She'll take Manhattan

WORCESTER -- Alicia Marculitis will not endure the anxiety that many high school seniors will suffer next spring.

The Shrewsbury teenager already knows where she's going to college. Marculitis, a Worcester Academy basketball star, signed a national letter of intent Nov. 8 to attend Manhattan College.

Now she can concentrate on the task at hand: defending the New England Prep School Class B Championship.

"My dad got me to play basketball," said the 6-foot-3-inch Marculitis. "I was in the sixth grade and I was already tall for my age. He said I had to give it a try. He loved the game. He never played in college or anything, but he played a lot of pickup basketball growing up."

She said she was unfamiliar with the game, but once she started to play, "I began to love the game, too."

When she was in the eighth grade, she attended a summer basketball camp organized by newly hired Worcester Academy coach Sherry Levin.

"I remember seeing her as someone with great potential," said Levin, who convinced Marculitis that Worcester Academy was the school for her. "She liked to work hard and always had a smile on her face, and it's been like that every day I've had the opportunity to coach Alicia."

Levin knows basketball. She is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. She holds the all-time scoring record at Holy Cross (class of '84) and before that, she was a record-setting scorer at Newton North High School.

Marculitis has been on the varsity since she was a freshman. During that time, the Hilltoppers have won two New England championships.

Individually, Marculitis set the single-season mark for blocks (46) and already has the career record (98) with a full season to go. She has 451 points and 250 rebounds heading into her senior year.

Levin says statistics don't tell the whole story. "What she contributes to the team is just an overwhelming sense of strength," said Levin.

"I can remember times she was out there and playing a monster defensive game, shutting down the opposing team's top scorer. She might have something like 6 points and 3 blocks and 7 rebounds. That may not seem like a lot, but she did other things we needed her to do. She does everything asked of her, not caring about statistics or anything."

There is no question in Levin's mind that Marculitis could be a scoring machine, too, if needed. Even as a sophomore she displayed a great touch. "Not just with her back to the basket. She has a terrific jump shot, too," said Levin.

For instance, when Marculitis was a sophomore, she had a pair of back-to-back hot shooting performances.

In one game, she connected on 10 of 11 shots. It was disappointing when details of her game failed to make the local paper the following day, said Levin. It didn't matter to Marculitis.

The next game, against Kingsford-Oxford in Connecticut, she went 11 for 12, said Levin. Levin wanted to take her out of the game because Worcester was winning by a lopsided score. "But my bench was telling me that I had to leave her in the game. So, I said I'd leave her in until she missed a shot and she never missed another shot."

Marculitis has been outstanding in close games as well, such as last year in the New England championship semifinals against New Hampton Prep.

With just a couple of seconds on the clock, she was at the foul line and had a chance to "ice the game," said Levin. "Alicia stood up there and made it. She said her heart was pounding, but she made it."

It was a tremendous comeback victory for Worcester, which was down by 9 points with 3:12 left in the game. "We played with a lot of heart and she was a big part of why we were 24-0," added Levin. "We were down, but we never gave up. Alicia was instrumental."

When Marculitis was a freshman, she made another key play in her first championship game.

"Somebody took a shot and missed. Alicia wasn't able to get the rebound, but she was able to get a finger on it and deflected the ball to a teammate, who scored. And it made a difference," said Levin.

Marculitis's father and mother came to every game to support their daughter. But this year there will be a void. Her father, Edward, will not be cheering from the stands.

A victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, he died in August.

Despite her father's illness, Levin said, "Alicia never showed a sign of faltering, in the classroom or on the basketball court. She is an example of the strong family foundation of people who love and support her."

Marculitis, who is the oldest of four children, said she is grateful for all the help her family received from the school and the Shrewsbury community. "People, our friends, would come over and bring us dinners and help out. They picked us up. They were a great help."

Toward the end of her father's life, she said, "it was awful. Every day was difficult and what made it worse was there was nothing we could do for my father to make him better. He needed constant attention and we gave it because we loved him."