PEORIA, Illinois (WMBD) – Emily Dana may be Peoria’s best-kept basketball secret. The Peoria Heights junior is listed on Maxpreps as one of the Top-15 three-point shooters in Illinois; a jump shot crafted through years of practice.
A lot of time with AAU and just getting in a gym whenever I can.
Emily Dana
She’s helped lead the Patriots to one of their highest win totals in years. Emily’s style of play comes from someone she grew up watching, her sister.
“When I was in like first grade, I just wanted to be like her and play like her,” Dana said. Basketball for her started with shooting hoops at home in kindergarten and she’s relied on her family’s support at almost all her games.
“It’s huge I really enjoy and like seeing them at the games,” Dana said “Like whenever they’re not there, it feels like a piece of me isn’t there.”
Off the court, Emily’s on her third stint as class president, she helped gather teddy bear donations for the children’s hospital and she’s on the prom committee. While the dance is more than two months away, she’s already made big plans, buying her dress in January.
Even with all these activities, Emily also holds the second-highest GPA in her class.
It’s hard. Some late nights trying to stay up and do homework. But I manageed to get it done somehow.
Emily Dana
With the playoffs about to start, she now wants to get it done on the court for her school.
