Senior point guard Alainna Poisson was running out of options for Marian Catholic.
She had no choice but to change her demeanor and style to alter a difficult beginning.
“I didn’t want the other players to have their heads down during the game,” Poisson said.
“I didn’t want anybody to give up, because if they saw I put my head down, the way the younger players look at me, it would get translated the wrong way.”
Nothing got lost in translation Monday night for Poisson.
She closed out her remarkable career with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Spartans in a 51-31 loss to St. Ignatius in the Class 3A Hinsdale South Supersectional in Darien.
Senior forward Taylor Bolton scored seven points in a tough defeat for Marian Catholic (27-8), while senior forward Gracie Jensen added five points and six rebounds.
It was the fourth straight time that Spartans ended their season with a supersectional setback. Poisson, a starter for the past three seasons, did everything imaginable to energize her time.
She made a pair of 3-pointers and drove to the basket to generate free throws — and a spark.
“She’s the head of the body of this team,” Bolton said of Poisson. “We knew just because we had a slow start that she was going to do everything possible to get us back into the game.
“She’s the point guard, leader of the team, the player everybody looks to give us energy.”
Marian coach Dan Murray confirmed his team tends to drift if Poisson isn’t on the court.
“She’s been my floor general the last three years,” he said. “A lot of what she does has just been unsung. She’s so intelligent and she knows how to get everybody to their spots on the floor.
“She’s just a phenomenal player and a phenomenal kid with what she has done for the program.”
Her name translates as “fish” in French, and Poisson constitutes her own school of thought on mastering the intricacies of being the point guard.
“The hardest point is knowing when to score and when to go look for your teammates,” she said. “The first thing I learned is that everything’s your fault. You’re the general. You’re the leader.
“If something happens and you didn’t tell them, that is under your control. You have to control everything.”
If her distinctive name feels familiar, it’s because she follows older sister Janae, a former standout for the Spartans. Nine years older than Alaina, Janae is an assistant coach at St. Francis in Joliet.
“I don’t even know if I’d be playing basketball unless she played,” Alaina said of Janae. “I was just around the game when she was playing.
“I’d leave the house with her and my dad at 6 o’clock in the morning when they went to train. From there, I just picked up a ball.”
At 5-foot-5, Alainna Poisson leans on her quickness, skill with the ball and feel for the game. Off the court, she describes herself as a “goofball.”
“I try not to take things too seriously,” she said, fighting back tears. “I know how serious it is deep down. When something’s that serious, I try to be silly and help everybody else feel the same way.”
Poisson, who has drawn recruiting interest from NCAA Division II and Division III programs, is also artistic and creative off the floor, showing sharp aptitude for broadcasting and graphic design.
Her final high school basketball game was a moment to cherish and celebrate.
“I wouldn’t change anything about these four years,” she said. “The game is so competitive, so raw and real. It brings out a different kind of personality, mentally and physically.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
