Young, Yet Poised
For the past two seasons, sophomore Emily Baumgartner has started at point guard on a varsity team with an experience lineup. Fortunately, she’s already developed the proper mentality.
“She’s unflappable,” said Herndon girl’s varsity basketball head coach Dwight Trimmer, “As a point guard, you’ve got to be able to make mistakes and leave them behind. She can do that and still continue to compete.”
Baumgartner’s teammates share the same sentiment. Sophomore guard Tiffany Jones said, “Emily’s the most cheerful person on the team; she can mess up on something and still be smiling.” Senior guard Bailey Jensen added that this good morale “pushes us to work our hardest at all times.”
Baumgartner mentioned the positive side of being put under the pressure as a younger player, “It’s kind of tough to prove yourself because you’re basically the youngest player on the court, but it’s exciting.”
This “glass-half-full” attitude may have rubbed off from her parents. Said Baumgartner, “My parents have always been laid back, and have always said to just “try your best” and “play your hardest”. Though, they love to talk to me about basketball.”
All of this seems to have helped her abilities flourish. Baumgartner, at 5’7”, 125 pounds, leads her team in points (9), assists (4), and steals (3) per game. Last year, as a freshman, she made the all-district defensive team.
Of course, it all had to begin somewhere. “I saw my older brother (who would eventually become a starter on O’Connell High School’s varsity basketball team) playing basketball, and enjoyed it when I started playing.”
She joined a house league team when she was seven, and by the time she was ten, tried out for an AAU team. “I made the Gymrats AAU team,” said Baumgartner, “And it turned out that coach Trimmer was the coach.”
Between AAU and High School basketball, Baumgartner has learned a lot from Trimmer. “Playing defense is a big part of what coach has taught me, because we always have a lot of different defenses. He’s helped me learn to keep my head up when I’m in the post, and I’ve also learned a lot about moving the ball around the court.”
Baumgartner has soaked up a great deal of information about the game of basketball from the tutelage of Trimmer, but she knows she still needs to do a lot more work on her game before becoming one of the top players in the region. “My shooting has gotten a lot better since last year, and I’m shooting a lot more in games, but I still need to improve.”
Trimmer gave his take on her progression, “She’s really improved considerably, but she’s still got a ways to go. She still needs to become a more complete offensive player, but she’s probably taken larger strides than any other sophomore in the region; from the time she entered high school, to right now.”
One difference from last year is that the Hornets have improved in many team-oriented aspects. Said Baumgartner, “It think we’re moving the ball a lot better as a team, and playing with more confidence.” Much of this is thanks to the way Baumgartner’s teammates have helped her progress, “A lot of the time I push the ball to fast, and sometimes it leads to turnovers, but often they help me out by saying, ‘slow down’, ‘take your time’, and ‘don’t go too fast’.”
Baumgartner continues to refine and develop her skills in the off-season. During the summer she plays AAU basketball, during the fall she plays volleyball, and she’ll be joining the track team this winter. Baumgartner said, “Playing volleyball helps a lot because there’s a lot of jumping and quick feet.”
Considering Baumgartner is only a sophomore, she is not currently looking at her basketball future beyond high school. “If something comes up where I can play basketball, I’ll take the opportunity. For now, I’ll just focus on my studies.”
Though, her immediate future also includes the goals of her team, “We just focus on each game individually, and I try to do that by concentrating on how I’m going to push the ball up the court each possession.”
Baumgartner is in a great environment to develop into an all-region caliber player. Her coach believes it to be so, “I think that Emily is one of the most underrated and underappreciated young players in the region,” said Trimmer, “She’s in a great situation because she’s surrounded with a lot of experience. She’s got five seniors around her, so it allows her to develop her basketball skills without worrying too much about her on-court leadership.”
If all of these factors pay dividends, Baumgartner could pose the strongest force in the Concorde District for the next two years.
