Chartiers-Houston’s Williamson commits to Temple
The fears Chartiers-Houston girls basketball forward Alexa Williamson had after tearing her ACL at the beginning of her sophomore season were real.
There was the fear of not being able to play the game she loves at the same level. There also was also a fear of losing what once seemed like a sure thing – a college basketball scholarship.
Williamson put some of those fears to rest last winter, during her junior season, by averaging 23 points, 12.5 rebounds and four blocked shots per game and leading Chartiers-Houston to the school’s first WPIAL championship.
Williamson, now a senior, can put the second fear behind her when she gave an oral commitment to Temple University Monday afternoon.
“It feels good,” Williamson said. “All the hard work, especially having to come back from that injury, wasn’t easy. Being able to commit felt so rewarding.”
Williamson had approximately 20 different offers from Division I schools before trimming her list. She chose Temple over Xavier, Indiana, Pitt and Duquesne.
“I felt pretty comfortable,” she said about her Sept. 15 visit to the Philadelphia school. “They weren’t putting on a show. It wasn’t fake.”
Helping Williamson sift through the numerous college letters and offers was C-H head coach Laura Montecalvo, who played at California University before her career was cut short by knee injuries.
“I think my own life experiences lend themselves to what Alexa has had to endure,” Montecalvo said. “My injuries were a big reason in becoming a coach. It has been a little bit of a roller coaster ride and we are still on it. The major thing that Alexa did was, when she started rehabbing, all of her heart went into it. It was the dream of playing in college and still achieving goals in high school that have fueled her to get back to being herself.”
Williamson saved her best performances for the biggest games last year, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the Bucs’ 47-35 victory over Vincentian Academy in the WPIAL Class AA championship game. Chartiers-Houston was only the third Washington County school to win a WPIAL girls basketball title.
She also scored a career-high 35 points and had 12 rebounds in a PIAA playoff game against Bellwood-Antis.
“Coach Montecalvo has played a big role,” Williamson said. “Besides my mom and brother, she helped me the most in the recruiting process. I’m lucky to have her.”
For Montecalvo, she considers herself the lucky one. Not many coaches, especially at the Class AA level, have a player of Williamson’s caliber.
“You always think about what my coach is doing for me, but what these kids have done for me is so tremendous,” Montecalvo said. “I’ve told her many times that when something bad happens there is still always good. You just have to be able to find it. Having the game taken away from her for that brief time made her appreciate it that much more. When you have a Division I player and get to watch her grow up and see where she is now, there is nothing better than that.”