Basketball, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Jimmy Butler
Favorite team: Philadelphia 76ers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning our BAL division championship game my freshman and junior year
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: In my first AAU game with the Upper Makefield Heat, I stole the ball and was on a fast break and thought the ref was my teammate because his uniform was the same color as ours and I threw the ball to him.
Music on playlist: Country (Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Russell Dickerson)
Future plans: Attend Muhlenberg College to further my academic and basketball career
Words to live by: Never give up
One goal before turning 30: Travel to Greece
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m a twin
By Mary Jane Souder
Tyrese Maxey’s name popped up in conversation when coach Steve Polinsky was talking about Rachel Saxton. That’s hardly surprising since both share a common denominator. The Philadelphia 76ers effervescent rookie and the New Hope-Solebury senior share a love for the game, and it shows every time they step onto the court.
“It’s almost like watching the Sixers with Maxey,” Polinsky said of Saxton. “He enjoys playing, and Rachel is like that. She adds joy and excitement to the game whenever she steps on the court.
“It’s nice to have kids like that. I have a number of them, but she’s every day. There’s no bummer. Every day she’s there.”
It’s pretty much the same story in lacrosse.
“Rachel brings positive energy to the team,” NHS lacrosse coach Betsy Dougherty said. “She loves to play and compete, and her passion is inspiring and infectious.
“She plays midfield mostly because of her speed and seemingly inexhaustible endurance, but her defensive skills are outstanding probably because of her basketball knowledge and experience.”
Every day in every sport, Saxton competes and competes hard. A two-year captain of the basketball team, Saxton is the Lions’ floor general at point guard. She can also score in bunches as evidenced by her 12-point first quarter in a recent Lions’ win.
“She’s a true basketball player,” Polinsky said. “I think what makes her great is she’s willing to learn, and she’s also a fabulous leader.
“She’s very good with the younger players we have, talks to them, and when your point guard does that, it makes your job a lot easier.”
Polinsky moved Saxton to point when he took over the helm for Andy Krasna last year.
“She really concentrated on her ball handling, and she leads our ball handling drills in practice,” the Lions’ second-year coach said. “Her leadership is through the roof. She’s just a joy to coach. I love the excitement she brings every day to practice. There’s a love for the game you can see. I’m really happy that she’s going to play at the next level because she deserves it.”
Muhlenberg College will be Saxton’s home next year, offering both the athletics and academics she was looking for in a school.
“When I went and saw Muhlenberg for the first time, I kind of got that feeling – this is my second home,” Saxton said. “It’s that feeling that you can’t really describe when you walk onto a college campus, but that’s just what I felt.
“Coach (Ron) Rohn – who’s the head basketball coach – has been watching me since my junior year. I love his style, I like him and his personality. The thing my parents told me – obviously, you’re going there for basketball, so you want to understand and like their style of play, but you have to take basketball out of the picture when you’re choosing a college and ask yourself – if I couldn’t play basketball, is this a college I would still want to attend? Muhlenberg was that college.”
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With parents who both competed in sports in high school, Saxton was destined to love sports.
“We’re just a big sports family,” she said. “With my (twin) brother and younger sister, we just have this strong bond, and competitiveness is something that stands out between the three of us.
“My sister – she’s nine, so she’s just getting into the swing of sports, but you can tell at such a young age that she’s going to be an athlete, so just pushing each of us to the best of our ability is something that we always do.”
Saxton shares an undeniable bond with her twin brother Jake, who excels in floor hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers PowerPlay, a power wheelchair floor hockey team. Jake was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy as a toddler.
“My parents realized I was walking by myself, learning to go up the stairs, and it was harder for my brother,” Rachel said. “I remember kindergarten he got leg braces that would help him walk, but in second grade, he got his first wheelchair.
“I never looked at him as anything different. He’s just been my brother. I’ll never forget when my dad bought us our first mini basketball hoop that you hang on the door. My brother and I would get this little ball, and we’d play horse.
“Even now, sometimes I’ll get in his manual chair and we’ll play wheelchair basketball, and it’s a lot of fun. When we’re not playing the sport I love, we’ll be playing the sport he loves. I’ll go outside, I’ll get in goal, and Jake will do his thing with hockey and I’ll try and stop him.”
