Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year presented by Playtex Sport

It was widely a perfect high school basketball career for Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.

She led Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) to 123 wins (seven losses) over four seasons, three Southern Section, two regional, two state and two mythical national championships.

The rugged sharp-shooting 6-foot guard finished things off by bringing the Monarchs back from an early 12-point deficit to score 33 points in a 59-47 victory over Berkeley in the California Interscholastic Federation Division I title game to complete a 26-game win streak.

The University of Connecticut signee averaged 22.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.6 assists per game helping her to secure National Player of the Year awards from MaxPreps, Naismith, Gatorade and Women's Basketball Coaches Association. This after she was first-team MaxPreps All-American as a junior when she averaged 27.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.



"There's really nothing else she could have done," Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said. "Not this season. Not last season. Not in her career."

Though there were plenty of fantastic nominees nationwide - see below - Mosqueda-Lewis was a logical choice as the 2010-11 MaxPreps National Female Athlete of the Year, presented by Playtex Sport.

"It's incredible what she's done in four years here," Kiernan said. "She's meant so much not only to our program and helped push us from a good California program to the national scene, but she's meant so much to our school."

The normally polished and articulate senior with a 3.5 grade point average seemed somewhat overwhelmed trying to put into words what it has meant to earn all her recognition.

She joins the company of Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and most recently Skylar Diggins and the Ogwumike sisters, Nneka and Chiney, as national basketball winners.

"It's just been such an honor," she said. "To think that I'm the best in the nation with just all the great players in California alone, let alone the nation. And then thinking of all the great recipients that have won these awards in the past. I really don't have words for it."

With excellent size and strength, natural ability and the picture-perfect outside shot, Mosqueda-Lewis worked on all the other facets. Throw in natural confidence and a competitive fire and it all adds up to the top of the girls hoops food chain.

In fact, with 2007 MaxPreps Player of the Year Maya Moore moving on and Mosqueda-Lewis similar in size and skill-set, she may be asked to fill Moore's role at UConn. It will be a great challenge, Kiernan said, but one Mosqueda-Lewis will relish. 

"She's got beautiful shooting form and footwork," Kiernan said. "She's got a fantastic mid-range game and if you take away those things, she can post up because she's bigger than most guards. She can just beat you in so many ways."

With all her success, Kiernan said, there is absolutely no baggage or residue of her being the star player. Quite the opposite.

"She works her tail off every practice," he said. "There's no maintenance at all.

"The thing about Kaleena is her maturity is so striking. For being so young, she's always seemed so grown up. I think she's always been around older people and she gets along well with adults. There's a calmness about her. She's very grounded and all of that plays out well in big situations."

Mosqueda-Lewis was picked over a number of fantastic versatile and single-sport national stars such as:

* Tiffany Baker (volleyball): The 6-3 senior and Tennessee-bound standout was the MaxPreps National Volleyball Player of the Year after leading Hebron (Texas) to a state title with a staggering 661 kills, 276 blocks and 296 digs.

* Aisling Cuffe (track, cross-country): The Stanford-bound runner from Cornwall Central (New Windsor, N.Y.)
won the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships by 26 seconds and is the nation's top 1,600-meter runner currently with a best time of 4 minutes, 45.46 seconds.



* Octavious Freeman (track and field): Already a six-time state champion, the Lake Wales (Fla.) senior could go down as one of the nation's all-time best sprinters. She has the country's best 100 time of 11.29 and is third in the 200 (23.42). She has a legitimate shot of breaking the national 100 mark of 11.11. She won four state 2A titles giving her 10 for her career with wins in the 100 (11.77), 200 (23.64), long jump (18 feet, 10½ inches) and a leg on the victorious 400 relay.

* Shelby Holley (softball): The senior catcher from Pisgah (Ala.) has already broken national home run records with 30 this season and 67 for her career. 

* Robin Reynolds (track and field): Another Florida standout, the Jackson (Miami) junior set the stage to become the greatest track performer in Florida history by winning four gold medals during last week's Class 3A state meet in Winter Park, Fla. Reynolds swept the 100 (11.67) and 200 (23.95), 400 (national best 53.91) and long jump (19-11). She has 11 state titles, two off the state record.

* Marti Sementelli (baseball): That's right, not softball, but baseball. Sementelli has broken gender barriers at Birmingham (Lake Balboa, Calif.) by pitching 22 innings and posting a 2-1 record in 12 games thus far this season. The 5-2 senior right-hander just landed a partial baseball scholarship to Montreat College, a NAIA school in North Carolina.

See the MaxPreps 2010-11 Female Athlete National Awards page. Coach of the Year will be announced May 18 and Team of the Year on May 20.