Farmersville senior point guard Alexia Hernandez has helped lead the Lady Farmers basketball team to a 15-6 record. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
For a moment, Alexia Hernandez thought her world had come crashing down.
But when she reflects on that same moment, she now views it as a blessing in disguise.
During a Nov. 4, 2024, nondistrict game against Canton, the Farmersville girls basketball team was on a fast break. Hernandez had the ball in her hands and was driving for a layup when she stepped on the foot of an opposing player. All she saw was her foot parallel to the court. She partially tore two ligaments in her ankle and suffered a full tear of another ligament.
“It was really bad,” she said.
Initially, Hernandez thought her junior season was over.
“I was so down on myself,” she said. “I was regretting every decision in basketball that I had made up to that point. My dad said that I needed to get my ankle scraped. I had never hurt myself. I thought this was my season.”
The injury diagnosis did not turn out as bad as Hernandez initially feared. She missed the next two months but returned in January 2025, just in time for the start of District 13-4A play.
While Hernandez was ecstatic to be back on the court, the injury changed her mindset — one in which she promised herself never to take anything for granted going forward.
“I think it was a lesson that I needed and something that needed to happen because I had a high ego coming in,” she said. “I had trained that whole summer for basketball. Every day I was in and out of the gym. I thought nothing could stop me. That injury opened my eyes and showed me a lot of what I needed to do.”
Growing up, Hernandez wanted to score points. She was a shooting guard from the time she first began playing through her sophomore season in high school. As a freshman, Alexia played alongside her older sister, Kimberly, who was the Lady Farmers’ starting point guard at the time.
“It was good playing with her,” Alexia said. “I really miss it. We have that connection that nobody else really has when it’s like a sister-sister duo.”
When Farmersville needed to fill Kimberly’s position, head coach Sandra Hoge turned to Alexia to handle the point guard duties. Alexia stands five inches taller than Kimberly, but the transition still required an adjustment period. She finally began to feel comfortable in her new role once she consistently penetrated opposing presses.
Even then, Alexia said she felt she could be better.
That’s when she turned to Cory Green, an AAU coach for God’s Way. Alexia learned about Green from a Kaufman player after the two schools played each other. She drove nearly two hours to Tyler to train with Green, a trip she said was well worth it.
What drew Alexia to Green was his positivity. He told her never to be intimidated, explaining that opponents may be taller or faster, but success ultimately comes down to fundamentals and discipline, especially on defense.
“I felt like I always had something new to learn every day,” Alexia said. “He always had something to correct me on, and that’s what I love.”
Although Green’s workouts were difficult and demanding, Alexia said the training paid off — particularly in her conditioning.
“We didn’t touch a basketball for the first month,” she said. “Every day, we ran hills, ran miles. Then we lifted weights, did squats with the ball over our heads. It was about getting us more conditioned and building our strength.”
Without Hernandez, Farmersville struggled with turnovers during the first month of the 2024-25 season, winning just three of its first 14 games. Upon her return, the Lady Farmers played with far more poise offensively. With Hernandez in the lineup, Farmersville posted a 7-3 district record and clinched a playoff appearance.
“Of course we missed Alexia at the beginning of last season,” Hoge said. “She is an integral part of our team. Alexia is a calming presence and is able to make decisions on the move and does not always have to be told which offense to run. She has the ability to read the floor and call an offense based on the defense she sees.”
Alexia is averaging nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals per game. She attributes those numbers to the work she put in during the summer with Farmersville ISD strength and conditioning coach Adrian Briones. Briones focused on leg exercises and plyometrics, which helped Alexia improve mobility in her injured ankle.
This season, Alexia has been in the starting lineup since the team’s opener Nov. 7. Overall, the season has begun much better for Farmersville, which stood at 15-6 as of Monday and 2-1 in district play.
“It feels so much better,” she said. “I feel like the team has grown so much. We all have such a great connection because we’ve played together for at least two years. Everyone understands each other. Even if we’re arguing, we still hype each other up, stay positive and find a way.”
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