Briann Emery does a lot of things for the Madison girls basketball team. She contributes in scoring, rebounding and assists. She also usually takes the toughest defensive assignment.
But Madison coach Al Veneziano was able to break down his scouting report on his 5-foot-8 senior forward into 10 words.
"She has a lot of quickness," Veneziano said, "and she is fearless."
It's a combination of those two things that has made Emery one of the key players in Madison's 20-1 season. The Bulldogs will play for the first girls or boys basketball state title in school history when they face Lee Academy in the Class C final at 7:05 p.m., Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Her quickness enables Emery to play one-on-one against guards as well as post players, depending on what the Bulldogs need from her that night.
"I look at it as something that needs to be done," Emery said. "If you don't have defense, you don't win games. If everybody's trying hard on defense, you're going to win, even if you have a bad scoring game."
Emery is conditioned enough to play all 32 minutes if the game is close. Her last name sounds like "energy" and has the same last three letters as "fiery," and those are two good words to describe her on the court.
"She just comes out every day with the same energy," Veneziano said. "It's not any different energy at practice than it is in a game. She plays hard, and she expects her teammates to play hard, too -- and she'll let 'em know if they're not playing hard."
Veneziano said Emery has been speaking her mind for years, and he is completely fine with it, because she'll be saying the same things he says.
"She's not after them for anything else other than to do their best," Veneziano said. "When you can have that, it just makes it much easier for the team and the coach."
Emery's one low point on the court this season was in Madison's only loss -- the season finale against Monmouth, when she drew the assignment of guarding Mustangs star Jenn Lola, and Lola scored a game-high 28 points.
"It was a very big pride thing for her," Veneziano said. "It's not all her fault, but she took it that way. When you have kids playing with a lot of heart like that, that makes for a good basketball player."
The Bulldogs faced Monmouth again in Saturday's regional final, and Veneziano again asked Emery to guard Lola one-on-one. Lola scored seven points in the first quarter, but only four thereafter, and Madison won by three.
"I was very excited to get another chance against her," Emery said. "I was really disappointed in myself after letting her score 28 points. I knew that I had to go into that game and just face-guard her, look at her waist -- she can't fake you out with her waist -- and just try my best to not let her get by me at all."
Emery will be playing at UMaine-Machias next season, as she was impressed by the school's marine biology program and also wanted to stick around in Maine to watch her younger sister Brooke, who is a seventh-grader in the Madison system.
"I think she'll do fine," Veneziano said. "She's got the work ethic. She'll work over the summer and become a better player. I think the doors are wide open for her."
Emery is one of eight seniors for Madison who will be playing her last game on Saturday. This week, with signs on message boards around town, the excitement has been unavoidable.
"We've been cracking down, but also we just want to have fun, because it's our senior year," Emery said. "We want to just be around each other as much as possible, because we love each other and it's going to be hard leaving.
"We want this more than anything, because Madison's never won a Gold Ball," Emery added. "And we have an opportunity, and it's amazing."
Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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