After summer of doubt, Fleetwood’s Alexis Hess ascends to top as All-State pick

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

Much of Alexis Hess’ summer was spent watching, waiting and wondering. She knew her AAU season was lost. Was she going to make it back for Fleetwood’s opener?

Those concerns are what made a meeting with the doctor in late October so memorable. Hess was finally cleared to play after offseason knee surgery. She was officially back.

Six months later, after averaging 19 points and surpassing 1,000 for her career, the junior earned the highest recognition of all Thursday. She was named All-State first team in Class 5A by Pennsylvania’s sportswriters.

“It’s an honor,” Hess said. “It shows how hard I’ve been working and that it’s paying off.”

Hess, who was chosen All-Berks for the third time, was the only county player recognized when the six teams were announced. 

Cardinal O’Hara’s Maggie Doogan and Sydni Scott, Gettysburg’s Anne Bair, Manheim Central’s Maddie Knier and Chartiers Valley’s Aislin Malcolm were the other players named to the Class 5A first team. Doogan was voted Player of the Year after leading O’Hara to the PIAA championship.

Hess was named to the third team last year. The 6-1 combo guard is the first Berks player to be a first team selection since Twin Valley’s Peyton McDaniel in 2020.

The outlook for Hess is much brighter than it was a year ago, when she was facing a long recovery and an uncertain timetable.

She battled through pain as a sophomore and averaged 17.5 points while being limited to 15 games.

Hess has lost a lot of court time recently. The AAU season was largely wiped out by COVID in 2020 and last summer was stolen by injury. She’s finally in uniform again for Ohio United.

“It was more a mental struggle than anything, especially seeing other girls playing,” Hess said. “There was a moment of realization when I saw that I was able to jump, cut and stay lower on defense when I realized that it was going to be OK.”

The next few months will be spent sorting through her many college options. Hess has more than a dozen major Division I offers. She visited the University of Wisconsin earlier this month and more trips will follow.

Many accomplished programs have been courting Hess since her freshman year. Some made the trip to watch her play at Fleetwood over the winter.

“It’s a really cool experience,” Hess said. “It’s a great opportunity to see the buildings, how beautiful the campuses are and to think I’ll have that available to me after high school. It’s a blessing to have these opportunities.”

The recruiting process has been complicated by players being granted an extra season of eligibility due to COVID, the transfer portal and Hess’ time on the sidelines. She hopes to whittle down her list of suitors during the summer.

Once Hess was cleared to play again, she worked hard to get into some semblance of game shape before Fleetwood’s opener in December. The junior finished with 21 points against Conestoga Valley that night. She played in all 21 games and scored in double figures 19 times.

Hess became the sixth Fleetwood player to surpass 1,000 points against Schuylkill Valley Feb. 7. She ranked second to Kutztown’s Ky Brantley in scoring average, was fourth in the Berks League with 40 3-pointers and is sitting at 1,034 points for her career.

All of the individual accolades have been achieved. Hess hopes to lead Fleetwood on a playoff run before her career ends.

“I’m going to be a senior,” she said. “I want to make it worthwhile. Just play to the best of my ability.”