Massillon Jackson's Swiss Army knife on the court is even sharper in the classroom

By Ryan Isley | Photos by Mike Cook

MEDINA, Ohio — The Medina High School gym quickly became a home away from home for Massillon Jackson junior Leena Patibandla this week.

After dropping a career-high 21 points Tuesday night in a 49-41 win over Green in the OHSAA Division I regional semifinals, Patibandla did a little bit of everything for the Polar Bears in a 38-34 regional final win over St. Joseph Academy on Saturday.

The victory propelled the Polar Bears to the state semifinals for the first time in program history.

With points hard to come by early against a stingy St. Joseph zone defense that had frustrated teams all tournament long, Patibandla had a team-high eight points in the first half as Jackson held a 19-17 lead going into the locker rooms.

And then in the second half, she opened up like a Swiss Army knife and showed off all of her tools. 

She grabbed rebounds, went after loose balls, blocked shots, made the pass to open teammates and facilitated the offense against the zone from the low block at times.

She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Those blocks make her the school’s single-season record holder with 47.

She was huge down the stretch Saturday on both sides of the floor for the Polar Bears.

With SJA leading 25-23 late in the third quarter and seemingly having all of the momentum on their side, Patibandla took a pass on the left block from Halle Ignaccio, who was in the corner. 

She allowed Ignaccio to reset and gave her the ball right back. After making the pass, Patibandla sealed off the defender to allow Ignaccio to have a wide-open look at a 3-pointer, which she drained to give Jackson the lead back.

“Leena helps me get stuff like that all the time. We practice a lot like that,” Ignaccio said. “She’s a playmaker. She looks to do things for other people. At practice, we will be like, ‘Shoot it Leena, shoot it,’ because she would rather help us and make those extra plays for us.”

After a quick SJA turnover following the Ignaccio 3-pointer, Patibandla found a cutting Lauren Pallotta for an easy basket to give Jackson a 28-25 lead after three quarters.

Her back-to-back assists didn’t come by accident. The 6-foot-1 forward sees herself as a big playmaker and watches a lot of basketball to get better at facilitating. 

While high school kids might be prone to watching videos of players like Kyrie Irving, Trae Young or Luka Doncic, Patibandla prefers to go a little further back. She jumps on YouTube to find clips of Magic Johnson and Pete Maravich.

“I watched a lot of basketball growing up. I watched a lot of old-school basketball,” Patibandla said. “I just love basketball.”

In the fourth quarter, Patibandla's defense was on display. With the game knotted at 30-30, SJA’s Ryan Elbert got a good look at a 3-pointer from the left wing. 

Despite having been hitting shots like that all day, this one was an air ball that led to an easy offensive rebound by Ella Neitzel, who had a point-blank shot to take the lead. 

But Patibandla was there to block the shot and keep the game tied.

“She just has such good instincts that you can’t coach or teach,” Jackson coach Anthony Butch said. “She really is amazing.”

After Emma Dretke hit a 3-pointer to give Jackson a 35-32 lead with 2:28 to play, Patibandla’s instincts took over again. 

She flustered the ball handler for SJA into fumbling the ball into an over-and-back violation.

“The things she can do just brings so much energy to our team,” Dretke said. “She can score any time she wants, but she can do everything — pass, rebound, defend — she’s just an amazing player to play with.”

Patibandla added one more blocked shot in the final minute with Jackson leading by four and the Jaguars trying to make a comeback.

“It’s about staying one step ahead being able to predict passes, block shots,” Patibandla said. “It’s a big part of the game, making those big stops at the end of games.”

Patibandla makes a habit out of staying one step ahead, and not just on the basketball court. 

Her schedule keeps her busy, as she is a standout volleyball player and earned all-state honors in track, along with being a standout on the basketball court. 

And outside of athletics, she carries an academic workload that would be too much for most people who aren’t also excelling in three sports.

“I have five AP (classes),” Patibandla said. “It’s really stressful having to manage athletics with academics, but I’ve been getting used to it since middle school. Having a hard schedule at school and managing my academics is a balance I have been able to maintain for the past couple of years.”

Her coach is amazed at how well Patibandla juggles everything, and says she might spend more time at the school than he does.

“She’s a special kid," Butch said. "She has a 5.6 GPA and her academic course load is insane. I would argue that there is no student at Jackson High School that has a more difficult course load academically. She is at school before I get there as a teacher studying in the commons because she doesn’t have time to study at night. She stays up late, she’s short on sleep. Everything that’s on that kid’s plate, the common person only knows the beginning of it.”

Maybe the stress of such a heavy schedule is what allows Patibandla to let loose with her emotions on the court. 

She can often be seen celebrating or screaming after big plays, but she also understands those celebrations need to be short. Even if quick, she feels like it can pick up the team.

“I really think it’s a momentum thing,” Patibandla said. “Getting a big play, you have to celebrate, but then you have to get right back into it and get the next defensive stop. Say we make a big 3 and we’re going back on defense. To get that little hype in there and get that stop on defense, I think it carries over.”

And Jackson has carried that over into a trip to Dayton, where the Polar Bears will try to bring home the program’s first state title.

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