Athlete of the Week: Mitty’s McKenna Woliczko

At last week’s Nike Tournament of Champions in Mesa, Arizona, Mitty’s newest star was born as freshman center McKenna Woliczko was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 23.75 points and 14.5 rebounds through the Monarchs’ four games against powerhouse teams from around the nation.

“The fact that she made all-tournament is significant,” said Phillips, whose Mitty teams have played at the TOC since winning their first top-tier championship in 1999. “We’ve never had a freshman make the all-tournament team. ... It’s a very significant accomplishment with a team who has next-level players.”

The Daily Journal Athlete of the Week, Woliczko lives in San Bruno, and surely broke hearts at Capuchino when she opted to go the private-school rout. At 14 years old, the freshman is already 6-2, and is averaging a double-double through the Monarchs’ 9-2 start in non-league play, with 19.45 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.

“For me, I was very set on going to the public school, Capuchino, so it took me a minute to be like: ‘Yes, this is where I want to go,’” Woliczko said.

With a promising career path on the court, Woliczko is a two-sport athlete — who splits time between the AAU club circuit with Bay City Basketball, and travel softball with the Cal Nuggets — made the decision to endure the 70-mile roundtrip commute to and from school every day based on the chance to play for Phillips, a six-time CIF state girls’ basketball championship coach at Mitty, as well as a USA Basketball head coach, who led the U16 team to the gold medal last year at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship.

“I chose to go there honestly because Coach Phillips is just such a good coach,” Woliczko said. “She was the coach for Team USA last year, and she’s just like the best coach in the country.”

Mitty took fifth place in the top-tier 16-team Vincent division at the Tournament of Champions, posting a 3-1 record despite missing point guard Morgan Chelli, who sat out due to a minor foot sprain. Woliczko helped right the ship in the tourney opener, Monday, Dec. 19, shooting 14 of 15 from the field to total 30 points along with 13 rebounds in a 63-49 win over Desert Vista-Arizona.

It was Woliczko’s single best scoring performance of the tournament, but not by much. She’d go on to total 22 points and 11 rebounds the following day in a 70-48 loss to Long Island Lutheran-New York, and followed that with 25 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots Wednesday, Dec. 21 in a 51-40 win over bishop McNamara, a top-20 team in the nation.

Mitty — who entered the tournament ranked No. 13 in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz — closed out the week with a 62-46 win over Sacred Heart-Kentucky in the fifth-place game.

“It’s very tough against top teams in the country,” Woliczko said. “These teams are very good. They’re very physical. They’re very fast-paced games. Very fun, definitely. … I feel like I had to step up this tournament and I’m glad I got the chance to. I feel like I just showed up and showed out.”

Phillips said Chelli will be ready to return to action when Mitty resumes play following winter break in its West Catholic Athletic League opener Saturday, Jan. 7 at St. Ignatius-SF. A 6-2 junior, Chelli was the last player to start as a freshman for the Monarchs.

Woliczko’s fast start on the varsity stage was the furthest thing from the freshman’s mind when she reported for tryouts, she said. Her goal going in was to simply make the varsity team.

“I was not expecting to be a starter on varsity, that’s for sure,” Woliczko said.

Woliczko didn’t exactly boast the prototypical resume of an incoming varsity basketball star. For most of her life, softball was her specialty sport, following in the footsteps of her mother Erica — a 1997 graduate of Capuchino — who played NCAA Division I softball on a full athletic scholarship at University of the Pacific. It wasn’t until two years ago that Woliczko joined her first AAU basketball team. But it didn’t take long for her to find her niche on the court.

After playing her first year with Bay City Basketball on the 14U squad, Woliczko, after turning 14 this year, was promoted to the 17U team. After playing just one season at Parkside Intermediate School as an eighth grader — because of COVID, the school didn’t field a basketball team her first two years there — the experience of playing against older competition with the Bay City 17U team was like a slingshot into the varsity world.

“It definitely [helped],” Woliczko said. “Playing with the older girls, it got me ready for sure.”

Now, she’s settling in with a special team, even by Mitty’s standards. Woliczko has quickly complemented power forward Maya Hernandez, a 6-1 senior committed to Loyola Marymount University. The Monarchs have plenty of height, including 6-1 senior forward Elle Hanson, a Point Loma Nazarene University commit, and 6-foot forward Layla Woods, committed to Chapman University.

“I think we’re really long,” said Phillips, who has never had a viable rotation of five 6-foot players. “We could have a starting lineup that’s 6-feet across the board … at five positions.”

But the talk of Mesa, Arizona was Woliczko, one of just two Northern California players named to the All-TOC team, and one of four Nor Cal players named to the Class of 2026 TOC Standouts list compiled by ESPN HoopGurlz.

“To be able to sustain that level of production and average a double-double is truly remarkable as a freshman,” Phillips said.