She scored 44 of team's 46 points in one game. Woodward is a little school with a big star

QUINCY − In its 130-year history, The Woodward School has never had a basketball player like Nicole Leung.

With time running out in the Wildcats' last game, against Penguin Hall Prep, the Hong Kong native came off a ball screen and drained a game-winning 3-pointer. Woodward won, 46 to 45.

Leung scored 44 of Woodward's points herself.

"I've had some really good players," said Woodward athletic director and basketball coach Bob Giordano. "In 28 years, she's the best all-around player I've seen. I don't say that lightly."

The team has won four of its first five contests, and Leung has averaged 35.6 points a game. Giordano said she is known throughout the league and is routinely double-teamed and sometimes even triple-teamed, so far to no avail.

Leung, 17, joined The Woodward School this year as a sophomore. She came from Hong Kong through an organization called Strive Fitness, founded by William Lo and Angela Wong, which gives underserved girls opportunities to better their lives through basketball.

Now she is one of three international students at the all-girls school on Hancock Street, and the only one who participates in the school's Homestay Program, living with a family in Quincy.

A hoops journey from Hong Kong to Quincy, fueled by hard work

Leung said she started playing competitively as a fifth grader in Hong Kong.

"When they asked me if I wanted to play here (in the U.S.), I said yes because I want to play in college here," Leung said. "That's how I started my journey to become an international player."

Leung, a 5-foot-9 point guard, has the work ethic to match the size of her dreams.

After practice, she goes to the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center on Coddington Street to put up hundreds of extra game-speed shots. In the offseason, she works on her shot and ballhandling daily, then hits the gym to lift weights.

She spends evenings on homework, and studies more if there's a test in the next few days.

"If there's no test, I'll watch some Netflix," she said.

Leung's commitment to improving her skills once crossed the line.

During the COVID lockdown in Hong Kong, "They closed all the courts," she said. After too many consecutive days without hearing the swish of ball through net, Leung couldn't wait any longer.

She snuck onto a court, was caught by police and was issued a $750 fine.

Leung had to take a job as a waitress to pay off the fine. Anything for basketball.

Adapting to American life with help from the Hubleys, Nicole's host family

Leung said she's been able to adapt quickly to life in the United States, partly due to the kindness of her host family in Quincy.

The Hubleys are well-known in the city. Walter was a headmaster at The Woodward School, and Kathryn has been a school committee member since 2011.

"They're so nice to me," Leung said. "I was a little worried that maybe I'm too messy for them."

Leung said the Hubleys often bring her to the many Asian restaurants in town, including her favorite, Dagu Rice Noodle at the intersection of Hancock and Beale streets.

"It's very nice to have Chinese restaurants around here," Leung said. "I have a Chinese stomach. I really need Chinese food."

Leung said she's bonded with her American family over more than just food.

"Kathy brought me out to get our nails done," she said. "We watch some Netflix together − 'The Walking Dead.'"

College aspirations: Two young women blazing a basketball trail for Hong Kong girls

Leung has a close friend who, like her, came from Hong Kong through the Strive Fitness program.

Yannie Chan moved to Boston as a college freshman and joined Emmanuel College's Division III girls basketball team. As a sophomore, Chan averaged 14.6 points, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals, led the Saints to the conference championship game and was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference player of the year.

Chan and Leung work out together, eat together and spent this past Christmas vacation together in New York City. Leung said she hopes to emulate Chan's collegiate success, though Leung has set her sights on a Division I school.

Giordano says without hesitation that Leung will play at the college level.

"This kid, how far will she go? I can see her going far," he said.

But Giordano stressed that for Leung, it's not only about basketball. She's become a scholar as well.

Giordano said that the day after Leung's 44-point performance and game-winning shot, she came up to him at school with her eyes lit up and a huge smile on her face.

"I thought she was all excited because she scored 44 points," he said. "No, she's excited because she just made the honor roll. She's a great kid. An even better kid than a ballplayer."

Woodward School on the rebound in Quincy

Leung's arrival and the resurgence of Woodward's basketball program have coincided with a resurgence of Woodward's fortunes in general.

As its Quincy Center building underwent renovations in 2017 and 2018, Woodward temporarily moved to 180 Old Colony Ave., which then belonged to Eastern Nazarene College and now hosts the nearly completed DeCristofaro Learning Center, a special education school owned by the city.

Woodward Headmaster Alex Magay said the period in the wilderness hurt enrollment, and the school was banking on the grand reopening of the Hancock Street school, affectionately known as "Big Blue," for the 2019-20 academic year. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed by the pandemic.

In the past two years, however, the renovated school and the return to in-person classes has helped turn Woodward's fortunes around, Magay said. Applications and enrollment are up 50% over the past two years, which has helped the athletic program return to form. The basketball team's 4-1 records marks its best start in five years.

Magay has experience in the basketball world himself. He was the student manager of the famed UMass Minutemen team led by coach John Calipari and star player Marcus Camby in the 1990s. He then taught and coached basketball at a prep school in Central Massachusetts, where he had several players who went on to play professionally overseas and in the NBA.

Having worked with elite talent for over a decade, Magay said he sees a bright basketball future for Leung.

"It is rare to see a student-athlete with such a tremendous work ethic and great attitude," he said. "We are incredibly proud of her progress in the classroom and on the court as a leader on her team. Nicole is a great role model for all our students."

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Girls basketball star Nicole Leung chases hoop dreams at Woodward