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04/13/2017 12:00 AMEmma Sullivan has learned to believe in herself and trust her stuff on the floor as a member of the Hand girls’ basketball program. Emma’s ability to keep the faith served both herself and the Tigers well on their journey to the Class L state title this winter.
Emma, a junior guard, was drawn to basketball as a youngster after watching her older brothers patrol the paint. Emma’s years of hard work paid big dividends in the recent season, when she averaged 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, two steals, and two assists per game while helping Hand reach the SCC Tournament final for the third straight season and then bring home its first state championship in 18 years. Emma scored 12 points when the Tigers beat Holy Cross to take the Class L crown.
“This year, there weren’t a lot of girls on the team, so we were very close, and it makes the game more fun when you have those connections with teammates,” says Emma. “I scored a lot off of running down the court after a steal by us. I would just run as fast as I could to get down on the other end and lay it up. [Head Coach Tim Tredwell] also says I know how to execute back-door cuts better than anyone. I also try to shoot it from anywhere.”
Emma wasn’t always one to hoist up shots at the onset of her Tigers’ tenure, but her offensive skill set took shape as Emma learned how to play with poise under pressure.
“As a freshman, I was very intimidated by the older girls, but over time, I earned a bigger role on the team,” Emma says. “I learned that keeping your confidence is huge, but you don’t want to show it off. I developed that as a sophomore and became more calm as a junior, and my coach knows I won’t get frazzled.”
Emma says that many of her opponents don’t view her as a defensive threat. However, Emma has progressed into a force on the boards by grasping the game’s fundamentals, along with showing unrelenting hustle when it comes to retrieving the rock.
“A lot of players don’t see me as a tall defensive player, so they underestimate me and my abilities on defense, which helps me,” says Emma. “I try to box people out as much as I can and just go after the ball.”
Coach Tredwell says that Emma always excels in the crucial categories that don’t show up in the scorebook. This includes traits like Emma’s intellect and durability on the court.
“Emma is the most unassuming star you’ll ever meet. She’s not exactly physically imposing, so you wouldn’t immediately think basketball when you look at her, but she is not someone to be taken lightly. She is absolutely unflappable and has proven that the past two seasons by hitting big shot after big shot,” says Tredwell. “While we have always had players that seem to garner more attention, Emma just plays the background, making teams pay for forgetting about her. But with Emma, it’s not just her shot-making ability that makes her special. Her basketball IQ is as high as you can find. She’s always in the right spot, she always knows the right cut or the right angle, and she’s an absolute pest on defense. Just as important as all that is that she’s a tremendous teammate. She has been crucial to our success the last two years and will continue to be as long as she’s in a Hand uniform. We’re very lucky she’s on our side.”
Emma wasn’t worried about playing on the big stage of Mohegan Sun Arena when Hand faced Holy Cross for the state title. Instead, she simply approached every possession like she was playing with house money.
“I just tried to focus in on the game and pretend like no one else was around,” Emma says. “I took the open shots and played like we had nothing to lose, and my confidence grew after the shots went in.”
This recent campaign was indeed a special one for Emma and her Tigers’ teammates, who took their journey all the way to the top of state after coming up on the short end in previous seasons.
“We came back this year after winning the SCC title against Mercy, and then we also beat them early this year,” says Emma, who thanks Tredwell, varsity assistant coach Kristina Ciotto, her strength coach Frank Quido, and her AAU coach Greg Martin. “This season, though, was about going even further. We felt the state title was really in our grasp this season, so it was about going all the way.”