Jake’s disability has done nothing to hold either twin back.
“If anything, it’s made both of us just to be grateful for what we have and to push each other to be the best,” Rachel said. “Jake just loves sports. He’s still in the college process, but he knew right away that sports management is the thing he’s going to do.
“If anything while I was growing up and playing sports and he was figuring out what he wanted to do before he found out about hockey, I think it just showed me to be grateful for the little things in life.”
The twins have had some fierce battles, especially on the mini basketball hoop in the basement that is undoubtedly showing signs of wear.
“I will never forget this one game of Horse we were playing in mini basketball,” Rachel said. “We were just going back and forth. I would make a shot, and then he would make it. I would make another one, he would make another one. We were in the basement, and my dad had just painted a 3-point line and a foul line.
“I hate to admit it, but I eventually lost. It was really stupid of me, and I was trying to prove a point. He loves to do bank shots, so I was like – I’m going to do a bank shot, and I missed it. Then he had the opportunity to make it, and he made it, and I missed. I’ll never forget that.”
The fact that losing a game of Horse still doesn’t sit well with Saxton tells you all you need to know about her competitive drive.
“We play games, and I want her to lose just because she’s so competitive – I like to get her goat because I can see her competitiveness,” Polinsky said with a laugh. “She’s doesn’t like to lose – she’s tough like that. That’s her mentality.”
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Saxton has played other sports, including soccer, field hockey and lacrosse. She still plays lacrosse and has been an impact player since she stepped onto the field as a freshman.
“Rachel is quickness defined,” Dougherty said. “Especially if there is a loose ball to get after. Her competitive intensity and game sense complement her quickness and she is a force on the lacrosse field. I know basketball is her favorite, but I think she could have pursued post high school lacrosse as well.”
Basketball has been undeniably Saxton’s favorite. She began playing in the community rec league when she was six.
“When I was playing, one of the refs came up to my parents and said, ‘Listen, your daughter should try out for a club team,’” Saxton recalled.
Saxton went on to play for a Solebury travel team coached by her father, and from there moved on to the Rebels and then the Upper Makefield Heat, eventually closing out her AAU stint with the Lady Runnin’ Rebels.
“The one thing I always knew – basketball was my number one,” Saxton said. “Both of my parents played basketball. All my friends’ parents, everyone knows the game of basketball, and I think that’s why I fell in love with it.
“What made me fall in love with it more – you’re on the court that’s not that big. There’s only five people out there at one time, it’s a fast-paced game, and I’m all about running up and down the court and breaking out in a sweat.”
A four-year varsity player, Saxton is closing in on the elusive 1,000-point milestone. This despite assuming the role of point, which typically doesn’t get as many shots.
“It’s a tight line of balance to have someone who’s a scorer to now look for other people, but I think she’s done a really good job of accepting that,” Polinsky said. “We have plays for her, but she also knows to run the break and get her teammates involved. It’s been a really good transition, and it hasn’t been that hard because she’s a very cerebral player as well.”
Coming as no surprise, Saxton excels in the classroom. She plans to major in biology and is considering a career in physical therapy, an interest that was sparked watching her brother receive physical therapy.
“So physical therapy has always been familiar to me,” she said. “I think the reason it struck my interest personally was the summer of my freshman year playing AAU I hurt my ankle, and I was out three to four months, and I had to do physical therapy.
“I remember going and seeing all of the different equipment. My physical therapist was so nice and outgoing and knew all this information about the body, the bones, and it just interested me.”
Saxton is active in Peer Leadership at NHS, and she is involved in community service projects as a Junior Rotarian with the New Hope-Lambertville Rotary Club.
Next fall, for the first time, Rachel and Jake will be going their separate ways.
“But we’ll be staying close to home,” she said. “I want to stay close to home so I can come back and visit, and Jake wants to stay close so he can go back and forth to hockey when he has it on weekends, so we’ll still be in touch and we’ll still see each other.”
And they’ll undoubtedly still find time to do battle in a spirited – a highly competitive - game of Horse.
