Coupeville Sports

Lexie (left) and Brittany Black.

Stylin’.

The early days.

She is the best.

As she turns 26 today, Lexie Black (born with an E, so it stays there, lil’ missy!) the former Coupeville High School basketball star (she still holds a record for the most blocks in a 1A state playoff game), college hoops stud, superb barista, even-better journalist, international supermodel in the making and Milla Jovovich doppleganger, is still off-the-charts awesome.

From her days as a youthful scalawag behind the counter at Videoville to that moment when she embraced all six feet, two inches and stopped slouching and finally stood straight and proud, she was, and is, a shining example of what Coupeville can produce.

She will tell you she doesn’t know what you’re talking about, but you can’t go through life and not realize at some point why everyone around you thinks you’re awesome. Now she just has to accept it.

Once upon a time I thought about calling this blog Lexie Black’s Block Party, which would have been the coolest blog name ever, even if no one understood it.

For young Wolf basketball players now, especially ones who have height and size and long arms like Lexie, I wish that they would commit to playing the game the way she did.

As half of the immortal Black ‘n Blue Sisters, with sidekick lil’ sis Brittany running on the wing, Lexie owned the paint. As sweet and likeable a person as you will ever meet off the court, she thrashed folks on the hardwood.

She believed every shot was hers to reject and every rebound was hers to haul in. She would not back down. Ever.

It is quite simple why the most sustained run of excellence any sports program has had at CHS in the past 20 years came from girls’ basketball.

With the Black sisters, Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Tina Lyness and others, the Wolves believed they were going to state, never doubted it, and followed through, year after year.

The current generation could do the same, if they played like Lexie.

You can look like a super model, be a goofball off the court and freak people out once you step on the hardwood.

It’s called bein’ awesome. It’s called bein’ Lexie Black.