Ready to keep it going
Emily Oliver listened to her mother.
The senior basketball player at Valley Christian School had heard the same advice from her mother time and time again: “You can be as good as you want to be, Emily.”
This past summer, that advice went from “Awww, mom” to “Aha” for the Panthers captain.
“I just decided that could take my game to another level if I really wanted to, and I did,” Oliver said. “My mom had been saying that all along. I finally heard her.”
The past few seasons have been a struggle for the Panthers. After years of state tournament appearances, Valley Christian has struggled.
Oliver’s goal is to change that, and the fact that she started that change while looking in the mirror speaks volumes about her own character – and why her teammates voted her team captain.
“That means so much to me,” she said of being a team captain. “It is like a sacred trust that they’ve placed in me. I like the fact that they put that kind of faith in me, that kind of trust, and I take it very seriously.”
Oliver has emerged as her team’s most consistent offensive player, leading her teammates by example – hoping her mother’s advice will resonate with her teammates as they battle to reach the playoffs in the Bi-County League.
“I hope it does,” she said. “I hope they understand that we can all take our game to the next level if we want it bad enough.”
Oliver wasn’t expected to be her team’s go-to girl coming into the season.
“We graduated our senior post after last year,” Valley Christian coach Doug Girdner said. “I had three different players vying to be the team’s starting post, and I figured they were all about even. But Emily came in and just played like it was her position and she took it over.
“That’s what you hope a player will do. You hope someone will come in and pick up the challenge like that.”
Oliver averages in double figures.
But what’s more, in Girdner’s eyes, is the way Oliver averages in double figures.
“The thing about Emily is that she gives me 100 percent every time she steps on the floor,” he said. “In a game, in practice, when she steps out on the floor she plays as hard as she can. When she needs a breather, we give it to her and then she’s right back out there going as hard as she can.
“A lot of players will pace themselves to get a whole game in. Not Emily. If she’s playing, she’s playing as hard as she can.”
“We played in a summer league together, and that helped, and we went to a summer camp together,” Oliver said. “That helped us a lot. It helped me learn how to play better with our guards.”
That interplay pays off for the Panthers. The guards find Oliver in the post, and Oliver is able to find her guards for open shots – either outside for jump shots or cutting inside for layups.
Valley Christian started its second trip through the Bi-County League this week. Entering the weekend, the team has a 3-7 record in league, but is still in the playoff hunt.
“Our fate is in our own hands,” Girdner said. “We’re starting to get on a little roll. We won two of our last three games (coming into the weekend).”
Oliver feels the best is yet to come.
“Our game Saturday (a 58-43 win over Wilbur-Creston) was one of the best we’ve played, she said. “It was one of those games where everything on offense just clicked. Everything worked.
“When we have a bad game and things go wrong, none of us are anxious to get back into the gym for practice. After a game like that, everyone was ready to get back in the gym and keep it all going.”
For Oliver, it’s part of the job of being a team captain.
“I really want to keep that attitude going,” she admitted. “When you go to a small school like this, you see everyone every day, all day long. We just keep trying to keep everyone happy and working toward getting better and feeling good about what we’re doing.
“It’s a lot like being a big sister, and I really love being that for my teammates. We have a lot of young girls on this team. I’m hoping they take what we’re doing this year and keep it going.”