Stella Mollica’s game has traveled well to the college level

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

All of the traits Stella Mollica showed at Gov. Mifflin came with her to a small school near Buffalo. Her tenacity. Her fearlessness. Those things don’t need to be packed into a suitcase.

It didn’t take coach Payce Lange long to see them. One practice actually. A handful of trips up and down the floor.

“You could just tell,” Lange said. “Her energy, her momentum, her work ethic. It’s all there. You can’t coach effort. She brings it every single day.”

One of Berks County’s best basketball players of the past decade went somewhere off the beaten path to continue her career: D’Youville College. Even Mollica never heard of it before the recruiting process started to intensify.

The 5-4 freshman was hesitant about venturing so far from home. Once she made a visit, she knew this destination had potential. It offered the Exercise and Sports Science major she wanted to pursue and a team that needed her help.

“As soon as I started the actual season and I was in classes, I felt like I found the perfect spot for me,” Mollica said. “My professors and playing basketball with great people. I love my team. It all fell into place. I’m really happy here.”

Lange, then a graduate assistant, was part of the campus tour designed to convince Mollica to make the leap. D’Youville coveted the two-time All-Berks selection. The program was searching for a natural point guard.

Mollica started from Day 1, just like she did at Mifflin, and logged a team-high 33 minutes per game. She averaged 8.3 points, 4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

D’Youville, a Division II program that will join the NCAA the season after next, won the USCAA national championship last week. Mollica was named to the All-Tournament team and was selected All-America honorable mention.

Those 33 minutes she played from the start? She earned them.

“She’s a true competitor,” Lange said. “She’s high-spirited. Every drill we do, she does it at game speed. That’s why it translates so well during the game. That’s how she stays so composed.”

Mollica was a 1,000-point scorer at Mifflin and won two Berks championships. She ran the show for the Mustangs in a way that few players can at that level. She was essentially a coach on the floor.

The transition to college was an adjustment, even if Mollica ultimately made it look easy. Some of the moves that worked in the Berks League didn’t fly with better athletes all around.

“Now that we have a shot clock, the tempo of the game is definitely different,” Mollica said. “To be a point guard you have to learn how to control that. I did that in high school but it’s different here. Everyone is taller and bigger. I had to learn to create my shot differently. Get it off quicker. There were a bunch of things I had to learn.”

Mollica could always dominate despite being undersized. She could dictate play without ever taking a shot. That was her gift in high school. That has also traveled well.

Lange saw that Mollica’s height wasn’t a hindrance even when the competition got better. Opening night provided all the evidence the coach needed.

“She’s the smallest one on the court by facts but she plays like she’s the biggest one on the court,” Lange said. “That’s one thing I love about her. She’s not intimidated by anything. The first game we had at home she took like five charges. I was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ ”

D’Youville stormed back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in the final at Virginia State on March 10. The Saints have eight freshmen and four sophomores on their roster.

Once they join the NCAA, they’ll be ready. This young core has three more years to see what it can achieve. Mollica will be a foundation for whatever lies ahead. Convincing her to come to D’Youville was a coup for the program.

“She’s definitely going to keep growing,” Lange said. “The work ethic she has and the mindset she has, there’s nothing that’s going to stop her.”

After D’Youville clinched the title, the players received their medals and a background was pulled out for the trophy photo. Then came the scissors.

Mollica knows what it’s like to hold those. She climbed the ladder twice at Santander Arena. There’s no better feeling.

“It was funny because all of my teammates were like, ‘I never cut a net down before,’” Mollica said. “I was like, ‘Really? I thought that was a common thing.’ ”

It is for Mollica. Championships are something else she usually brings with her.