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NETHER PROVIDENCE – Alexa Abbonizio putting up big numbers on the basketball court isn’t new around Springfield. But the Cougars’ perennial pursuit of Central League and District 1 titles is often chronicled in terms of veteran leadership.
Once, Abbonizio was the underclassmen counterpoint to those leaders. Now as a junior, she’s on the other side of the age divide, and she’s providing the clutch plays to prove it.
Abbonizio scored a game-high 18 points, including all eight of the Cougars’ points in the fourth quarter, as the top seed held off No. 6 Harriton, 40-32, in the Central League semifinal Monday at Strath Haven.
Springfield (19-4) advances to Tuesday’s final at Harriton, where it takes on No. 2 Ridley.
Abbonizio supplied the only offense Springfield needed in the fourth, with two baskets and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
“It puts pressure on me, but I kind of do better under pressure,” Abbonizio said. “It comes naturally. I know I had to come through at the end.”
Not only at the end, either, since every time Harriton (11-12) seemed to get a head of steam, Abbonizio was there to put down the rally.
In the second quarter, a double-figure lead was cut to five thanks to a 3-pointer by Annie Aspesi and a three-point play from Ava Paternoster, but Abbonizio answered with a reverse lay-in to make it 21-14 Springfield at half. When Harriton climbed within six in the third, Abbonizio answered with a leaner in the lane to restore the edge to eight.
And the Rams opened the fourth quarter on an 9-1 run, until Abbonizio sank four three throws, then applied the exclamation point in the final minute, laying in off glass on a home-run pass by Alyssa Long.
The scoring part of Abbonizio’s game has been there since she was a freshman, which explains the 1,000 points she’s accumulated. But the way in which she demanded the ball in the fourth quarter is the next-level intensity of a veteran who’s been through the battles.
“When she has the ball at the end of the game and we’re up and she hits foul shots, it’s hard to beat us because we’re going to win when she’s at the line,” Long said. “The fact that she steps up in big games and makes big-time plays, she’s a big-time player.”
Long added 12 points and three assists. The Cougars were just 1-for-14 from 3-point range and didn’t crack 35 percent (15-for-43) from the field. Add in a 35-21 rebounding disadvantage and it could’ve been another upset for the Rams, who dispatched third-seeded Garnet Valley Saturday.
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Springfield’s Alexa Abbonizio scored 18 points in a 40-32 win over Harriton Monday. (DFM file)
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