The late Alexis Demby

The coronavirus has claimed the life of a former Hudson County girls’ sports superstar.

Alexis Demby, who was a standout athlete during her days at Memorial High School, died Sunday after contracting the coronavirus during a stay with family and friends in West New York. Alexis was just 32 years old.

Demby first came into prominence when she was just an 11-year-old girl, earning a spot on the West New York Little League All-Stars with and against the boys.

She continued her brilliance and dominance into high school, where in girls’ basketball, Demby earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors three times, once earning First Team All-Area in 2003 among the five very best players in Hudson County. She was a Third Team selection her sophomore campaign of 2002 and was a Second Team choice as a senior in 2004.

Demby formed a dynamic duo at Memorial with Mercedes Nunez, another player who earned All-Area honors as well. Nunez was the Hudson Reporter Female Athlete of the Year her senior year. She was a vivacious, extremely humble, fun-loving kid who really never thought she was as good as she really was. She was a joy to watch -- unless you were an opponent.

“She was strong and didn’t take any crap,” said Craig Kuzirian, her head coach at Memorial. “When she was on the floor, she busted her tail. She was just a wonderful person.”

Demby went on to play basketball at Caldwell College and spent four years with the Cougars.

Demby earned her degree from Caldwell and became a social worker. She was living in Georgia and came back to visit her family, then got sick.

“She came up a couple of weeks ago and was ready to go home,” Kuzirian said. “And then she got sick and passed. Her mother passed about three years ago. It’s a terrible thing. Her mother used to come to all the games and got to know everybody.”

Kuzirian was asked how he would best remember his player.

“Her smile,” Kuzirian said. “She always had a smile on her face. No matter how much I would yell at her – and I yelled a lot – she still smiled. She was just a sweetheart.”

Kuzirian was upset when he watched some ill-advised college students at spring break in Florida.

“You see all these knuckleheads at spring break and then you hear this news,” Kuzirian said. “It’s a scary, scary thing. It’s just terrible. It hits home more now that it’s one of your own.”

Here’s the Athlete of the Week article that I wrote about Demby and Nunez together on March 11, 2004.

One thousand ways to remember Memorial duo

Nunez, Demby end hoop careers with impressive milestones

Craig Kuzirian has been the girls’ basketball coach at Memorial High School for almost 30 years now, so he’s seen a lot of things during his storied career.

But he’s never had two players as teammates reach the 1,000-point plateau, like seniors Alexis Demby and Mercedes Nunez did.

“It’s unusual to have to kids with that kind of ability on the same team,” Kuzirian said. “I never had two on the same team.”

While Demby and Nunez worked together so well that they were able to both reach the milestone, you never would have thought it was possible for them four years ago.

That’s because the two were fierce rivals when they were in grammar school, with Demby playing at P.S. No. 6 and Nunez performing for P.S. No. 1.

“It was always a battle between the two of us in grammar school,” Demby said. “Every game we played against each other, it was a war. And it was always me against her.”

“Honestly, I didn’t like her at all,” Nunez said. “She was my enemy. I had to win every time we played.”

Kuzirian got to witness the rivalry firsthand.

“I refereed the grammar school games and I knew they were both talented players,” Kuzirian said. “I knew that they had the talent to play for us right away.”

When tryouts for the Memorial girls’ basketball team took place the following November, Demby and Nunez were on the floor together again, only this time as teammates.

“I looked over and said, ‘Oh, look who’s here,’ ” Nunez said. “I didn’t know how things would work out between us, because we’re both competitive.”

“I honestly couldn’t wait to play with Mercy,” Demby said. “I knew she was a great shooter and passer and that she was going to help me become a better player.”

It didn’t take long for the two to put their past differences behind them.

“I felt fortunate to be able to play with her,” Demby said. “After all the time that we went head-to-head, it was a good feeling to be on the same side as Mercy.”

“Alexis is cool people,” the effervescent Nunez said. “It worked out well. I love Alexis because she has such a good heart.”

Demby was the one who became more of an impact player as a freshman, leading the Tigers in scoring. It took a while for Nunez to get more accustomed to high school basketball, even though she is a diverse athlete and became the first female in the school’s history to letter in four different varsity sports (including volleyball, softball, baseball as a sophomore, playing with the boys, and basketball).

“I had a tough time convincing Mercy that she had to take more shots,” Kuzirian said. “She was so unselfish and would throw passes to people who couldn’t catch the ball. Alexis was originally a power forward that I moved to guard. Alexis was the one who was the scorer right away. We had to make adjustments with Mercy.”

Demby reached the historic 1,000-point plateau in the late stages of last season as a junior. Nunez was going to need to do some prolific scoring as a senior to hit the mark.

“I didn’t think I was going to get a chance to make it,” Nunez said. “It wasn’t even in my mind.”

But the Tigers enjoyed a fine season, with Demby and Nunez leading the way. They won 17 games, a far cry from the seven wins they had as freshmen.

And sure enough, Nunez was able to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the final games, giving Demby a total of 1,279 and Nunez 1,030, the first 1,000-point teammates in the history of the girls’ basketball program at Memorial.

For their efforts, Demby and Nunez have been selected as Hudson Reporter Co-Athletes of the Week for the past week, the first shared honorees since the St. Dominic Academy Penn Relay gold medal winning team a year ago.

Kuzirian is convinced that there won’t be another pair like Demby and Nunez.

“We’re not going to have something like this again,” Kuzirian said. “It’s very rare to have two kids like this on the same team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I think it’s remarkable, because each year, they got better and they made each other better, while making the other players on the team better.

Added Kuzirian, “Not only are they great players, but they’re even better kids off the court. They’re able to take whatever I throw at them, when I scream and yell, and keep playing hard. I really wanted them to go far in the state playoffs, because it was their last chance. But it didn’t happen, so I’m a little disappointed. But they were a pleasure to coach and they made me a better coach as well.”

Both will head off to college and both will more than likely receive a scholarship, although it appears they will head in different directions. Demby is more than likely headed to Caldwell College, while Nunez will probably go to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck.

Demby said that she will always remember her days playing with Nunez.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to go different ways in college and that will be very difficult, not playing with her anymore,” Demby said. “But it’s something I will never forget. I definitely feel better being her teammate than playing against her. I would have to say she made me a better player, because she pushed me and I guess I pushed her. I really had confidence in Mercy, in whatever she does.”

“It’s pretty unbelievable how far we’ve come together,” Nunez said. “I feel very fortunate to have played with Alexis. I know that we made [Kuzirian] look good. But I know we definitely gave it our all.”

Kuzirian said that he certainly will miss the dynamic duo.

“They made it a pleasure to coach. They made it fun to come to practice,” Kuzirian said. “They’re both very competitive, but they also made things a lot of fun. We won’t see anything like this again. I’m sure of that.”

REST IN PEACE, ALEXIS....AND HERE'S PROOF THAT THIS CORONAVIRUS IS THE REAL DEAL, SO BE SAFE EVERYONE!!!