Lewis’s Hill has quite a week

Francis Lewis’s Diatiema Hill doesn’t feel the need to score many points against the Patriots’ lesser league opponents. So during a recent blowout win over Beach Channel, she didn’t understand why her teammates kept telling her to shoot.
It finally clicked after she scored two of her 14 points, when the game was stopped to announce Hill had eclipsed the 1,000 milestone.
It was quite a week for Hill, who will attend the University of Massachusetts in the fall. Not only did she go over 1,000 points for her career, but the East Elmhurst teen also became the Patriots’ all-time leader in steals and assists, surpassing Teresa Rozza, class of 2003. Currently, Hill has 1,024 points, 494 assists, and 292 steals. Rozza held the previous school records with 481 assists and 287 steals.
“It just says something about all the hard work I’ve put in,” she said. “The steals and assists are important to me.”
Hill, more playmaker than scorer in four years on the borough’s public school powerhouse, has led Francis Lewis to the city championship game in each of the last two seasons.
As a freshman coming off the bench, Coach Michael Eisenberg had an idea about the kind of player he had in Hill - a solid defensive player with offensive skills. But when he started her at the point her sophomore season after Rozza graduated, he was shocked at the results. “Her ability to pass the ball was something that surprised me,” he said.
As unselfish as they come, last year Eisenberg called Hill, 17, the best player in the city who averaged 8-points-a-game. She rarely cracked double digits in league play a season ago. This year, she’s upped her numbers a bit, averaging 12.6 points, 6.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds.
“I don’t have to be greedy,” Hill said. “I just do whatever is best for my team.”