FORTVILLE — Lexi Shelton won’t ever forget that moment.
Weeks after losing in an upset to rival New Palestine during the first round of the 2019-20 Richmond Sectional last February, and less than a month until the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted the world into the unknown, the Mt. Vernon junior, at the time, had her world come crashing down.
Little did she realize, it was only the beginning along a journey unlike any other in her life.
From being the star player on the state-ranked Class 4A Marauders’ girls basketball team in 2019-20 to hearing the words, “you might never play again,” Shelton was forced to grow up quickly over the course of a year, and with it, she found her inner strength.
“It was definitely one big roller coaster, if I had a word to describe it. It definitely takes a toll on you and on how you look at things,” said Shelton, the 2020-21 Hancock County Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“Basketball has always been on this pedestal for me, but real life and real world things come first. I think that was the biggest thing that I learned. Sometimes, you have to take a step back from basketball and realize it’s not life or death, not when you see how other things are.”
Reality was personified last winter for Shelton through a weightlifting bar, holding 270 pounds, inside the Marauders’ weight room just before the school day started.
Already one of the Marauders’ top female squatters at that point, with her name proudly atop the weightlifting leader board, Shelton had routinely cleared the 270 mark with ease.
As she prepared to max out that morning, she gave little thought to the weight on the bar or how her body would react.
“On max day, I put 270 on and I lifted it up, and I went down and fell straight to the ground,” Shelton recalled. “I sat there and I couldn’t move my legs. I just laid there.
“I tried to sit up on the box, and I couldn’t. I just felt wrong. I was in so much pain. I told (the boys basketball) coach (Ben) Rhoades to call my mom. He knew it was serious because I never would have asked for my mom to come unless it was.”
Julie Shelton, the Mt. Vernon girls basketball coach, was at home, getting ready to leave for work at the high school when the call came through.
As soon as she hung up the phone, Julie and her husband, Derek, immediately headed to the school and drove Lexi to the doctor as their daughter had to be transported around in a wheelchair.
The diagnosis was shocking.
Lexi had suffered a ruptured disc in the L4 region of the lower vertebrae of the lumbar spine and had a bulging disc near the L5 segment.
“When I walked into my appointment, my first thought was, ‘When can I get back to playing?’ And, the doctor kind of looked at me like I was nuts. She said, ‘You probably won’t play basketball ever again.’ I looked at my mom. I never would have thought anyone would have said that to me,” Lexi Shelton said.
The room fell silent as Julie Shelton tried to comfort her daughter.
“I’ll never forget sitting in the doctor’s office when they said to her, ‘We’re not sure you’ll ever play sports again.’ She just looked at me and broke down,” Julie Shelton said. “It was just such a bad injury. I’ll never forget that moment.”
It was only the beginning.
On bed rest for weeks, Lexi Shelton rehabilitated while simultaneously fighting her instinctive nature to overcome adversity rapidly.
This was different though, and patience wasn’t just required, it was absolutely necessary, if she wanted to play again.
Named Hancock County’s Player of the Year in 2019-20, the 5-foot-9 wing averaged more than 16 points and six rebounds per game as a junior and scored 391 points as an inside-outside threat.
She had big plans ahead of her, including situating her collegiate future, so she allowed her body to heal, but once she regained some minimal sense of normalcy, the world went the opposite route.
“It was soul crushing when the pandemic happened. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play,” Lexi Shelton said. “With COVID, that was a double whammy. Two chances of not maybe playing your senior year.”
With sports paused around the world, Lexi remained diligent in her recovery and focused on returning when or if the opportunity arose.
In the summer, she was provided that chance with her AAU team, the Indy Magic U17, though she admits to not being near 100 percent.
“Working back from it, being able to play in June and July, maybe faster than I should have been able to, was amazing. But there was always that piece of it where I had to remember to slow down, take a minute, your back is hurting,” she said.
“That was something I really had to take notice this (2020-21) season, especially because we wanted to go far, but you’ll do whatever you have to do for something you love.”
For Lexi, her love wasn’t just for the game but instead for the Mt. Vernon team, especially her junior and senior teammates, who she had competed with since grade school.
The 2020-21 season was supposed to be their year.
“It was more about them, then it was about me. Just wanting to play with them, one last time,” Lexi Shelton said. “That was a really big piece for me, personally.”
