Oakland Catholic’s Alexa Washington aims to cap high school career on high note

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 26, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Alexa Washington felt a tinge of emotion rise to the surface last week when talking about the inevitable conclusion of her high school basketball career levied against the excitement of her Oakland Catholic team’s opportunities in the WPIAL playoffs.

“I know it’s coming, but right now, all I am thinking about is winning,” Washington said.

The Monroeville resident and senior guard with the Eagles has been a veteran presence for her team since the first time she put on the Oakland Catholic uniform. She started the Eagles’ first game her freshman year, and she has been a prominent part of the team success the past four years.

“Coming from Gateway, my mother told me to work hard and earn my spot,” Washington said.

“That really was important to me. The first game came around, and I was in the starting lineup. I don’t want to say I was nervous, but I certainly didn’t want to mess up. Once I was out there playing, it was like any of my AAU games. I was out there for a reason, and I just had to play as hard as possible and trust what I could do.”

Oakland Catholic finished second to Woodland Hills in Section 3 and was 16-7 overall in Washington’s freshman season.

She helped the Eagles navigate through the 2020-21 campaign when the covid pandemic toyed with schedules and forced the WPIAL to alter its playoff format.

Oakland Catholic finished 4-6 in Section 1 last year, fourth place behind three of Class 5A’s top teams in Chartiers Valley, South Fayette and Moon. The Eagles made the WPIAL quarterfinals and advanced to the PIAA second round.

Washington, an all-section guard last year with classmates Halena Hill and Rachel Haver, said the team knew it had the pieces in place to excel this season.

Oakland Catholic did just that in the regular season as it won Section 3-5A with a 12-0 record and earned 17 victories in a row after early losses to nationally ranked teams from Florida and Washington, D.C.

Washington recalled a 29-point win over Class 6A power Mt. Lebanon and two close section wins over Section 3 runner-up McKeesport (10-2) as three of the bigger victories for the team.

A loss to Class 4A No. 2 North Catholic in the regular season finale, Washington said, didn’t derail the team’s plans.

“That game against North Catholic motivated us more getting in the playoffs,” Washington said. “We didn’t want to have that feeling again.”

Oakland Catholic was to take on No. 7 Mars in the WPIAL quarterfinals Friday.

Washington was right on her scoring average from the regular season — 16.3 points per game — in a first-round victory over Kiski Area on Feb. 21.

She finished with a game-best 17 points with 15 coming on five 3-pointers. Fourteen of the 17 came in the first half as the Eagles took control.

“My shot has always been my strength, but I have seen improvement with it this year,” Washington said.

“I learned to get to the hoop more. I think it helped this year that I haven’t been at point guard, and I’ve been on the wing more as a shooting guard. That gave me more opportunities to drive to the hoop, too. Being aggressive can produce good things. That is our whole team mentality. But if I am given the shot from the outside, I am going to take it. Scoring whatever way to help the team win. That’s the big thing.”

The top seven teams from Class 5A earn spots to the PIAA playoffs. Play-in games this week involving the quarterfinal losers will determine places five through seven.

Washington, while currently focused on the WPIAL playoffs, also has her future in basketball and academics set as she has signed a letter of intent to play at Division I North Florida in Jacksonville.

She is following in the Division I footsteps of her aunt, Amy Kunich, who helped start Oakand Catholic’s run of six WPIAL titles in eight seasons before embarking on a college career at Pitt from 2001-05.

The Ospreys offered Washington during her sophomore year. She also received a Division I offer from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Washington made an official visit to North Florida the weekend of Jan. 14. She watched her future team play Atlantic Sun foe Queens (Charlotte). Later that evening, she was on hand to watch the wild AFC Wild Card game between the Jacksonville and San Diego which saw the Jaguars rally in the second half for a 31-30 victory.

“I loved the campus and the facilities, and the players and coaches are really close,” she said.

“They were all very welcoming from the start. There are a bunch of transfers on the team, so they are trying to build off a new group. There’s also freshman coming in. They played some really good teams like Wisconsin, Miami and Alabama. I was talking with the coaches, and they said we could possibly play Pitt next year at Pitt. I would love to play against one of my past (AAU) teammates, (North Allegheny senior and Pitt commit) Jasmine Timmerson.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Oakland Catholic