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03/21/2019 12:00 AMDuring the past four years, Lexie Finnerty has made an indelible mark on the Valley Regional girls’ basketball team as one of the best players in program history. A senior captain, Lexie finished her career with the Warriors by having an historic season in which she scored her 1,000th point and earned All-Shoreline Conference First Team honors for the third straight campaign. Lexie will continue her career when she plays basketball for Nichols College in Massachusetts next year.
Lexie started for Valley’s varsity squad as a freshman and provided plenty of offense over the next four seasons. With her consistent offensive output, Lexie crossed the 1,000-point threshold in a game against Old Saybrook on Jan. 18. While Lexie takes pride in that achievement, she also feels proud that the Warriors became such a cohesive unit throughout her time with the team.
“I’m proud to get my 1,000 points. That was a huge goal of mine,” says Lexie. “Also, I’m proud of how our team bonded over the years. When I was a freshman, there was only one senior on the team, and all of us bonded with the sophomores and juniors. And we kept that going every year.”
Lexie, a 5-foot-5 small forward, finished her high school career with 1,159 points scored. She tried to lead the Warriors emotionally just as much as she did in the box score. As a captain, Lexie made sure to bolster her teammates’ spirits in any way she could.
“The captain’s job to me means supporting my teammates and bringing them up when they’re down. That’s not just on the court, but off the court, too,” Lexie says. “I would try to pump them up and get them excited to compete. We had four captains this year, and we all tried to do that. It’s a bit surreal that this is our last year together after we all grew up and played together.”
Lexie enjoys the up-and-down action on the basketball court, especially when her team makes a defensive play that turns into points on the other end. Those types of plays tend to involve the whole squad forcing a stop and seizing the momentum of the game.
“I love fast transition plays like getting a steal and passing it up the court to get a layup. I love when it’s not just one person scoring, but it’s a team play,” says Lexie, a Chester resident. “I feel like those plays are the ones that change the game. If you’re down and you get a play like that, it pumps you up and carries you.”
Lexie says that her success stems from hundreds of hours of hard work. Lexie spends tons of time in the gym, whether it’s with the Warriors, her Connecticut Cobras AAU team, or just by herself. Lexie loves getting shots up and perfecting her form, although she takes every chance she gets to work on all aspects of the game.
“I like to practice shooting the most, and I do ball-handling a lot, too. Shooting is my favorite, but I try to work on things that I don’t do a lot during games,” Lexie says. “I like to work on my left hand, because I feel like that could use some improvement. I like trying different things.”
Lexie’s efforts drew the attention of Nichols College—a Division III school in Dudley, Massachusetts—midway through her high school career. After visiting the school, it seemed like Lexie was destined to play basketball for the Bison.
“At first, I was notified by the coach that they were looking at me as a player. Nichols was always in the back of my mind as a potential school and, this past summer, my family and I took a tour there,” says Lexie, who also played soccer for Valley. “I got to talk to the coach a bit beforehand. Then I was invited to do a team overnight. I got to meet the team and talk to the coach more. Everyone was so incredibly nice. I fell in love with the team and the school, and everything clicked.”
Valley Head Coach Geoff Konstan coached Lexie long before he took the helm with the Warriors four years ago. Konstan believes that Lexie is much more than just a fantastic player; she’s also a class act.
“As great of a player as Lexie is, that probably comes second to how great of a kid she is. She plays with class. She’ll help a player up from the other team. She’s unselfish on the court. It was never about the stats for her or what she did in a game. It’s about what the team did,” Konstan says. “I’ve coached Lexie since she was nine years old, and I’m as proud of the person she is as much as the basketball player. I’ve never seen a player that gives everything for the betterment of the team like she does.”
While Lexie will always look back fondly on her time at Valley Regional, she’s eager to begin the next phase of her playing career. As both she and the Warriors move forward, Lexie wants the next generation of Valley players to follow her example by constantly giving it their all.
“It’s a bit scary and hard to believe. I feel like I was a freshman yesterday. I’m excited to meet new people and start a new chapter. I’m hoping that high school really prepared me for college, and I’m pretty sure that it did,” says Lexie. “I want everyone to always try their hardest, no matter the circumstances. Someday, it will pay off and be worth it in the end. Not just for basketball—for anything.”