LaPlante inducted into Sacred Heart Hall
SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW
by PATRICK J. NAGY

Gina LaPlante

When Gina Marie LaPlante played basketball for Sacred Heart Academy, she said her friends never missed any of her games. So when the 1995 graduate learned last August that she was going to be inducted into the 2007 Sacred Heart Hall of Fame, those same friends shared her good news.

"My mother actually told me at one of my friend's weddings, which was a friend from Sacred Heart, so there were a bunch of those girls there who supported me when I played," said LaPlante, a former Eggertsville and Williamsville resident. "It was funny. It was appropriate that she did that in a way because she wanted me to share it with all of them while everyone was in town."

LaPlante was one of six individuals inducted on Nov. 10. The induction ceremony took place at Sacred Heart. Others individuals inducted were Shirley Ann Keppel ('53), Mary Kuharski Long ('73), Sue Trapper ('75), Grace Eberhard Selmensberger ('83) and Nadine Mastreleo Baker ('94). The 1985-86 varsity girls basketball team was also inducted.

To be inducted, the nominee must be an alumna of at least 10 years and have performed at an outstanding level in one or more sports.

LaPlante ran track (All-Catholic, 1992) and played volleyball (All-Catholic, 1993-94) at Sacred Heart, but it was on the basketball court where she thrived. As a 6-foot forward, she started all four years on the varsity team and was the Sharks' leading scorer her sophomore through senior year. She was captain her junior and senior years. In her freshman year, in 1991, the Sharks won the New York State Championship and State Federation crown. That team had guard/forward Texlin Quinney, who went on to play for Seton Hall University and the WNBA's Indiana Fever.

LaPlante remembers high school games against Holy Angels as her favorite high school memories.

"They were our largest rival and attracted the most crowds," said LaPlante. "Both sides really got razzed up to play those games. Both student bodies would make signs and really get into it. I knew a lot of their players from travel teams and summer leagues."

LaPlante's basketball prowess earned her a ton of postseason honors. She was the Monsignor Martin Division Most Valuable Player in her sophomore and senior year and made the All-Western New York Team all four years (honorable mention, freshman; second team, sophomore and junior; first team, senior). In her senior year, she was named "Student Athlete of the Year" by Sacred Heart and the Town of Amherst.

She also played in the summers of 1992-94 for the Western Region at the Empire State Games, helping the team earn bronze in 1993 and 1994. She was a team captain in 1994.

Basketball allowed LaPlante the opportunity to play the sport at Boston University on a full NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. She started as a small forward all four years at Boston and was captain in her senior year. She finished her four-year career 10th on the school's all-time career blocks list with 72.

In the classroom, LaPlante was named to the America East Conference Honor Roll all four years and received the John B. Simpson Award in 1999, given to one female and one male athlete at Boston on the basis of their enthusiastic senior leadership.

LaPlante graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in history and then graduated from Case Western Reserve University law school in Cleveland, Ohio.

For the last two years, she has owned Gina LaPlante Inc., a management consulting business in Boston. LaPlante gives regulatory compliance consulting and business process management consulting for insurance companies.

"For example, I'll go into Blue Cross Blue Shield and look at their Medicare business and help them stay compliant with their regulations imposed by the federal government," said LaPlante.

Prior to owning her own business, LaPlante worked in Boston for three years doing business development and marketing at Tier Technologies, a government consulting business. The last year she worked there, the company moved to Virginia, and she transferred, but later moved back to Boston.

LaPlante likes to ski, golf, run and travel. LaPlante also comes back to Buffalo about once a month to visit family.

In the future, she would like to expand her consulting business beyond insurance companies. She would also like to coach basketball for elementary school children, something she did while in Virginia.

She still has the itch to play basketball, playing pickup games on Monday nights.