Verona has some very talented high school basketball players. But the Verona basketball player who stood out in an NBA All-Star game event this weekend won’t be entering high school for another four and a half years.
Emily Baumgard is a fourth grade student at Brookdale School and this past weekend she was one of just 12 boys and girls who made it to the finals of the NBA’s FIT Dribble, Dish & Swish competition in New York City. She got to rub elbows with some of the biggest names in pro basketball past and present–like Carmelo Anthony, James Harden, Ron Harper and Muggsy Bogues–and shoot some hoops in a very, very big spotlight.
If names like that don’t convince you that this was a very big deal, consider this: It attracted 46,000 competitors, boys and girls ages 7 to 12 from more than 500 local competitions in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The contestants had to demonstrate skills in dribbling, passing and shooting, accurately and as quickly as possible.
Baumgard, who is also the granddaughter of Verona Board of Education member Joe Bellino, won her local competition, which was sponsored by Verona resident Bill Maranz’ New Jersey Basketball Academy and held at Mount Saint Dominic Academy in Caldwell. With the win, she automatically advanced to the regional competition, which was held on January 25 at the Nets’ PNY Center practice facility in East Rutherford. She won there too, with a first-place time of just 22.88 seconds. “I knew when I made both layups and the foul shot that I had a good chance to win,” she said last week, recalling the competition.
But regional winners weren’t guaranteed a berth in the finals: They had to wait until the times of all four regional competitions were tallied up because only the top two finishers in each age and gender group would advance. Baumgard’s time in the division for girls ages 9 and 10 was good enough to earn a spot.
“When I found out I made it to the finals I was really excited,” she said last week. “I can’t wait to go to the finals. I don’t really care about winning, I’m just happy that I got there…but winning would be cool”.
The finals and the all-expense-paid trip to New York City were worth the wait. On Friday night there was a welcome dinner for the finalists and their families hosted by WNBA player Ruth Riley. With an All-Star gift bag in hand, the finalists and their guests were bussed to the Barclay Center in Brooklyn for the Rising Stars Challenge, a game between first- and second-year NBA players from all over the world. Back at their hotel, the families got to see players like Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell.
There were more notables on Saturday at a basketball game that included Special Olympics players along with retired NBA and WNBA stars. Baumgard and her fellow finalists also got to watch the East/West NBA All-Stars Practice.
But at 4 p.m., the fun and games gave way to serious competition. The finalists went to the courts at NBA House at Moynihan Station, which is in the old Post Office building next to Madison Square Garden. Baumgard competed against Chardonnay Hartley, a fifth-grader from the Bronx. “It was an incredibly close competition, and Emily finished a half-second behind Chardonnay, but that didn’t matter to either of them,” says Emily’s dad John Baumgard. “They both were happy to make a new friend–they got along great and plan to stay in touch–and all the finalists were thrilled with the overall experience.”
John Baumgard says the weekend was fund for the whole family, which includes mother Michelle, sister Ashley and brother John. The extended family–grandparents, aunts and uncles–came in on Saturday to watch Emily compete.
“Emily had an incredible time,” says her dad. “It was an amazing accomplishment for her, and an experience she’ll look back on and remember for the rest of her life.”
Photos copyright Jeff Stiefbold. Used by permission.
