Alexis Hess opens senior season with big game, looking forward to bigger finish

By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

A few months from now Alexis Hess will turn in her red and white Fleetwood Tigers uniform for a royal purple and white Kansas State one.

The 6-1 senior guard last month signed an NCAA letter of intent to continue her basketball career on Jeff Mittie’s Wildcats squad, which won a recruiting battle over Pittsburgh and Central Florida.

Hess lives in Blandon and attends a high school not typically associated with basketball prowess.

“I’ve always gotten people saying, ‘I thought Fleetwood was a soccer school,’ ” Hess said. “For me, I just wanted to make a change and show that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can still make a difference and make an impact on whatever team you play on. I always made sure I did my best no matter if it was AAU or high school.”

Hess’ first three high school seasons have been a roller-coaster ride but she’s always persevered. Division I athletes are built differently. The 1,000-point scorer has some unfinished business to take care of on the courts of Berks County before making the 1,200-mile trek to Manhattan, Kansas.

“It’s my last year being able to play with these girls and I just want to make it as far as possible,” Hess said. “There’s more basketball to play. I would say I wasn’t too satisfied with some of the losses that we had during the playoffs my freshman and sophomore years because they were really close games.

“So I want to be able to come back this year and try to make (the playoffs) happen.”

The Tigers made the Berks and District 3 playoffs her freshman season, when she averaged 14.9 points and hit 43 3’s.

The third-seeded Tigers were upset 57-45 by No. 6 Berks Catholic in the Berks quarterfinals and went 1-2 in the District 3 Class 4A Tournament as the eighth seed.

The next season the sixth-seeded Tigers ran into a tough No. 3 Twin Valley squad and again lost in the Berks quarterfinals.

Fleetwood fell as a No. 13 seed to No. 4 Cocalico by five points in the first round of the District 3 Class 5A playoffs during the peculiar pandemic season. Hess averaged 17.5 points and hit 33 3’s.

Before her junior season Hess got news no athlete wants to hear: She needed surgery to replace cartilage in her knee.

She had been playing with discomfort for a couple years. X-rays and MRIs didn’t reveal the injury. It was discovered when she had the knee scoped.

Hess missed AAU ball with Ohio United following her sophomore season. The challenge became proving to everyone that she could return 100 percent.

“A lot of (college) coaches were anticipating whether or not I would come out better or if they would just completely turn their back on me,” she said. “It’s not only physically hard, it’s also a mental struggle having to fight through that adversity.

“Mentally, you could lose motivation. Not only going through that physical pain, but thinking: ‘Am I going to be able to overcome this?’ ”

Hess was medically cleared to play before the start of practice last fall, returned to average 19 points per game, surpassed the 1,000-point threshold, was named All-Berks for the third straight year and earned first-team All-State honors.

She had a successful AAU season this summer before finalizing her college decision. It was the final step in solidifying that she was back. Consider that individual challenge overcome.

“It was just a really good fit,” Hess said of her decision to attend Kansas State. “It felt like home. The coaching staff was really welcoming, which I loved, and I loved the players as well. They were really welcoming and made sure I felt good as I was going on the visit.”

Hess said the success of the program — which went to the NCAA Tournament last year and is currently ranked No. 24 in the nation after an 8-1 start — and the school’s top-notch academics as reasons for her decision. She plans to major in engineering.

It helps that her family thought it was a good fit, too. Hess’ mother Robin was stationed at Fort Riley, about 30 minutes away, during her time in the military.

“It felt like a piece of home for her, too,” Hess said.

Now a final high school challenge awaits: Taking Fleetwood back to the playoffs. The Tigers lost four straight to end last season, finishing 11-10 and missing out on the Berks and district playoffs.

Hess had 30 points Monday as the Tigers opened their season with a 50-35 win over visiting Twin Valley. It was her second 30-point game; she had a career-high 34 against Hamburg last season.

She sits at 1,064 career points and is the sixth Fleetwood girl to reach the 1,000 Club, joining Donna Werner (1,704), Jill Henne (1,516), Kate Madenford (1,510), Lauren Lister (1,294) and Cyre Virgo (1,004).