North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week leads her team with lockdown defense

As a basketball player, Soto has taken inspiration from some usual places.

Her family. Her teammates. The late great Kobe Bryant.

Soto models her game after the former Lakers guard even though Bryant retired around the same time she picked up the sport in third grade.

“The day that he passed away, it really affected me even though he doesn’t have a clue who I am,” Soto said. “Every time before a game, I pray. I just want to be like him as I grow.”

Then there are the unlikely sources of inspiration for Soto. Take for example, Hamlet, part of the reading list for interim coach Matt Hennessy’s English class.

“I absolutely loved Hamlet and I think that’s what helped me honestly play basketball,” Soto said. “Every time at practice, I would go up to him and talk about the quiz we just took or what we read during class that day.”

Luckily, Pompton Lakes has been far from a Shakespearean tragedy on the basketball court. Even though Soto is often the only senior in the starting lineup, the Cardinals (13-8) are rolling into Saturday’s Passaic County quarterfinals. Soto is averaging a career-high 15.95 points as a senior.

“I’ve been around the program for like 20, 25 years,” said Hennessy, who’s calling the shots again with head coach Britney Flynn on maternity leave.

“(Soto is) as good as a player that we’ve had and one of a small handful to go on to play at college. The way she goes, we go.”

Soto spent her freshman year at Immaculate Heart before returning to her hometown school as a sophomore. She plays shooting guard for the North Jersey Bucks AAU team, but runs the point for the Cardinals with field hockey star and fellow Athlete of the Week Krista Lilienthal out dealing with knee issues.

Soto won’t be the first athlete in her family to reach the college level. Her brother Luis Soto played some Division III football at Springfield and her father, Luis, roamed the soccer fields at New Haven.

As the story goes, a young Mia wanted to be a gymnast early on but fell in love with basketball when her mom signed up her for a rec league instead.

Now, with her time at Pompton Lakes winding down, Soto is tapping into her experience as a vocal captain – one who Hennessy said is comfortable hyping up or calling out a teammate.

When words aren’t enough to fire up the team, Soto can often do it with a steal.

“I love it,” Soto said. “I don’t think about the fact that I’m leaving in a few weeks or months. I just think about how can I prepare this team for next year and the years following. I take all the freshmen under my wing. I love helping all the young ones.”