Reinstall OS on 2011 MacBook Air

After erasing the SSD on a 2011 MacBook Air to reinstall the OS, the only alternative is to format the drive as APFS. Apparently this is because it had an APFS OS installed previously. However, when downloading the OS, it comes up as 10.7, Lion. Lion can't install on an APFS formatted drive. So I am in a Catch-22 situation.

I'd appreciate any ideas on how to proceed. TIA.