by Jim Fenton, The Enterprise
BROCKTON -- The list of appearances by New England junior college women's basketball teams in national championship games was a small one before 2011.
Becker College of Leicester won the Division 3 title in 1992 and Quinsigamond Community College of Worcester (Division 3, 1993) and Mitchell College of New London, Connecticut (Division 2, 2003) lost in the final round.
Then along came Roxbury Community College, which made regular trips to the championship game while coached by Mark Leszczyk.
The Tigers played in five national title games from 2011-17, winning the championship with a 61-57 victory over Northland Community & Technical College in 2016.
But after going 221-48 and being named the national coach of the year three times, Leszczyk left Roxbury in 2018 in support of the school's athletic director, Erica Rivers, who had been relieved of her duties by the administration.
Leszczyk, who began his head coaching career at Dean College, was thinking about leaving the bench for good until his assistant coach, Kisandra Ayanbeku of Randolph, provided some motivation.
"It didn't end well at Roxbury,″ said Leszczyk. "We built that from scratch. I thought of hanging them up when I left Roxbury.
"I needed some motivation, and what kept me going was Kisandra told me, 'Coach, no other coach on the women's side in basketball at any level has ever won a national title at two different schools.' That was the motivation. She knows how to get me going.″
So Leszczyk, a native of Rhode Island, took another job as the head coach at Massasoit Community College, a program that had made the national tournament just once, by beating Roxbury in 2014.
Leszczyk and Ayanbeku came to Brockton in the 2018-19 season looking to turn the Warriors around, and they have done exactly that.
Massasoit went 20-3 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for nine weeks a year ago and is 24-0 and the No. 1 seed in this week's National Junior College Athletic Association Division 3 tournament.
The Warriors open Thursday afternoon against Cedar Valley College of Texas in the quarterfinal round in Rockville, Illinois. Massasoit needs three more wins to get Leszczyk his second national crown.
After losing all but one player from last year's team, the Warriors have been a dominant force this season as Leszczyk found players from Long Island, Florida, Connecticut and Boston.
He is the vice president of the NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association and has plenty of contacts throughout the country.
"Recuiting good kids,″ said Leszczyk when asked his key to success. "Players win games. Coaches lose games. I totally believe that.
"Every once in a while you'll miss on a kid. I can see talent in 10 minutes. After that, it's finding out about them as people and making sure they're the right kind of kid. It's finding the right bunch and we really nailed it with this group. We've got a real good bunch of kids.″
There are just seven active players on the Massasoit roster this season and the Warriors are often at a height disadvantage.
But they use speed to play superb defense and have a high-scoring offense led by Ty Hawkins, who will likely be an All-America selection.
"I have my style,″ said Leszczyk. "I love the full-court, man-to-man style of basketball. But you have to adjust every year at this level. Every year you get a bunch of new kids.
"We're trying to get the best players we can year after year. Last year we had three post players and you have to be willing to adjust and change your style. I wish I had one or two biggest post players but we don't. We have to play that up-and-down style.″
Nearly all of Massasoit's players are on the Dean's List, and the team makes regular visits to Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton to work with young students in addition to taking part in food drives.
Leszczyk had five of his players receive scholarships to four-year schools after last season.
"That's the reason I do this,″ said Leszczyk. "That's the goal. We want kids to use Massasoit as a bridge to a four-year school. If they don't want to use it as a bridge, they're not going to work hard to get there.″
Massasoit is the first junior college team to make the tourney without a loss since 2010, and three more wins will mean a championship for Brockton.
"I think it'd be fantastic for the city,″ said Leszczyk. "The city has that nickname of the 'City of Champions.' I'd love to be in that conversation when people talk about that. It'd be special for our little school. It'd be great for the local athletes to see you could win something like that coming to Massasoit.″
Jim Fenton's Colleges appears Wednesday and Friday in The Enterprise. He may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Jfenton_ent.