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Finnerty Has Fantastic Freshman Season

Toughness is a term that’s rarely used to describe a 14-year-old, but that word comes up time and time again when you talk about Alexis Finnerty. Alexis burst onto the high school hoops scene this winter by scoring 19 points in her debut and went on to have an excellent freshman year as a guard for the Warriors.

“I guess I was kind of nervous. But the longer I went into the first half I started to get more confidence, which was key,” says Alexis on her first game. “I realized I could do more than what I had been doing and then my teammates found me open in the corners and I hit some shots, which helped.”

The fact that a freshman could step in and drop 19 points against older competition in her initial varsity action speaks volumes about Alexis’s mental and physical fortitude and those traits are appreciated by Valley Head Coach Geoff Konstan.

“She’s fearless. Alexis isn’t very tall [5-foot-4], but she goes into the paint and battles with older, bigger girls and gets knocked down three or four times in a game and never complains to the refs or asks for foul calls. Then she goes back in and does it again. She is as hard a working kid as I’ve ever coached and she rarely ever misses any time,” Konstan says. “This year, she missed our last game because her back was hurt and she couldn’t bend down to tie her own shoes. And she still wanted to play, but we had to hold her out. That’s the kind of kid she is. Not to mention, she’s also extremely talented.”

Much of Alexis’s toughness stems from her father David Finnerty, who was twice deployed overseas—once as a Marine serving in the Philippines from 2003 to 2004 when Alexis was only two and then a second time to Afghanistan with the National Guard in 2009 and 2010.

“My dad took me aside the second time he left and said I had to be strong and look after my mom and little brother [Travis] because they would be emotional. I was, too, because this time I could acknowledge what was going on,” Alexis says. “I knew he would come back home from Afghanistan, though, because he’s my dad. It was crazy we when he finally came home. I remember when he got off the plane we all just bolted for him and there were a lot of hugs and tears.”

Alexis, a Chester native, will turn 15 this month and her experience of playing varsity at such a young age bodes well in terms of molding her for the future. Not many can adjust to the rigors of varsity basketball so quickly, but Alexis did just that as she led the Warriors in scoring with 228 points this season and was second for scoring average at 12 points per game. Alexis also collected an average of 5.4 rebounds—an impressive feat for a guard—and she dished out two assists a night, as well. In just the fifth game of her high school career, Alexis scored a season high of 22 points in a 45-23 victory over Hale-Ray on Dec. 30.

“Off the court, Alexis is the nicest, most-humble kid you can come across. She’s the kind of friend anyone would want to have. On the court, she has so much talent and court vision way beyond her years,” Coach Konstan adds. “She sees open players where no one else can and threads the needle with passes most don’t have the ability to do. She’s also a great shooter with flawless form, but can drive to the basket at will and dish the ball or kick it to an open teammate. She’s the kind of player that makes her coach look good. She’s also unselfish and would rather score zero and win than 30 and lose. Alexis is just a great athlete who excels on the soccer field, too, was a dominating pitcher in softball when she played, and could be great at any sport she wanted to try.”

Last fall, Alexis saw varsity time on the soccer field from her midfielder’s position and contributed to a Valley team that qualified for both postseason tournaments. However, Alexis’s first love is basketball and she plans to keep working on her game with the Connecticut Cobras of the AAU this spring.

“I just love the game because it’s so much fun to play, the competition, and it’s exciting, especially in close games where you are up by two late in the game,” says Alexis, who finished with high honors this past term. “I want to work on my game more and there’s a lot to do. I need to improve my dribbling and learn to be more aggressive with shooting the ball in scoring situations and I can’t wait until next season.”

Valley girls’ hoops had a young team winter and just missed the State Tournament by finishing at 7-13. The Warriors will be graduating just one senior off the squad and Alexis feels that continuity should make things run smoother for them next year.

“We are returning almost everybody, so I’m excited to develop more with my teammates and now we all know the schemes better, which will be easier to execute in the games,” she says. “I think we will have a good team next season and I hope to be a big part of that, but it wouldn’t have happened without the help of a lot of people.”