CONWAY — Coming in as a sophomore behind a junior class that would go on to send six players to college basketball, Conway’s Alexis “Lex” Tolefree didn’t have to be a leader — until this, her senior season.
And when she got her chance, Tolefree, a 5-7 guard for the Lady Cats, didn’t disappoint.
“I felt all year long this was Lex and Hailey Estes’ team,” Conway coach Ashley Nance said of her senior duo. “They had a really big chip on their shoulder. A lot of people didn’t think we’d be that good after losing that class.”
Nance said that with regard to leadership, she had always seen Tolefree behind the elder Jordan Danberry, who just completed her freshman season at the University of Arkansas.
“But Lex really took on that leadership role, and I think she reached her full potential as a high school player this year,” Nance said.
Indeed.
Tolefree, who scored 30 points 11 times this season, set three CHS scoring records: single game, 48 points against North Little Rock; single season, 810; and career, 1,651.
Those numbers are just part of the reason why Tolefree is the River Valley & Ozark Edition Girls Player of the Year.
She was a sophomore on Conway’s 2014 state championship team and a junior when the Lady Cats finished as runner-up last year to Fayetteville. This year, she led CHS to a 30-2 record and a second straight Class 7A state runner-up finish. North Little Rock prevailed in the final this time, 75-65 in overtime.
“Lex was that one who had the experience from her sophomore and junior years and knew what it takes to be in the finals,” Nance said. “She played a huge part in our success.”
Tolefree said she and her teammates used others’ low expectations as motivation.
“No one expected us to be as good as we were, and we wound up a state finalist,” she said. “I actually expected us to win, from the beginning. I had faith in the abilities that my teammates would have and faith in myself that I could lead them to the state championship.”
She came close.
Conway, which had beaten NLR twice during the regular season, led the championship game by 35-26 at halftime, by 47-42 heading into the fourth quarter and by 60-56 with 44 seconds left. But the Lady Charging Wildcats forced overtime, 60-60. Conway took a 64-60 lead in the extra period before NLR grabbed its first lead, 65-64, with 1:54 remaining, and outscored the Lady Cats the rest of the way, 10-1.
Nance said it was tough to lose in back-to-back state finals.
“But this one was a little easier than the last one,” she said. “Honestly, we reached our full potential and probably squeezed in a little bit extra. Lex was our only returning starter. We had to make some really quick improvements with adding four new starters. We had to progress really quick in order to compete.”
In the final, Tolefree was held to 17 points after going six of 32 from the floor, including two of 23 from the 3-point range.
“It was devastating,” she said recently. “I turned off my phone and didn’t talk to nobody. It felt like a dream. I was waking up in the middle of the night. It was a nightmare.”
More than a month after the loss, she said she still felt the same way.
“I still cannot watch the game without crying,” she said.
The final loss, though, in no way diminishes one of the most stellar careers in the history of Lady Cat basketball.
Nance remembers first meeting Tolefree when she was a seventh-grader and Nance had just arrived at CHS.
“Lex is a gym rat,” the coach said. “As long as I can remember, even in junior high, she’d be behind our bench in games, in the locker room, hanging around the office — just waiting on her chance to play high school basketball. As a coach, you perceive what she’s going to be by watching, and I knew she was going to be a special player.
“She was ready to play high school basketball, and I was ready to get her.”
Tolefree said Nance pushed her and all the Lady Cats to reach their full potential.
“I love her,” Tolefree said.
The strategy worked. Tolefree led the Lady Cats in scoring every year as they put together an 82-14 mark during her career.
“She made an immediate impact,” Nance said. “Jordan’s class, their sophomore year, we really struggled through a tough conference, but once Lex came in, she became that scorer that we needed. She can just score, just about as well as anyone I’ve ever coached. That’s what she wants to do — score points — and she can do it multiple ways.”
Tolefree said playing with the two classes of Lady Cats ahead of her helped develop her game.
“I learned how to be mentally tough,” she said. “The older girls were bullies, but that was good for me. It made me tougher.”
Once her senior year came, she was ready to take her place at the forefront of the program.
“I just stepped into that leadership role with confidence and did everything I could to help them win,” she said.
The state championship was the Lady Cats’ only in-state loss. Their only other defeat came against Plano (Texas) West during a Christmas holiday tournament.
Tolefree, who has a 4.0 grade-point average this year, will graduate with honors and a 3.5 overall GPA. She has signed to play for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway next year.
“My little sister (Myia Yelder) is going to be starting her high school career with Coach Nance and staying close to home. I’ll be able to see her grow and see how the Conway Lady Cat program goes,” she said.
Is her sister as good as she is?
“No. She still can’t beat me one-on-one,” Tolefree said, chuckling.
Looking back, she agreed that her high school career couldn’t have been much better.
“Not many people can say they’ve been to three state finals,” she said. “I’m pretty proud of my teammates. I feel like I gave everything I could give and everything that I had in me into Lady Cat basketball.”
And ultimately, isn’t that what it’s all about?