHerald girls basketball coach of the year and player of the year honors.