Feb 7, 2018 3 min read

Name: Alexa Williamson

School: Chartiers-Houston

Sport: Basketball

Class: Senior

Williamson’s week: It was another record-setting week for the Bucs’ senior forward.

Williamson scored 41 points and became the all-time leading scorer at Chartiers-Houston during a 71-23 home-court victory over Shenango last Thursday. She scored 25 points in the first half to tie the record of 1,915 points set by Emily Briggs from 1999-2003. Williamson broke the record early in the third quarter.

“It was exciting,” Williamson said. “I was told about (the record) a week and a half ago but didn’t really think about it.”

Earlier in the week, Williamson scored 43 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 58-26 win over Aliquippa.

“We don’t talk about the numbers,” said Chartiers-Houston coach Laura Montecalvo. “It’s more about me telling her, along with the rest of our girls, that they need to work harder than anybody on the floor.”

Maybe the most impressive part of Williamson breaking the school record is that she missed more than half of her sophomore season because of a knee injury suffered in a Christmas tournament at Farrell High School.

“(Breaking that record) was well-deserved,” Montecalvo said. “She missed approximately 20 games during her sophomore season. When we realized she had the chance to do this, it was shocking. That night when she broke the record, I thought back to her tough times.”

New and improved: Completely healed from her knee injury of two years ago, Williamson is free from the recruiting pressures. She committed to Temple University prior to the season.

Averaging 30 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks per game, Williamson has led the defending WPIAL champions to an 18-2 record, including 12-1 in Section 1-AA, which is tied for first place with Our Lady of Sacred Heart.

“It’s really helped to have no stress anymore,” Williamson said her early commitment. “I don’t have to worry about coaches coming and watching. I would get calls at random hours of the day.”

Williamson is putting together an impressive stat line even with each of the Bucs’ opponents focusing their defense on shutting her down.

“Teams play different when they play us,” Williamson said. “They play better. I normally have two or three girls guarding me. I take it as a compliment but it can get frustrating. I just have to make sure to work harder in the paint, grab more rebounds and sometimes move out to the perimeter.”

Outside shooting is one of the things Montecalvo said Williamson has added to her game this season, combining a nearly unstoppable post presence with a jump shot outside the key.

“It’s a combination of a couple things,” Montecalvo said of Williamson’s improvement as a player.

“She has been able to shoot from the outside more consistently. She can pop out to the wing and drive to the basket. Her finishing has gotten more consistent. She has been a lot stronger defensively, getting a lot more steals that create transition opportunities and easier points. She has grown as a player and bought into what we need her to do.”

Compiled by staff writer Luke Campbell.