Fairfield-Echo.com

WEST CHESTER TWP. — It was several years ago, but Alexis Rogers still has vivid memories of her time growing up in Middletown.

"What I remember most is walking over to Douglass Park and playing basketball against the boys all the time," said Rogers, a junior forward on the Lakota West girls basketball team that will play Youngstown Board in the Division I state semifinals Friday, March 7, in Columbus.

"I used to play against all those guys that are stars on the Middletown basketball team now," Rogers said, referring to players such as Bill Edwards and Phillip Barnett. "They were littler then. I used to beat them all the time."

And Rogers has been beating people ever since. She moved to Sandy Springs, Ga., at age 13 and went on to earn Georgia Freshman of the Year honors at Holy Innocence High School. And later that spring, she won a state championship in the shot put.

But Rogers said "things just weren't working out in Atlanta," so she and her mom, Youlanda, moved back to Cincinnati.

Not wanting to go back to private school, they moved to West Chester Twp. so Alexis could play for Lakota West coach Andy Fishman, her former AAU coach.

She started right away as a sophomore, helping lead the Firebirds to the regional final. This season, she's playing all five spots on the floor, averaging 12 points and six rebounds per game while teaming with Ohio Division I Player of the Year Amber Gray to make up one of the best 1-2 punches in the state.

"(Rogers) has elevated her play to the level that we're now able to play her at the point," Fishman said. "She's really worked a lot on her ball-handling, and with her explosivity, the colleges are looking at her as someone who can be a point-forward, a Magic Johnson-type player."

With the ball in her hands more, Rogers is getting to the free throw line more. That may not have been such a good thing last year, when she was, at best, a spotty free throw shooter. But in the offseason, she completely re-worked her shot, raising her elbow higher and extending her follow-through.

"It took the whole summer," Rogers said. "I stayed after every (AAU) practice to work on it, and I got some private instruction, too."

The new form has resulted in a dramatic increase in free throw accuracy, with Rogers hitting 75 percent compared to just 60 last year. In Saturday's regional final win against Dublin Coffman, she was 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

"The more I work on it, the more natural it feels," Rogers said. "It's made me a lot more confident at the line."

That kind of confidence produces a enjoyable sense of satisfaction, kind of like walking home from Douglass Park after schooling the boys.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.