Emma Filiatreau had a double-double in her last high school game before heading to Oklahoma State on an equestrian scholarship. (Les Nicholson Photo)
She’s a Miss Basketball candidate who averages 17.8 points per game, is an above average 3-point shooter and had 35 points and 17 rebounds in the 5th Region title game win.
Six-foot Emma Filiatreau of Bethlehem has played in three straight state basketball tournaments but Thursday’s 71-41 loss to McCracken County likely was her final organized basketball game.
She had plenty of college basketball opportunities but plans to go to Oklahoma State on an equestrian scholarship.
Filiatreau had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in her final game but was just 2-for-11 from the field and got in early foul trouble.
She cried before she left the court as she hugged teammates and coaches and then again in the media room.
Any chance she might change her mind and play college basketball?
“I probably won’t change my mind,” the Bethlehem senior said. It’s really hard, this was my last game and I will probably never play again.”
However, she loves horses. She rides almost every day and her coach said she often was in the barn at 5 a.m. before school with her horses.
‘Basketball is something I play but when I am out of basketball (season) I ride every day. I would stay every day at the barn if I did not have to go to school,” she said.
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Sacred Heart has won the last two state championships and is favored to win again this week. It plays Owensboro Catholic today in the quarterfinals.
Coach Donna Moir, though, understands the value of letting her players also have fun.
“Our kids love to make Tik-Tok videos and be on social media,” the Sacred Heart coach said. “Anything I can do to promote the game of basketball, I am going to do.
“Our girls love to be in front of the cameras. It doesn’t bother me because I am not a big control freak.”
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Ashland coach Stacy Davis got a bit emotional after her team held Knott County Central without a field goal until the final minute of the first half won 46-34 Thursday to advance to today’s quarterfinal matchup with McCracken County.
“Sitting here is like a dream come true,” Davis said. “These girls ran the gauntlet to come to state. It’s the first time at Rupp Arena for any of us and to pull out a win is just sweet and I am kind of speechless.
“We came in as an underdog. I told them if they would trust us we would get them to Rupp Arena and these girls stuck together. Just to win the first game at Rupp Arena is amazing and we had a great crowd cheering on the Kittens.”
Sophomore point guard Kinleigh Woods, who averages 18 points per game, had 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting along with six rebounds and two assists.
“She plays like that day in, day out, and goes like that even in practice. That is very typical of her to play that way,” Davis said. “She is the motor and engine that runs our team. Everyone feeds off her energy. Put the ball in her hands and good things happen. She is quick with her first step and the way she maneuvers her body around girls to get to the basket is just amazing.”
Woods was a bit overwhelmed by the win as well.
“It’s 100 percent a dream come true (to win in Rupp),” Woods said. “The team is basically my family. I live with them in the gym. We have a great bond.”
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Another talented sophomore at the state was Niah Rhodes of Frederick Douglass, who averages 17.9 points per game. However, she had only 11 points in a 59-57 loss to North Laurel when she was 4-for-13 overall from the field and 3-for-8 from 3-point range.
“She shoots the lights out,” Frederick Douglass coach Daryl Moberly said about Rhodes, who averaged almost four 3’s per game this season. “She is just a great shooter who knows how to get her shot off.
“She can play without the ball, too, and has done a lot better at that this year. She’s a great teammate and is not afraid to share the ball.”
