Elexis Morado honored for career milestone, sets eyes on playoff run with Lady Lions
By Frank Cardenas, STCN
Santa Gertrudis Academy’s Elexis Morado finally has a chance to catch her breath as the basketball regular season recently came to a close.
She started playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club when she was a fourth grader, but a love for the game had yet to develop for the soon to be Lady Lion standout.
It wasn’t until her seventh grade year that she began to lace up her shoes with a newfound love for the game, which she used to help her become the player she is today.
Elexis Morado goes up for a layup in a game against Bishop earlier this season. (Photo by Frank Cardenas)
From playing for her schools, to playing girls AAU basketball, it’s been a “constant want to continue to get better and improve” her game.
Now at the tail end of her career in high school, there’s plenty for Morado to reflect on.
Since playing with the Lady Lions, Morado has been named to the All-District First-Team in District 31-3A in 2019 and 2020, and recently surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 career assists.
At a ceremony held at SGA high school last week, Morado was honored and presented a basketball to commemorate her 1,000-point feat.
“Words cannot express how proud we are of Elexis,” Erica Johnson, Morado’s mother, said. “She truly is passionate about the sport and she uses that passion to fuel her dedication, her focus, her loyalty, her leadership and her teamwork. This success didn’t come without struggle. She had her good days and she had bad ones, but what impresses me the most about Elexis, is she can recognize the moment and work through all of it knowing that it will payoff in her future.”
Johnson said Morado is constantly learning and adapting and that is what helped put her where she is today.
“She hopes that she can spark a little girl’s interest in playing basketball, because it’s important to Elexis to inspire, support and encourage the next generation of basketball players,” she said.
Elexis Morado holding up a banner after a ceremony in her honor at Santa Gertrudis Academy High School. (submitted photo)
Morado said it’s bittersweet to have reached this milestone so close to the end of her career in high school, but nonetheless, she’s glad she was able to do it.
“It’s honestly such an amazing feeling to be able to accomplish this milestone in my high school career,” Morado said of passing the 1,000 point mark. “If you would have told Freshman Elexis that I would accomplish this, I probably would not have believed it.
“I’d like to thank my family, teammates, and my support system for being by my side throughout all the trials and tribulations,” she added. “This couldn’t have been done without (them).”
This season, the 19-1 Lady Lions are yet again in the hunt for playoff glory, making the Class 3A playoffs for the fifth straight year.
They were unable to make it past the third round last season due to a loss to Aransas Pass; however, a goal set by the team, Morado said, is their inspiration to do better this season and make history.
“At the beginning of the season, my team and I discussed our goals and what we wanted to do this season and we agreed we wanted more recognition for girl’s varsity basketball at Academy,” she said. “Getting Co-District champs along with the noise we’ve made so far has been amazing. I’m hoping (we) make a return to at least the third round this season and continue to push from there.”
The Lady Lions will square off with Mathis in the bi-district round of the Class 3A playoffs on Thursday, Feb 11, with a game-time of 6 p.m. at Carroll High School in Corpus Christi.