This Deal Is Definitely Real
The title applies to two things in this story, first the rivalry between Bellaire and Westside and one of the top players in the country Aurjanee “AJ” Alix. The first time I saw Alix was when she was in the seventh grade, dominating against eight graders and I felt like she was going to be a player who would definitely make some noise in high school and of course I tagged her “The Real Deal”. The summers prior to her entering high school, I saw her during the club ball seasons basically doing whatever against whomever and I knew she would one day develop into a major next level player. Those intuitive thoughts that always just seem to pop into my head were validated during her freshman season at Bellaire where she showed she was one of the top point guards in the city right off the top. Anyone who didn’t know how good she was soon found out after her outstanding playoff performance which saw her direct a 20 plus point come from behind victory against Elsik in the Elite 8 scoring 32 points in that victory and topping that off with a 40 point regional final against Hightower. Last years high school season, that so called sophomore jinx might be attributed to her not looking the same as she did during her freshman season and even this year you can even blame some of the not being all she could be on nagging injuries, she has been in a boot a couple of times this season, more on that, but to watch her performance against Westside as the Cardinals clinched their fifth straight district title told me she was back and with a vengeance.
When she plays the way she did, she is not only the best 2013 player in the city but close to being best player in the city period. If you ask 100 people what they think a point guards job is you’re going to get a variety of answers and if you read my thoughts on polls and rankings, let me throw opinions in there as well so I’ll just drop my cliff notes version on what my ideal point guard should be able to do. I know running sets and not turning the ball over is a given and should be on everyones short list but on the real “the point guard should make everyone around them better” and that’s really the key on making or breaking it. When you have a point guard that can not only do that but also take over a game when they have to, especially against a team that brings the heat like the Wolves on defense, you truly have a special player and believe me I know firsthand about special players. Alix scored 32 points on a variety of ways during Bellaire’s (68-59) victory while dishing out double digit steals and assists giving her an unofficial triple double on the night as she guided runs and set her teammates up for layup after layup in what proved to be another epic battle between the schools which started back in 2002 when the Wolves had their own star named Courtney Williams, only the GURU knows or remembers. The thing I enjoy most of all is that I know what to expect just about every time I watch these two teams play against each other and if every top team in the area came out with as much intensity as these squads do , when they play each other, well you have to have that type of drive and that’s something you just can’t teach. You can also say the same thing about Alix; she has not only the mindset but most definitely skills you can’t teach such as seeing plays develop before they happen. About the boot, she questioned me on why I was taking a picture of her in it and I told her “It’s always a story baby” and her story in not anywhere near the end!
