Alexis Hess-Fleetwood

It’s not often that you see a head basketball coach from a Power 5 Conference school in Berks County. That illustrates what Jeff Mittie thinks about two-time, all-state guard Alexis Hess. The Kansas State coach made the trip to Fleetwood on Wednesday to see Hess and the Tigers take on Daniel Boone. “It just shows how much effort he’s putting into me. It’s a really good feeling. He’s a great person,” said Hess. Mittie surpassed 600 career wins this year. He’s in his ninth season with the Wildcats. Hess finished with a game-high 22 points in a 51-22 victory over the Blazers. The Kansas State commit got off to a slow start. “I realized in the first quarter I wasn’t playing like myself,” admitted Hess. After hearing her mother provide encouragement from the stands, Hess took over in the middle quarters. Daniel Boone used a 6-0 run to open the second period and get within 19-10. Fleetwood responded with a 15-1 spurt to go up 34-11 at halftime. Hess crammed ten points into the second quarter. The 6’1 senior added a pair of 3-pointers early in the third period. The Blazers trailed 48-19 entering the final quarter. Hess noted that she likes to get her teammates involved early in the game. “I want to make sure that I’m building confidence for my teammates as well…to make sure that they stay in the game and have good energy,” she replied. Haley Wojciechowski provided a spark for the (3-1) Tigers. The 5’9 senior forward erupted for 12 points in the first eight minutes. Her previous career high was 11. “I love what she’s doing. Really good player and she’s improved a lot,” mentioned Hess. Wojciechowski ended up with 14 points. Sophomore guard Morgan Koehler chipped in with eight points. Fleetwood went 6-of-10 from the free throw line, while the Blazers were 8-15. Liv Welker, a 5’10 freshman, led Daniel Boone with 14 points. First-year head coach Matt Bowe has a very young team. The roster includes six freshmen and six sophomores. The Blazers have already shown improvement with two wins this year. They were (0-20) a season ago. Hess is hoping Fleetwood will improve as well. The Tigers had a mark of (11-10, 6-5) last season and didn’t qualify for the Berks County or District 3 playoffs. After Wednesday’s performance, Hess is up to 1,118 career points. She had about 25 Division I offers before picking Kansas State. Hess joked that Coach Mittie enjoyed seeing the cows and horses on his way to Fleetwood. We also talked about what she’s hoping to find under the Christmas tree this year.