It’s been an up and down year so far for the Del City Lady Eagles with a 3-5 record but for senior guard Alexus Ochoa-Dockins, it’s been mostly down.

A scrimmage against Star Spencer ended the 18 year old’s season before it could even begin when she tore her ACL and meniscus on a layup attempt. This effectively ended her Del City basketball career. Or did it?

“Some kids will pack it up, go away from it and say ‘well good with you guys,’ but she loves the game,” said her head coach Karri Sears.

Not only didn’t Ochoa-Dockins vanish into thin air, she’s morphed into a student-assistant role where she imparts her advice from the bench to the rest of the team.

“I see the open gaps and notice spacing,” said Ochoa-Dockins. “I couldn’t really tell spacing on the court, but on the bench you can see when we’re all squished up in one spot.”

It’s the little things she’s noticing on the bench that count for a team with very limited varsity experience. Outside of starting two senior guards, the Lady Eagles start two freshmen and a sophomore, so leadership is at a premium.

Lucky for Del City, Ochoa-Dockins has been around the game basically her whole life after picking up basketball in fifth grade.

And if her in-school interests are any indication, she also has the intellect to translate what she sees to her teammates and even her coaches.

“I like science and math so I’m kind of looking toward engineering like architect engineering or something in that direction,” said Ochoa-Dockins.

But, don’t push her into the engineering field just yet. She and her coach both think there’s plenty of basketball left after she rehabs the injury and are still taking the necessary trips to make colleges take notice.

The point/shooting guard combo averaged around 9 points last season and was expected to increase her production this season. She has deadly shooting range, according to her coach, with the ability to hit from 45 feet and consistently.

What she lacks in foot speed was made up for in work ethic and court sense, but she’s imparting those qualities on her teammates.

“She’s helping those kids find confidence, gets shots, come in early and stay late. She’s still in the gym even though she may not have to be,” said Sears.

It’s not just practice either. If you’ve been to even one Del City game this year, you’ve seen her in the ears of multiple teammates whether it be the newcomers or even senior guards, Piper Kalthoff and Alaisha Castleberry. It’s not general knowledge. She’s watching their games for specific defects to fix.

“I give reminders to Piper if I see her shots falling short. I’ll remind her to get more air and rotation, and I’ll tell Alisha keep her head up on dribbling to see the floor and go high off the glass for layups,” said Ochoa-Dockins. “Just reminders of things I see that they’re not doing.”

But perhaps the biggest bright side to the loss of a starting senior guard that Sears describes as disastrous, is the constant reminder to give it your all while you can, even when things aren’t going well because you don’t know when it’ll end.

“You never know when your last game or practice could be so give it your all every time you’re out there,” said Ochoa-Dockins.

It’s been a lesson she has to impart every day early in the season with Del City’s piling up more losses than wins so far. She tries to remind them often it’s still early in the season, and there’s plenty of time to turn it around.

Adjusting has been tough for her at times; it’s a bit of difference leading off the court rather than on it.

“I think it’s harder off the court because if I tell them to work hard I’m not out there with them, but if I’m on the court leading them and I’m working hard. I don’t feel like I’m trying to boss them around,” said Ochoa-Dockins on the difference

Still, she’s adjusting just fine and Coach Sears thinks there’s a different avenue for Ochoa-Dockins to pursue if she changes her mind about engineering based on how well she knows the team.

“She may be a coach someday because she looks at me and says if this isn’t what’s working for you today let’s go to this,” said Sears. “She knows what their capabilities are and what their strengths and weaknesses are.”

But, that line of thinking is still a ways off for the girl who eats, sleeps and breathes basketball. She plans on playing ball at Little Rock Arkansas or even a couple of years at a junior college if she has to.

For right now, she’s just helping her teammates focus on coming back from a rough start while she, too, recovers from a rough patch. She’s a quiet leader who isn’t so quiet anymore.