Alexis Ibarra showed great skill and talent on the court in 10 games for Fountain Hills High School this year, but her patience and resilience on the sidelines was just as impressive. She averaged 16 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for the Falcons, and she recently signed to continue her career with Yavapai College next year.

Ibarra played basketball for the Falcons in middle school, but she transferred to 6A Red Mountain and stayed there for three years. In her senior year back home, Ibarra got her mindset back on track, had the best season of her career, and got more colleges to notice what she can do.

As a transfer student, Ibarra had to wait until the second half of the season to play. She admitted she dealt with some of the same issues she faced at Red Mountain early in her senior year, but her biggest supporters helped her get through the challenges, and she had a room filled to the brim with supporters on her signing day, Wednesday, May 10.

“My junior year of high school at Red Mountain, I actually had thoughts of dropping out,” Ibarra said. “I was going through it, and then I came here, and it wasn’t getting better. I was so ready to give up and drop out, and I don’t know. My mom really talked to me…everyone told me not to give up. They see something in me.”

Ibarra knew she was gifted on the court from a young age, but said her time at Red Mountain was discouraging. She won MVP in her first tournament as a kindergartener, and she said she was a key player on her club team, but she only averaged 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a junior at Red Mountain.

As a senior, Ibarra earned All-Region First Team honors as a power forward/center and helped lead the Falcons to their first playoff appearance in four years. In the regular season finale, Ibarra led the Falcons with a season-high 32 points in a 57-55 loss against No. 4 Bourgade Catholic (21-4).

It only took 10 games for Ibarra to stand out as one of the best players in 3A. She was an efficient shooter, making 55% from the field and 38% from three-point range. She also averaged 1.8 blocks and 1.9 steals per game, had four double-doubles and led the Falcons in points in their playoff loss.

Ibarra felt at home at Fountain Hills, which allowed her to help the Falcons win seven of the 10 games they played together, but she’s called several places home before. She spent 11 years growing up in Mexico, and instead of playing soccer or other local sports, Ibarra was drawn to the basketball court.

All of her classmates played soccer at school, and Ibarra only had her younger sister to play basketball with. Alicia Ibarra also joined the Fountain Hills basketball team this year and will be a senior next year. They got their introduction to basketball by watching videos of their older sister Lucy on Facebook, and things took off from there.

“Something about watching the game,” Ibarra said. “Since I first started watching, I never wanted to stop watching. I grew a love for the game really quickly.”

Her love for the game helped Ibarra stay focused on getting a college scholarship. Even when she wasn’t putting up jaw-dropping numbers for Red Mountain, Ibarra was getting noticed for her accomplishments with her club team, Natives With Talent.

According to other media reports, Ibarra and her team won National Championships in Nevada and Oklahoma and she was invited to represent Team USA with 365 Sports in the Bahamas before she returned to Fountain Hills.

Her club achievements helped open some doors, and Ibarra’s stats from Fountain Hills got her invited to workout with several local colleges, like Glendale Community College, Chandler Gilbert Community College and Scottsdale Community College.

But before she could prove she deserved a scholarship from those schools at a workout session, Ibarra went and toured Yavapai College with the women’s basketball head coach, Gerrard Carmichael. She said that during the campus tour up in Prescott, her mind was made up, and she wanted to be a Roughrider.

The Roughriders discontinued their men’s and women’s basketball programs in 2011 but brought them back for the 2022-23 season. Yavapai College renovated their gym ahead of the return, and last year’s team went 11-17 with only freshmen. Ibarra will have plenty of opportunities and will try to earn a starting role on the rebuilding team.

“How it all happened was at a tournament with my club team, Natives with Talent, NWT,” Ibarra said. “The Yavapai coach was there, and he just came up to me, introduced himself to me and asked me to go tour. He was so interested right from the very beginning.”

Ibarra said that she and her mom couldn’t believe it when they talked with the coach. Ibarra was excited at her signing day ceremony to make everything official, and she did her best to stay composed in front of a room full of friends, family and teammates.

“It means a lot,” Ibarra said. “I was trying so hard not to cry up there. It means a lot, it really does. It makes me really happy to have that many people behind me, supporting me.”

Ibarra has some ideas about what she’d like to do after her playing days are over, but she’s not completely sure about her career plans. For now, she intends to take general studies classes and work towards a medical office assistant certificate.