By Jack Hooker
Emily Chang has been training for her high school basketball team ever since she started playing in the fourth grade. Practicing six to seven days a week in the off season, she has dreamed of representing her high school and stepping onto the court in front of hundreds of fans.
When this moment arrived in December, nerves overwhelmed the freshman as she looked up into the stands. But as soon as Chang touched the basketball, her excitement melted away, and within weeks she established herself as one of the best players on the team.
“The competition is much harder playing with and against high schoolers; they’re typically much bigger and have more experience,” Chang said. “High school basketball is definitely more intense and requires more sacrifice and effort than middle school basketball does. Everything’s at a faster pace.”
Chang has filled the role and much more, according to coach Sam Doner. Chang knew Doner prior to high school, having attended many of his basketball clinics as well as playing for him on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team, the Bay State Jaguars.
Chang is the leading scorer for the Lions this year, and her teammates say the young competitor has a great attitude as well.
“Chang brings a lot of things: her work ethic, her desire, her passion, her tenacious defense, her willingness to sacrifice whatever we need to do in order for us to win, and her scoring,” Doner said.
Fitting into a varsity team is can be a challenge, especially for young players, but Doner feels that Chang has made the transition seamlessly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid as a freshman fitting in on and off the court as she does,” Doner said. “All of the kids respect her, she understands where she’s at; she’s not cocky or conceited.”
Chang knew most of the players on this year’s varsity squad from previous teams or Doner’s basketball clinics, helping her fit in with some of the older players. “[Basketball] is a really nice way to meet new people,” Chang said. “Especially because I’m a freshman and I’m new to everything so a bunch of upper classmen help me out in the halls and if I need help with my work.”
Chang, used to being the best player on the court, now shares the spotlight with senior captain Kayla Burton, a four-star rated prospect by ESPN HoopGurlz and a D-1 commit to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Burton knew Chang from her AAU basketball team, but she said that playing on the high school team has made them much closer.
“I feel like she’s a little sister to me,” Burton said. “I can get on her and push her in practice and whenever she has a problem or wants to simply talk, she will come up to me or call me throughout the day to ask me for advice or just say what she wants to say.”
Burton has also appreciated Chang’s contributions to the team this season.
“Emily plays a major role on our team,” Burton said. “I think that with her potential, skills, and with our team chemistry this year, we can go far.”
Since the South girls basketball team made a deep playoff run in 2010, the team has worked to match its previous success. “Last year the team had an identity crisis,” Athletic Director Scott Perrin said. “They were coming off that big run of girls so they were struggling to find themselves to be their own team instead of trying to be the team before them.”
Perrin said that Chang has made a positive impact on the team with her stamina on the court, infectious energy and phenomenal shooting. He also understands, though, that the team’s success this season depends on more than one player.
“I think this year is another solid run of girls’ basketball,” Perrin said. “I think how far they go isn’t only up to Emily but also up to her teammates.”
Starting over older girls can pose challenges on some teams, but Chang said that the Lions’ commitment to winning has allowed them to look past any petty conflicts.
“I don’t think anyone is thinking ‘Oh she’s a freshman–why is she starting?’” Chang said. “I think we’re all just aiming for the same goal and we’re doing our best together as a team to achieve it no matter what needs to be done.”
Chang has seen improvements in her game as the season progressed, but she said that great team chemistry is the Lions’ greatest virtue.
“Just being with such a nice group of girls, I’m looking forward to getting closer with them,” Chang said. “That might be my favorite part of the team.”
Chang’s personal goal this season has been to improve and help her team make the playoffs. Her coach feels that this determination to get better has been one of the driving forces behind his team’s success this season.
“[Emily] understands that she has a ways to go to be the best player she can be and in order to help the team,” Doner said. “If she continues to work this hard, I think we will be a very dangerous program, like in the previous years when we had players that have made this program very successful because of their work ethic.”
The Lions improved to 5-4 after defeating Boston Latin last Friday, 51-46. Their next home game is Friday, Jan. 25, against Westford.
Chang has impressed teammates and fans as a freshman, and the team hopes to ride her energy to the state tournament.
“I think she brings that work ethic day in and day out,” Doner said. “If she keeps that up, this will be a very dangerous basketball team.”
