SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete for week of Jan. 19, 2022.
As a freshman playing varsity basketball with players older and more experienced, Mikahila Leighton admits she occasionally had doubts about her abilities. “I was not confident at all as a freshman,” Leighton said. “I went into the game thinking that I’m not the best ball handler out there. It definitely affected me. I didn’t want my teammates to know that, I didn’t think I let it show, but my coaches would sometimes pull me to the side, ‘It seems like your head is somewhere else.’” Now, when the Cheltenham’s senior point guard hits the court, there’s a very different thought running through her mind. “I’m thinking, ‘I’m gonna get a few ankle-breakers tonight,’” she said with a laugh.
What made the difference? In addition to Leighton’s natural progression and experience on the hardwood, her junior season proved to be a true turning point. Not only did Covid shorten the season, it also shortened Cheltenham’s bench. “Playing during the pandemic last year, we only had seven people,” Leighton said. “I knew I had to be out there. I didn’t have a choice, I had to run through those four quarters without a sub. But that got me out of my head, I wasn’t worried about being confident. It became, ‘Let’s just have fun and do what we have to do, be the best I can be.’”
Coach Ben Bowman, who took over the Lady Panthers’ program when Leighton was a freshman, has thoroughly enjoyed watching Leighton progress from timid freshman to senior captain. “From her freshman year until now, she is a completely different player, and you can see the confidence in her play,” Bowman said. “Seeing Mikahila come into her own the past four years has been a pleasure. Early in her basketball career, it was hard for her to control her emotions, especially on a team trying to find their identity. It's something the coaches and I really worked on with her. Mikahila has learned to control her emotions much better. Last year, we only had seven players and she stepped up and became a vocal leader on and off the court. And from our ups and downs as a team, she’s stepped up for us in her senior season. She has worked hard on her game, gaining more confidence with her ball handling, and is now our starting point guard. This is all credit to her putting the time in to be a complete player.”
Leighton splits her time between Cheltenham and Eastern Center for Arts and Technology, where she studies Automotive Technology. Through an Eastern co-op, she works at Faulkner Nissan in Jenkintown. Then there are her academic school commitments. Yet she remains committed to her teammates and her team, even though the Lady Panthers have struggled mightily during her four years on the team. For all the effort and hard work, victories are hard to come by. But Leighton’s love for her team doesn’t come from how many marks they have in the win column. It comes from the relationships she’s developed over the years. “She has to work basically full-time but juggles making games and practices on a consistent basis,” Bowman said. “That shows her dedication to the program, even when wins have not come easy to us. Her hard work on the court sets the tone for most games, and even in some of our toughest defeats, she is there pushing her teammates. She has done an incredible job of forging meaningful relationships with her teammates and coaches.”
Off the court, Leighton is enjoying walking the school hallways again. In addition to basketball, Leighton is a member of the Black Student Union. She is thoroughly enjoying her time at Eastern and working at Faulkner Nissan. She is still narrowing down her choices for college, but she’s gotten several acceptances and several full scholarships, but is still keeping her options open while she looks for a school where she can pursue mechanical engineering. “I have a love for cars. It’s really amazing to take apart something and put it back together,” she said. “My mentor with the co-op is a master tech, he’s teaching me all the shortcuts. It’s something I’ve always loved, I’ve been doing it since I was about 10.” Leighton is also hoping to continue to play basketball and improve her game at the college level, whether that means attempting to walk on to a varsity program or playing at the club level.
To read Leighton’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/mikahila-leighton-0098593
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of Jan. 19, 2022.
Evan Esposito isn’t a quitter, but he admits enough doubt crept in that he seriously thought about it. After all, why continue playing the game you love when you start feeling that it no longer loves you back? Esposito, a 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward for the Neshaminy basketball team, felt as if he was wasting away on the freshman squad while the varsity program limped to a 3-18 rebuilding season after losing almost all its key seniors to graduation the year before when Chris Arcidiacono led the Redskins to the state quarterfinals. Esposito knows now he was too young to know any better, but at the time, he was no longer having fun and seriously considered bailing.
That’s when having an older brother who's already walked a mile or two in your shoes comes especially in handy. The Espositos are a basketball family through and through, with Evan’s dad, older sister and younger brother all playing or have played the game. But it was Eric Esposito, a Conwell-Egan graduate and current junior forward for Holy Family University, who really pushed Evan into sticking with basketball. Evan felt stuck in the mud, but Eric assured him the highs would come if he kept the faith and continued to put in the work. “There were times I wanted to quit, especially when I was a freshman and sophomore because I couldn’t see myself being as good as he (Eric) was,” Evan said. “I just said I don’t think this is for me, and he told me to keep going. I would go to his games when he was in high school, and he would teach me a lot. When I first got to high school, I was a lot smaller and not the greatest, but he knew I would get bigger, just like he did. He kept telling me he saw my potential, and to just keep pushing and getting better.”
At Conwell-Egan, Eric made varsity as a freshman, and Evan assumed with so many spots opening at Neshaminy that he would grab hold of one. When it didn’t happen, he was hurt and felt like his assignment to the freshman team was a demotion. “I didn’t want to be on the freshman team,” Evan said. “Nobody does. My brother made varsity as a freshman and his team won a state championship.” Things slowly got better, even if Esposito didn’t make varsity as a sophomore either, spending his season with the jayvee team. At that point, Esposito knew he was at least one level closer to where he wanted to be; plus, he was playing and his coaches and teammates looked to him more as a leader. So, why not make the best of it until your name is called for varsity? It wasn’t only Esposito’s outlook on his situation that changed, either: his body followed suit, and the expected growth spurt that had previously seen Eric sprout to 6-foot-7 reached the younger brother, and Evan currently sits at 6-4 despite only just turning 17 in October. Thus, he’s likely not finished getting vertical. The height increase has led to an evolution in Evan’s game, going from more of a one-dimensional shooter to someone who can play both sides of the ball effectively by using his length and athleticism.
Esposito is Neshaminy’s second-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game while leading the team in rebounding (5.9). A captain, he has made it a point to befriend the underclassmen on the team, the same way the seniors showed him love when he was a junior last season. He said that when his older teammates took him under their wing, it made him feel less pressure, which led to Esposito playing looser when he did get on the court. “Evan is someone who really energizes the team,” coach Mark Tingle said. “I’ve seen the progression he’s made once he really committed himself in the offseason. He never gets too high or low, and he’s liked by everyone on our team.” Esposito is sure glad he didn’t quit, because he would have missed way too much had he stopped playing. “Basketball really showed me that it’s not always going to go your way, so you just have to keep moving forward,” he said. “Try your hardest while having fun and a positive mindset because that’s the most important thing. And I’m really thankful for my brother, who told me to keep going. Every win we get now, it’s just a really nice feeling knowing that I’m one of the key players leading the team.”
To read Esposito’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/evan-esposito-0098589
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