North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week could be Bergen County's next 2,000-point scorer
Allie Shenloogian wishes to wait.
Not on the basketball court, mind you. The Park Ridge junior needed just two seasons and one game to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career.
But if you’re going to project the speedy combo guard as Bergen County’s next 2,000-point scorer, well…
“I’m not really looking toward that yet,” Shenloogian said. “I’m more looking toward this year – winning the league and winning games and getting back to the sectional final with my team.
“But if that does become a thing, that’d be great.”
Currently, the Bergen County 2,000-point club for girls basketball includes 15 players. The most recent player to join, 2023 Tenafly grad Rylie Theuerkauf, surpassed 1,000 points in her first two seasons.
Shenloogian entered Park Ridge’s season opener against Pompton Lakes at 990 and got to quadruple digits by the end of the first half. She finished with 35 points, 9 rebounds and 8 steals, highlighting the fact that she is more than a 20-plus-point-per-game scorer.
“Allie has continued to grow her game and has been a great leader for the Owls in both ends of the floor,” coach Ryan Dennis said.
“Mary Grace Craffey, Abigail McManus, Kate Broderick and Juliana Barros… we’re just playing great defense, which leads to easy buckets on the other end,” Shenloogian said, magnanimously mentioning the Owls’ entire starting five.
The team fields virtually the same lineup as it did for the North 1, Group 1 final in February, save for last winter’s freshman rebounding phenom. “We lost Annika Kivisikk, she moved to Missouri,” Shenloogian said. “So that was a big loss for us this year. Juliana has stepped up a lot.”
Park Ridge fell to Boonton in that title game, 41-35, after leading 25-19 early in the third. The Owls remain in search of the program’s first sectional crown, and according to their top scorer, drawing motivation from adversity helps them move forward.
“Last year, there were a couple of games where we were down at halftime,” Shenloogian said. “We went into the locker room [one game], everyone starts yelling at each other how we have to do better, and all that. And we ended up coming back and winning after we were down by like 12.”
By opening 3-0, Park Ridge already is off to a better start than last season, when it went 17-14. The roster, albeit small, is full of three-sport athletes, of which Shenloogian is one.
She plays soccer in the fall and softball in the spring, though basketball is the year-round favorite. She started playing at age 5.
After getting going in rec ball, she played for Our Lady of Mercy’s CYO team, since the borough did not offer travel hoops (“it was just me in my grade,” she noted).
These days, during the varsity offseason, Shenloogian takes part in AAU ball, where she has received instruction from renowned coach Danny Brown.
She noted the competition can be equally intense in the NJIC Patriot. Between Park Ridge and rivals Cresskill, Emerson and Midland Park, the division has produced at least one North 1, Group 1 finalist in five of the last six state tournaments.
“Small [school] Group 1 players who are always tough and gritty,” Shenloogian said. “I feel like our team is more mentally tough and physically tough compared to bigger teams. They may have more talent, but we’re tougher than them. So, Group 1 really stands out that way.”
Much the way Shenloogian does.
Allie Shenloogian
Sport: Basketball
School: Park Ridge
Class: Junior. Age: 16
Accomplishment: Shenloogian earns Athlete of the Week for the second time in her career after averaging 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 2.5 assists in the Owls’ first two games. She also scored her 1,000th point.
Also nominated: Kate Walsh of Westwood, Marissa LaVerghetta of Mahwah, Olivia Buckingham of Secaucus, Siena Shuster of Wayne Hills, and Fiona Helly of Wood-Ridge for basketball; and Francesca Gusfa of Ridgewood for wrestling.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Female Athlete of the Week: Allie Shenloogian, Park Ridge
