Basketball
Favorite athlete: Kyrie Irving
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the district championship, league and SOL championship
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My teammate Amanda Jackson getting the ball stuck two games in a row
Music on mobile device: Spotify (app) A boogie with a hoodie (favorite artist)
Future plans: Attend college and live a happy and healthy life
Words to live by: “Believe in yourself”
One goal before turning 30: Buy myself a car
One thing people don’t know about me: My thumbs are two different sizes
By Mary Jane Souder
Miranda Liebtag boasts an impressive resume.
The Abington senior has been a contributor on district, conference and SOL championship squads, but the four-year varsity player has rarely, if ever, found herself in the spotlight.
“She’s so used to being the unsung hero,” coach Dan Marsh said.
The senior captain is more than just used to it, she’s embraced her role.
“Miranda does the stuff that non-coaches would not notice,” Marsh said. “Everyone talks about what a great defender Cam Lexow is. They don’t understand what a great defender Miranda is because she is a contain defender.
“We put her on kids, and they’re going to have to shoot with her contesting it. She’s so good at contesting shots that it makes kids uncomfortable. That doesn’t show up in the stat book. She takes pride in that kind of stuff.”
Playing stifling defense is just one aspect of Liebtag’s role.
“She’s going to be the one setting the screens,” Marsh said, “doing all the dirty work for us, but every team needs that.”
At least if they hope to be successful, and the Ghosts have certainly been successful, just this week picking up the program’s first ever Suburban One League title. Liebtag had just one basket in the Ghosts’ hard fought 51-44 win over Neshaminy in the title game, but it was a game changer.
Liebtag’s patented three-pointer came with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, breaking a 38-38 tie and giving the Ghosts a lead they would not lose. She also was effective on the defensive end where she was assigned the task of containing Bucknell-bound senior Brooke Mullin.
She admits this wasn’t exactly the role she envisioned when she came on board as a swing player her freshman year.
“I just went in there kind of like – I’m going to give my all to this program,” Liebtag said. “I never expected to be the defender on the team, so my role has changed throughout the years.
“I thought I was going to be the three-point shooter and that was going to be my role. Last year it changed and I was more the defender on the court. At first I was kind of iffy about it – is this my role? Then I realized how much it contributed to my team and how well we worked as a unit when I was on the floor. I accepted my role and I loved my role.”
Liebtag came into her senior year with the idea that this year could well mark the end of her basketball career. But then Cabrini College came calling.
“At first when they came up to me in the fall league, I kept denying them,” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to do it.
“The head coach came to our Christmas Tournament and said, ‘You should really just come by and take a look.’ She was super nice when she came up to me, so she kind of convinced me to go and just try. She said, ‘Even if you don’t like it, then you don’t have to play.’”
Liebtag visited Cabrini, and despite her initial misgivings, it felt like the perfect fit.
“When I was there, the coaches and the girls - it felt like home basically,” she said. “It was kind of like, ‘I feel comfortable here, I could see myself here.’
“(Playing in college) wasn’t even in the picture, but I’m actually super excited. I feel good about myself, good about the offer, good about my decision and how everything has gone this year.”
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Liebtag grew up playing many different sports – including softball, basketball, soccer swimming and even dance.
“I did it all basically,” she said. “I’ve been playing sports my whole life.”
Her father, Tim Liebtag, played football at Abington, and sports were an important part of her family. Soccer and basketball were the two that stuck with Liebtag until it was time to go to high school.
“My dad was like, ‘Which one do you want to do? Which one do you want to put more effort into?’” she said. “I picked basketball.
“I felt like I was better at it or it was more like me. I just liked doing it, so that’s why I chose it.”
Liebtag, who had been playing both soccer and basketball at the travel level, competed on the AAU basketball circuit, first for the Renegades and more recently with the Rebels.
As a freshman, she was a swing player who saw limited varsity minutes. A year later, she was a contributor to a squad that went on to win the district title. This year she is one of four senior captains on a squad with high expectations heading into the postseason.
“She’s a great leader,” Marsh said. “She’s the one that calms everyone down and says, ‘Guys, we’re okay.’ She’s done it numerous times this season.
“Even to me – ‘Marsh, relax, we got this.’ She’s almost a coach on the floor. She keeps the team together really. She’s like a go-between. If the younger kids have a problem, they go to Miranda. If the older kids have a problem, they go to Miranda. She’s kind of like the player coach.”
And when the Ghosts need a big shot or a defensive stop, they can count on Liebtag to deliver. She had three three-pointers, all timely, in the Ghosts’ semifinal win over SOL American Conference co-champion Upper Dublin.
“She knew she had to hit a couple because they weren’t defending her,” Marsh said. “So she knows, ‘Hey, I’ve got to knock these down to open things up for everybody else.’ She might not score a ton, but it’s always going to be at a crucial time.
“She’s the one who consistently boxes out, consistently sets the screen, makes it difficult for the other team even though they might not recognize it at times.”
An excellent student, Liebtag is uncertain of her major. She joined the Red Cross Club at school, uncertain if it would lead to a career path.
“It’s been fun – I met friends through that club,” said Liebtag, who is not pursing a career in the medical field. “I was thinking of going into guidance counseling, but I might just go either undecided or they have a really good education program, so I might to education because I know I want to do something in that field.”
For now, Liebtag is focusing on her final high school season, continuing to do all the little things that make Abington such a formidable opponent.
“She’s very selfless, very team oriented,” Marsh said. “It’s never about Miranda, it’s always about us.”
Listening to the senior captain tell it, she changed her mind about playing at the next level because of her teammates. And not because of anything they said.
“Our team is just amazing as a unit and really changed my whole idea about it,” Liebtag said. “This year has been the most exciting. Everybody is always on board. It just feels like a unit. We’re all one, we have goals and are taking it one step at a time. I don’t know how to explain it.”
