Mohegan — In New London’s Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament championship victory Tuesday, junior forward Ky-Ani Allgood tied her teammate Serentiy Lancaster for the most hardware taken home.

Leaving Mohegan Sun Arena with an all-tournament medal, a first team All-ECC plaque and New London’s ECC sportsmanship award, Allgood was recognized for the outstanding contributions to her team on and off the court.

“I try to be there for everyone. Even if you’re not on my team, I’ll still pick you up, regardless,” Allgood said following the 56-47 win over Ledyard. “Even off the court I always try to help my teammates and listen to what they’re going through. I’ve just always had a big heart, I guess.”

In most cases, a sportsmanship award wouldn’t be given to a player who’s already been recognized for athletic achievement like Allgood.

However, head coach Tammy Millsaps was extremely impressed with Allgood’s consistent character and willingness to help her teammates throughout the year, making her a prime candidate for the award.

Millsaps said: “A lot of times people can shine when the lights are on, but Ky-Ani is the same in practice, film, in the weight room and she’s always got a positive mindset on what we want to accomplish. She’s not a cancer to the locker room, spreading negative things; she’s more of a positive sponge, it affects the whole team.”

Allgood has been a premium support player for the Whalers, doing all the little things on the court while being a great teammate. At only 5-foot-9, she finished the matchup, New London’s third straight tournament championship, with seven points, 16 rebounds, a steal and a block.

She prides herself on doing everything else outside of scoring, especially rebounding.

“I know I have a great team around me that can do other things, but I just try to do my part on the court, do as much as I can to help my team win. I know I take a large part in the rebounding – I honestly just really like rebounding. I feel comfortable hustling and helping my team that way,” Allgood said.

With teammates like Lancaster, who took home the ECC tournament Most Outstanding Player honor with 24 points and 19 rebounds, it can become difficult to find a role on the court without taking away from others.

Any given night. Allgood may be the fourth or even fifth option on offense, but she still managed to finish her junior season with an All-ECC first team award, highlighting her tremendous contributions outside of the box score.

“I thought she had a solid year and deserved to make the first team all-conference,” Millsaps said. “She does a lot of the small things for us. Snatching offensive rebounds, she’ll start the break for us sometimes, this year she’s been more efficient at the free throw line, she also handled the ball way better than she could last year. She does a lot more than what shows up on the stat sheet.”

Stonington’s stopper

Stonington lost a hard-fought game against Windham for the ECC Division II championship, falling 52-38. It was a somewhat rough game for Stonington’s offense, but one highlight for the Bears was the defense played by Leah DePerry.

The sophomore guard has been putting on a defensive clinic throughout the entire season, and it showed despite the loss Tuesday.

“I try to play hard and work with my teammates to help us win. I just go out there and try my best to win,” DePerry said.

Following a couple of offensive foul calls, DePerry fouled out at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but while she was in, she made an immense impact on both sides of the floor. She finished the game with eight points, two assists, and three steals (all steals in the third quarter), while guarding Windham’s touted backcourt.

Stonington head coach Paulla Solar said: “(Leah’s) always had that fire inside of her. It’s why we always put her on the opposing team’s strongest player. Every game we give her the other team’s strongest player and she holds them to under 10 points every time and nobody ever gives her credit for it.”

DePerry was matched up against All-ECC guard Jaelize Rivera for the majority of the game, a player who was instrumental in Windham’s success this season.

Rivera, who usually averages 11 points per game, was held to six points, largely in part to the menacing pressure by DePerry. DePerry’s secondary matchup, All-ECC guard Aniya Jenkins, who averaged 15 points per game, was held to eight points in the final.

Solar said: “I’m really blessed to have her on my team because there are some games that we won largely in part to her locking down on defense. Even though she’s a soccer girl first, I think she has a future in basketball too if she sticks with it.”

Quotable

Ledyard coach Mike Morgan watched his team upset No. 3 Norwich Free Academy (69-56) and No. 2 Bacon Academy (69-58) in the ECC Division I tournament before facing No. 1 New London in the final Tuesday night. The Colonels (13-10) stayed close before falling to the Whalers.

Said Morgan: “I’m very proud of my girls. I feel like we could’ve played with more urgency. The result wasn’t what we wanted but we played a great team with an elite player (New London’s Serenity Lancaster). It would’ve be nice to complete a sweep of the top three but we ran out of gas.”

z.cunningham@theday.com

Day Sports Editor Vickie Fulkerson contributed to this report