Girls Basketball: Aaron’s return from injury key to Springfield’s success

CONCORD – On Dec. 17, 2021, Lexi Aaron scored a game-high 16 points to lead Springfield to a 42-36 win over Marple Newtown.

She was one of three returning starters from a great team that went undefeated until the semifinal round of the PIAA Cass 5A tournament during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Last winter, Aaron was a junior poised to have a breakout season as a top scorer for the Cougars. The team was bound for success with juniors Aaron, Mia Valerio and Anabel Kreydt showing the way.

In an instant, everything was taken away from Aaron. Days after her solid performance against Marple, Aaron suffered a season-ending injury that would not require surgery. Bound for Towson to play lacrosse, the three-sport athlete was forced to sit on the sidelines and rehab her knee for the remainder of the school year.

Without Aaron the Cougars struggled to score points. Due to strong team defense and Ky McNichol and her staff’s excellent coaching, the Cougars earned the No. 1 seed in the District 1 Class 5A tournament and advanced to the elite eight of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs before falling to eventual state champ Cardinal O’Hara for the second straight year.

Aaron was excited to return when Springfield tipped off its 2022-23 campaign in early December. She has started every game for the Cougars (11-2), who are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak.

“It was definitely hard last year, missing a whole season but you know, coming back our senior year, it feels good to be back. I’m confident in myself and in my knee now,” Aaron said after Springfield’s victory at Garnet Valley last Tuesday. “I had a couple of other sports seasons to kind of ease into it, so I was ready for the (basketball) season. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I got hurt, playing with Anabel and Mia for the last time. We’ve been playing together since we were little, so being out there with them in our senior year means a lot. It’s definitely sentimental. Hopefully we can do some good things in the Central League and possibly more.”

Aaron wears a large brace on her knee and perhaps isn’t the basketball player she was prior to the injury just yet. But her mere presence on the floor is vital, and she hasn’t missed a beat on the defensive side of the ball.

“It has taken a lot of pressure off the other girls on the court because we know what Lexi can do and what her capabilities are, so we know we can trust her. Last year when she went down we felt like we had to pick up more responsibility and we missed having her out there with us,” Valerio said. “It was so big to have her come back. She can play defense, she can knock down a shot and she can get to the rim. We know that we can rely on her in all of those spots. It kind of eases the pressure.

Aaron does not shy away from contact on the floor, nor is she hesitant to make a cut to the basket. Returning from a serious knee injury can play mind games with athletes, but Aaron doesn’t let any negative thoughts control how she plays any sport.

“I have the confidence to take it to the rim or pull up for a shot,” she said. “It all comes with having my legs under me and getting the confidence back that I lost by being out last year. And I do feel good when I am out there on the floor.”

With Valerio, Kreydt and juniors Kaitlyn Kearney and Taylor Hunyet the Cougars have several scoring options from which to choose. Unlike last season the team is making a dent on the scoreboard, averaging 46 points per game.

“Having Lexi back takes pressure off Mia because now she has two kids on either side of her at all times. Two kids who can score,” McNichol said. “She’s got Kaitlyn on one wing and Lexi on another wing and …  it’s just huge to have another solid guard out on the floor. Lex brings a lot to this team, she means so much to this team and I know she is going to have a great year and do some great things for us.”