Sports Writer

After a change of scenery, Sarah DiLeonardo dominated  Osceola County girls basketball.

The fact that she transferred from St. Cloud High to Osceola was only part of that change. A post player her entire three-year career at St. Cloud,

Kowboys Coach Barner Cooks moved her away from the basket to the perimeter.

Turns out, she had the outside jump shot to make that change work, too.

DiLeonardo, a four-year varsity player who amassed more than 1,600 points and 800 rebounds in her career, was the driving force behind Osceola’s third consecutive Orange Belt Conference title.

 

She  averaged 19.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game on her way to Osceola News-Gazette Girls Player of the Year honors.

Last season, the 5-9 DiLeonardo was the Bulldogs’ go-to player in the high post, and she led the county in scoring at more than 20 points per game. After joining the Kowgirls, at the request of OHS Coach Barner Cooks, she made a season-altering move to the perimeter.

“I played everywhere this year, and I liked it. I was a guard in middle school but when I got to St. Cloud, everyone told me I was a post player,” she said. “I learned to like the post, but my shooting really improved this year and I was glad I had more of an opportunity to show it.”

DiLeonardo scored at least 20 points in 12 of Osceola’s 27 games, never scoring fewer than 10. Cooks said playing on the wing showcased her talent better than locking down under the basket as a center would have.

“Playing the perimeter opens up opportunities for her, because she’s not going to play with her back to the basket in college,” he said.

Cooks even used her as his “point-forward” at times this year, as he did last season’s Player of the Year, Lisa Capellan, now playing at Kenesaw State in Georgia.

“She’s a ballhandler who can create mismatches, she has a huge advantage when a forward or center is on her,” he said. “She shot the three-ball at about a 40 percent clip. We knew she could score in the paint, but later on we set up screen plays for her to shoot the three.”

Despite not playing under the basket as much as she did earlier in her high school career, she still averaged near double-digits in rebounds this season.

“That’s just hard work. I like to rebound and just being around the ball under the basket,” she said.

The work ethic is one of the first things Cooks noticed about DiLeonardo.

“She plays hard all of the time. She’s a leader who worked hard in practice, every drill, every play,” he said. “When your best player works like that, the other kids have no excuse not to work hard. It benefits the whole team.”

That team really blossomed around DiLeonardo, she said, despite her coming in from a rival program and playing just one season.

“I thought that it might be hard, but this team was very welcoming,” she said. “We came together to the point that it didn’t matter where anybody came from.”

Despite there being no regional playoff berth this year for the Kowgirls — thanks to landing in a new district with perennial powers Winter Haven, Lake Wales and Haines City — DiLeonardo and the team reveled in winning the conference title, the first time she was on a championship team.

“Going into the season, we knew it would be a tough district,” she said. “Winning the OBC became a bigger goal for us.”

DiLeonardo put on a show at the first Osceola County Senior All-Star Game  March 27 at Poinciana High, where she scored 20 points and had 18 rebounds for the West team.

That performance didn’t hurt her stature among college coaches attending the all-star game.

DiLeonardo is expected to sign a basketball grant in aid during the signing period that begins Monday.

She plans to stay in Florida. At least that change of scenery won’t be too drastic.