South Fayette’s Anderson claims MVP honor
Emily Anderson led South Fayette to its first WPIAL championship in girls’ basketball.
Emily Anderson averaged 13.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots a game in leading South Fayette to the WPIAL Class AAA title.
Emily Anderson will continue her playing career at the University of Pennsylvania, where she will also major in engineering.
Emily Anderson has been named The Almanac MVP for girls’ basketball.
For Emily Anderson, the biggest obstacle in her basketball career never occurred on the playing court. It involved her health, strength and stamina.
As a sophomore, she suffered a severe injury. She dislocated her kneecap, fractured a part of her bone and tore ligaments. She required reconstructive surgery. When the wound became infected, another surgery was necessary. “One thing led to another,” she said. Indeed, Anderson also had to have her gall bladder removed because of stones. “I actually had three surgeries over the course of one year,” she remarked. “Yeah, it was rough.”
But, Anderson recovered. Though she did suffer an injury to the same knee prior to the 2015 WPIAL championship game, she returned to the court in no time and dominated the competition. In fact, during her senior season, she led South Fayette to its first district title for girls’ basketball. As a result, she garnered every award imaginable, including Almanac MVP laurels for her 13.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game.
”My injury, my sophomore year, definitely shaped my person. That was probably the biggest hardship I had to face sports-wise. It was kind of a blessing in disguise because that is where I started my weight regiment. I really got serious about recovering, getting back into a good AAU team, doing well with the school team and getting into a decent college. That’s helped me learn how to work hard to achieve a goal.
“I got hurt the first time because I didn’t know how to land properly. I wasn’t really super serious about complete weight training. But through my rehab, I learned how to land right and I got really serious about it. It was a lack of knowledge leading me to get hurt the first time. Now that I have the knowledge, I know how to prevent injury.”
Indeed an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure for Anderson. Through strength training, she improved. Plus, she took nothing for granted and worked toward objectives mapped out by her coaches, particularly skipper Matt Bacco.
During her 33-game hiatus, Anderson said it was rough to sit on the bench and watch while her teammates played. “But it was a good life-lesson for me,” she said. “I was able to learn and grow from it.
“I learned determination,” she added quickly. “Our coach focuses on working hard to achieve a goal. He always told us to ‘do now what others won’t, to do later what others can’t’ and that makes a lot of sense to me that you put in the work now and you are going to stick with it, then you are going to reap the benefits later. You can apply that, not just to basketball, but you can apply that to anything in life.”
Through her scholastic career, however, Anderson has applied the philosophy, indeed, to basketball. It’s a big reason why she earned admittance to the University of Pennsylvania, where she will continue her career while also pursuing a degree in engineering. She maintains a 4.1 GPA in the classroom.
She noted that when she started high school, the classes got harder and basketball became more serious. There was an adjustment period. “I decided how to work out the two and balance. Take very good care of my schedule,” she said. “Make sure I focus on one thing and don’t get distracted. Be able to put my all into everything and not half-do either one,” she concluded. “Sports is a huge part of my life and basketball takes up a lot of my time, but I love it.”
Her love affair with hoops started in fourth grade when her travel coach pulled aside her parents, Amy and Greg, and told them their daughter was going to play the sport. “I’ve been playing ever since,” noted Anderson.
While she was average height in fourth grade, Anderson “sprouted” up by the end of middle school. She stands 6 feet, 4 inches today. “I noticed each basketball season as I grew a little taller that I had to make an adjustment to my shot because I was a little closer to the rim. Overall, it was constant growing but I dealt with it.”
Her opponents, however, have not been able to deal with it. Anderson blossomed into a dominant post player, possessing a great deal of mobility for her size. After averaging 11.8 points and 9.8 rebounds a game as a junior, she increased those totals to a double-double every contest as a senior. Plus, she managed 4.3 blocks a game.
“I’d say for me, it’s kind of an advantage with my height, that I’m a little bit quicker than the other bigs in my section so it really helps me to move a little faster around them, but I’m not as strong or as big. That is one of the disadvantages I have down low,” said Anderson. “My coaches are really focusing on me getting stronger, being able to battle under the hoop more than I do now. That’s what I’ve got to look forward to.”
While she focuses on taking her game to the next level in college, Anderson looks back on her scholastic career with pride. She helped the Lions to an undefeated Section 5-AAA banner and a 24-4 record that included the WPIAL title. To reach the final, she managed a triple-double, scoring 27 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking 13 shots in a semifinal win against Hampton, 57-49. In the championship contest, a 59-52 triumph against rival Trinity, she finished with 18 points, 12 boards and four blocked shots.
“Winning the WPIAL, especially after losing last year, was a lot of fun,” Anderson said. “It was really interesting playing a team we knew so well and had played before. We knew they were out for us. We had a target on our backs. It was different going into such a serious game, completely knowing how the other team played. But we just had to play our game the best we could and it paid off in the end.”
Her numbers continue to pay dividends. Anderson garnered all-Section laurels as well as recognition from every major newspaper in the region. Plus, she earned Almanac MVP laurels.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I’m really honored. It’s a great accomplishment. I’m really proud of myself and my team. So, it’s good to be recognized.”
Recognition is well deserved, said her coach. According to Bacco, Anderson played up to her potential.
“She absolutely took the next step. Before every game, I joked with her before we got on the bus and said ’20 and 12.’ That’s what I thought she was capable of on a relatively routine night. She had a tremendous career and helped lead us to the WPIAL title and she will continue to have a great career at Penn.
“Emily, like the rest of the seniors on the team, left an enormous impact on our program. She’s done things the right way, selfless, coachable, hard worker. Our success is no coincidence.”