It’s her fourth year on the basketball court for Juanita and senior Lexi Intong is embracing every second of the experience.
Coach Todd Brink said she’s worked hard each day and brought a steadiness to her game. Intong knows where to be on the court and her teammates will get the ball into her hands, Brink added.
“She has a lot of tools. She’s really improved on her outside shot… and that’s really helped her extend her game out, give her more options. She’ll just go and battle for rebounds and she’s really difficult to guard underneath,” said Brink, adding that Intong will be close to grabbing 10 or more rebounds per game.
Intong helped lead the Rebels into a first-place tie with Lake Washington with a 4-1 record in 2A/3A KingCo action and a 6-6 overall mark at press time. The local squads will face off at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at LW.
Brink and Intong — a 6-foot-1 forward/center — noted that it’s been a total team effort this season. The Rebels dished off 19 assists in a 63-47 victory over Mercer Island. One of their goals is have 14 or less turnovers and 14 or more assists per game.
On the full team production, Intong offered: “Just keep working hard and having fun and that will just help everybody, honestly. And keeping close with your teammates. Every year that I’ve been on the team, the group of girls is just so amazing and we’re all so close, and it makes it so much better to play.”
Other standouts are seniors Jordan Schroeder (5-7 point guard) and Kirsten Casper (5-11 post/forward) and sophomores Emma Languein (5-5 guard/wing), Madi Kisker (5-10 wing) and Kayla Huff (5-3 point guard).
A personal highlight for Intong this season was making the game-winning put-back in the last shot of the game to beat Liberty, 48-46. It was a tough win, she said, and gave Juanita its first victory after an 0-4 start. They’ve visited the win column a bunch more since then.
“It was amazing. In the locker room, we were just cheering ourselves on. Everyone had a good game and so it really made that turn-around so much better,” she said.
The Reporter asked Intong a series of questions for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
When people chew really loud, that bothers me.
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given?
If your day’s not going good, then if you just keep putting in effort and working hard then that’s all that matters.
What do you appreciate most in life?
My family, my friends.
What’s your main goal in life?
To make someone’s life so much better and make people happy. If I know I made someone’s life better, I think that would be so great knowing that I helped someone out.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
Math.
Who’s your favorite actor?
Chris Hemsworth, he’s the “Thor” actor.
How many texts do you send per day?
Probably somewhere around 50ish. More than 100 on Snapchat.
If you could go to dinner with anybody, who would choose to have a meal with?
Michelle Obama. She seems like such a role model, that would be cool to talk to her.
What special skill would you like to learn?
I wanna learn a new language.
What superhero would you like to be?
Flash. Super speed would be cool.
