Roberson makes impact quickly with Malden hoops

First-year Malden High School girl's basketball coach Alexis Roberson instructs her team during a timeout in its MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament game against Twin Rivers at Portageville.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

PORTAGEVILLE – Alexis Roberson had never been to Malden prior to accepting a physical education teaching position with the school last summer. However, the Jefferson City native wasted no time in making an impact on the Green Wave girl’s basketball program this past season.

“I invested in my girls like they were my kids,” Roberson said. “I made them know that I cared about them on the court and off the court.”

Few people as young as Roberson have garnered the wealth of athletic experience that she has, and she channeled that knowledge into restoring the Green Wave basketball program.

Malden had won double-digit games in six of seven seasons from 2015 through 2021. However, during the 2021-22 season, the Green Wave struggled to just three victories. So, when Roberson just concluded an 11-10 mark in her first year, that was notable.

“When you do that as a coach,” Roberson said of “investing” in her student-athletes,” “amazing things can happen.”

First-year Malden High School girl's basketball coach Alexis Roberson instructs her team during a timeout in its MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament game against Twin Rivers at Portageville. (Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com)

Roberson was the MSHSAA Class 5 state champion in the shot put for Jefferson City High School and finished second in the shot put and third in the discus in 2016.

She took her talents to Southern Illinois, where she qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships in 2020 in the weight throw, after winning the event in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

At Jefferson City, she also competed in basketball and volleyball, while being a member of the National Honor Society.

She is already moved on to her next challenge, which is serving as the varsity assistant track coach for both boys and girls at Malden this spring.

“I got my girls to work hard,” Roberson said, day in and day out. We ended up with 13 (players) and had enough to enter a junior varsity team in the conference (tournament) and no one else did. I think that says a lot about our program.

“These girls felt connected enough to stick through it even when (junior varsity) was not getting very many games.”

The Green Wave were playing their best basketball before falling in the final seconds to two-time defending champion Twin Rivers in the recent MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament at Portageville.

A last-second shot rimmed out, ending the winning season.

Malden will return 11 players from this year’s roster next season.

“This is a great group of girls,” Roberson said. “The future is nothing but bright for Malden girl’s basketball.”