Even with two years left to play at Archbishop Mitty, girls’ basketball standout McKenna Woliczko maintains a convincing argument she will not be a post player at the next level.
At 6-2, the San Bruno native has ruled the post on the varsity court, earning back-to-back West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year honors. Still, Woliczko knows her stature is on the fringe by NCAA Division I standards among post players. She has previously told the Daily Journal she will most likely swing between the 3 and 4 in college.
“Well I think every position can rebound,” Woliczko said. “So, even if I’m playing the 3 or 4 in college, I can still rebound because everyone should still crash the boards.”
On the international stage, Woliczko has been crashing the boards in historic fashion. As one of the cornerstone starters on the Team USA U17 roster, Woliczko helped the team to a gold medal at the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup with an 84-64 win over Canada in Sunday’s championship game in Leon, Mexico.
McKenna Woliczko celebrates during the semifinals of the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup in Mexico.
Cinthia Munoz Tellez
Woliczko went for 19 points and nine rebounds against Canada, but her biggest performance came two days prior in the quarterfinals. In Team USA’s 95-56 win over Japan, Woliczko recorded 17 rebounds, tying the Team USA U17 World Cup record set by Aquira Decosta in 2016.
“I think it’s awesome to now be a part of the record books, I guess,” Woliczko said. “Obviously, I’m just going to play my game. I don’t really care about the records, but when it happens, it happens. It’s still pretty cool. ... When you play for Team USA, they say you play for Team USA forever. But then also to have my name in the record books is also pretty cool.”
In the same quarterfinal victory, 6-1 guard Jerzy Robinson (Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth) scored a game-high 29 points. She backed that up with 29 more in Saturday’s 84-66 win over France, and 25 in the finals against Canada.
Recommended for you
Woliczko averaged 12.4 points per game and 9.6 rebounds through seven games in the tournament. She scored 16 points in her record-tying performance to record her first of two consecutive double-doubles. She went for 14 points and 10 rebounds against France, while leading the team with 36 minutes of playing time. In the finals, she missed a double-double by one rebound, totaling nine boards while scoring 11 of her 19 points off rebounds and again earning 36 minutes.
In pursuit of Aquino’s record last Friday, Woliczko said she had no idea how many rebounds she had. Toward the end of the game, however, she looked into the crowd to see her father Aaron pinching with his thumb and forefinger, giving her the international sign she was “that close” to a milestone. She assumed what he was trying to communicate to her is she needed one more rebound to get to 10.
“I did not know at all,” Woliczko said. “I was like: ‘I’m going to try to get 10 rebounds, I want to try to get double-digits in rebounds.’”
What her father was really telling her was Woliczko was one rebound shy of tying the record. She didn’t find out about the historic feat until after the game.
Woliczko scored in double digits in six of Team USA’s seven games. The team opened play Saturday, July 13, with an 82-55 win over Australia, then went on to rout Puerto Rico 121-35; Croatia 123-42; and Egypt 114-45.
Woliczko anchored the lineup at center and played both forward positions throughout the tournament. She said not only did this versatility help keep her on the court, it’s one of the reasons she was named to the Team USA roster for the second straight year. She played for the Team USA U16 team last season.
“Well, I think it’s definitely what helped me make the team, is being versatile and also being able to play and defend many different positions. I think it can also help me play more, no matter who is on the floor.”
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.