Emily Robinson looks to finish stellar sports career with Caddo’s first girls basketball championship
By Glen Brockenbush
Individual success and team success can often be intertwined.
However, in every sport, one player can only do so much as it pertains to controlling his or her team’s ability to win.
In terms of individual statistics, Caddo senior Emily Robinson has had a very successful high school basketball career. She’ll finish her career with more than 2,200 points, putting her in the top 30 scorers in the history of girls high school basketball in Oklahoma.
She also earned herself a scholarship to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.
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As for team success, she has already been a part of two state tournament qualifying teams. But neither of those trips brought hardware back to Bryan County.
The Lady Bruins qualified for the 2A state tournament in Robinson’s freshman year, but the tournament was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last season, they fell in the Class A semifinals to eventual state champion Seiling.
While state championships in basketball have proved elusive so far, Caddo has cornered the market on softball state championships in Class A, winning the past three state softball titles (fast-pitch in the fall of 2021 and 2022, slow-pitch in spring of 2022), with Robinson a key contributor on those teams.
Although she already has multiple champions' medals at home, she said earning one in basketball would be the perfect capper to not just her career, but her time with her teammates and friends.
“It would mean everything,” Robinson said. “We work so hard in softball, and we put in the same work in basketball.”
This year, Caddo is ranked second in the state, right behind Seiling, and is considered one of the favorites in Class A. The Lady Bruins sit a win away from another state tournament appearance, but being one of the last eight or four teams left in the playoffs is not the ultimate goal.
They’re in it to win the program’s first state championship.
“For us to go and win a gold ball would be like my wildest dream, something I’ve grown up dreaming about,” Robinson said. “We have fans that will travel everywhere to go watch us, and that means the most to us.
"They are always supportive through the ups and downs, through the wins and losses. For us to just put on a show, do it for them, do it for something bigger than ourselves, and do it for the community would just be awesome.”
While Caddo has plenty of playmakers on this year’s squad, Robinson remains the catalyst and top scorer. In their regional championship win against Waurika on Saturday, she scored a game-high 28 points.
If the Lady Bruins are going to finally break through and win a state title, Robinson will need to be the rudder of the ship.
“Emily, she’s just a winner, she’ll do whatever it takes,” Caddo coach Kolby Johnson said. “It doesn't matter what she does, she puts in the time, she’s hard-nosed and she’s got great teammates around her. But she’s really good about pushing everyone to work how she works.
"Emily, she would run through a wall to try to win. She doesn’t quit. She’s blessed with some size and athleticism, too, but it’s not for shortage of hard work.”
While her focus is on Friday night's Class A Area I championship game in Chickasha against Cyril, Robinson already has the next stage of her life set up, having committed to play basketball for Oral Roberts over the summer.
“Automatically, it was just like family,” Robinson said of her visit to the ORU campus. “That’s the way it is at Caddo.
"I was looking for coaches who looked at me like family, who treated me almost like a daughter. They showed me right off the bat that’s what they’re going to do.”
The Golden Eagles are under the direction of first-year coach Kelsi Musick, whom Roberts felt a strong connection with from the beginning.
“Her kindness and the way she portrays herself,” Robinson said of Musick. “Her being the first-year coach, she’s done so much this first season and I’m just waiting for more.
"She just succeeds in everything, so I’m just ready to be on her team, be coached by her and do more.”
