Cardinal O’Hara’s Maggie Doogan dives ahead of Springfield’s Alexa Abbonizio, right, in the second half of a PIAA Tournament semifinal Tuesday evening. O’Hara was victorious and moves on the state final in Hershey Saturday night. PETE BANNAN – MEDIANEWS GROUP
By Terry Toohey
A month from now, when the AAU season starts, Springfield High’s Alexa Abbonizio and Cardinal O’Hara’s Amaris Baker, Siobhan Boylan and Maggie Doogan will be wearing the same uniform.
They’re all teammates on the Comets Under Armour team that will kick off its season at the Finley Sports Center in Hoover, Ala. They’ve already been practicing together for nearly a month.
On Tuesday night, though, they were opponents, trying to bring the other’s season to a close as the Cougars and Lions battled at Springfield for a berth in Saturday’s PIAA Class 5A championship game.
“It was really weird playing against them,” Boylan said. “Alexa Abbonizio is my teammate this year and Rachel Conran was my teammate sophomore year, so I’m used to playing with them, not against them. So it was strange going against them.”
O’Hara won that fight, 40-28, to end Springfield’s undefeated season and earn the Lions a third trip to the state final Saturday night. They will take on defending state champion Chartiers Valley, a 50-33 winner over District 3 champ Spring Grove.
“I know all of us have been waiting to get there since we came here,” Boylan said. “We want to be the first team to win a state championship for O’Hara.”