Photo courtesy of Jeff Parkin Emma Ruhlman (15) has been named a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association all-state selection for the second straight year.

It’s been a month since Emma Ruhlman sank the first, second and third free throw with no time on the clock to give Warren a 41-40 win over Slippery Rock in the District 10 championship game.

“It’s been almost a month since this game and I still struggle to believe it wasn’t a dream,” Ruhlman posted on Twitter earlier this month.

It wasn’t a dream, Emma, and there’s a good reason for that; hard work pays off.

Her talent and effort has been recognized again, as the Dragons junior has been named to the 2021 Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Girls’ Basketball Team. She was selected to the second team in Class 5A, joining Kennedy Catholic’s Bellah DiNardo as District 10’s only second-team selections. Three other D10 players earned third-team selections.

“It’s definitely one of my biggest honors I’ve received in the postseason and being recognized on the statewide level is a huge accomplishment,” said Ruhlman. “I could not do it without the help from my coaches and teammates, and I owe a lot of thanks to them.”

It’s not a first for her; she was named to the all-state third team as a sophomore.

This season, in which Warren finished 22-4, coaches voted Ruhlman, along with Villa’s Ava Waid (a third-team All-State selection in Class 4A), as the Region 6 co-Player of the Year and a first-team all-star. She averaged 14.7 points per game this season, with 35 3-pointers to go along with 10 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals a game. She surpassed 1,000 points with her senior season still to go.

“Emma has sacrificed so much to get to this point,” said Warren coach (and Emma’s mom) Lisa LaVan. “Between the months of March and July, her life is consumed with basketball. Each week consists of two-and-a-half-hour drives one way to Pittsburgh two to three days a week for her two-hour AAU practices with the WPA Bruins. You must play with and against the best to be good. Weight training, shooting and skill work on her off days from AAU.

Big-time tournaments on the weekends in places like Charlotte, Indy, Detroit, Philly, Washington, D.C. More driving. Basketball is her social life. She sacrifices hanging out with friends and doing the social things that teenagers do. Between the months of September and November, it is a constant daily routine of more weight training, speed work, shooting and skill development. So now when the season starts, she is ready to go.

“I don’t think people realize the sacrifice it takes,” said LaVan. “It has to be daily and many times multiple times a day. These types of accomplishments don’t just happen. They are made with hours and hours, days and days, weeks and weeks, months and months, years and years … of blood, sweat and tears. The best part, I know she is not even close to her ceiling. She will continue to grind and will continue to perfect her game. Her basketball IQ is through the roof. Her mental toughness is unmatched. Her leadership is her best quality. She has many great intangibles that many coaches would love to have on their team.”

Ruhlman has also been nominated for sportsrecruiters.com’s 2021 Miss PA Basketball to be voted on and announced next month.

Players were nominated and voted on for the 2021 Sports Writers Pennsylvania All-State Girls’ Basketball Teams by sportswriters across Pennsylvania.