The pandemic, however, loomed continuously, before the season and during.
“I saw that fall sports were really kind of struggling at the start. That worries you as a winter athlete because you’re thinking, they’re outside and struggling, so coming indoors is going to be even harder,” Lexi Shelton said.
Fortunately, the season commence, but the team was playing catch up most of the preseason without any summer preparation and losing valuable court time the months prior.
Mt. Vernon opened the year 3-2, then the team was put into contact tracing quarantine in late November.
But, it was only the beginning.
“Our team went through a lot this year with grandparents not being able to be at games, the passing of some family members, and a lot of other stuff,” Lexi Shelton said. “Stepping on that court for the first time that was just a major relief, just being able to get one game in.”
With every elevation came the inevitable plunge.
During the weekend of Dec. 4, Julie Shelton, who was attending a Mt. Vernon boys basketball game while serving as an athletic administrator, began to feel a sharp pain in her back.
She initially accredited it to stress, but at home during dinner with her family later that weekend, a random temperature check revealed it was more than a nagging ache.
That Monday, after self-quarantining herself, Julie tested positive for COVID-19. Days later, Derek tested positive as did Lexi’s younger brother, Luke.
“I had to move out of the house when my whole family tested positive. I got cleared. I tested negative. They wanted to make sure I kept my team safe, and after leaving and not seeing them for two weeks was hard, especially not knowing their health conditions,” Lexi Shelton said.
“I would call (my mom) and I knew she didn’t sound good, but she would never admit if she felt bad. That’s pretty scary, especially being a 17-year-old girl, not knowing and not seeing them.”
Lexi stayed with her teammate, Ellery Minch and her family, while the Sheltons recovered at home. With the team in quarantine, Lexi relied on her friends and basketball to find balance.
“After a week of being gone, I got to see them. They were standing outside the house, and I was at the end of the driveway and we all kind of got teary eyed because that was the first time we’d even seen each other under unknowing circumstances,” Lexi Shelton said.
“That was the one time that I felt more at home, especially when I was living some place else. On the basketball court. It was definitely a release. For two hours, I could forget how she was doing, even if she wasn’t there. That was definitely weird, but luckily, we were quarantined the same time as her, so the first couple of practices back were a major help.”
Julie Shelton returned to the sideline on Dec. 17, but she didn’t start coaching the team again until a few days later.
In the meantime, Lexi turned a corner, physically, and it came at the perfect time.
“At the beginning of the season, I was very timid with what I could do with my back. I told (my mom), I didn’t want to be in the post. I was very nervous about people bumping me at practice, and then the more I played and the more and more I started trusting it again, (me feeling like me) came back that first week after quarantine,” Lexi Shelton said.
“(Assistant) coach (Tom) Kirby even pulled me to the side, and he said, ‘You just look so much more comfortable then you had when you left.’ That was a huge milestone for me.”
As Lexi’s confidence mounted so did her production.
The team won 12 consecutive games from Jan. 7 until their Decatur Central Regional championship game appearance against Brownsburg. They beat favored Roncalli, 55-47, in the regional semifinals on Feb. 13 and led Brownsburg before eventually losing 44-35.
The Marauders won their second straight Hoosier Heritage Conference championship and the program’s 16th sectional title all time and second in three years.
Mt. Vernon defeated New Palestine in the sectional title game, 49-28, to avenge their early postseason exit in 2019-20.
Shelton helped lead the team to a 19-6 record with 378 points, 68 3-pointers made, 130 rebounds, 38 assists and 1,373 career points at 13.9 points per game. In her career, she converted 206 3-pointers at 41 percent, which she intends to carry over to the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne.
“More than ever, we needed each other. We got closer as a team,” Lexi Shelton said. “This year, there was far less petty drama because there were bigger things going on in the world then the little things we probably would have argued about way more in the past. There was a lot.”
Shelton earned her third All-HHC first-team selection and was an IBCA All-State honorable mention.
“The biggest legacy, for me personally, wasn’t necessarily me. My whole team left it the four years we were here,” Lexi Shelton said. “The seniors, that’s the group I give credit to because they pushed me. They were the ones behind me on those rough days that made me really the player that I am. I couldn’t thank my parents enough for pushing me. It wasn’t just me.”
