Emerson is a player who does everything on the court with a smile and could care less how many points she scores. Defensively, Carnes has no problem getting physical, but also uses her speed and quickness guarding bigger defenders on the block. She is almost always undersized in the post, yet she still manages to get multiple rebounds on both ends and put backs every game due to her effort and extremely high work rate. Carnes had some of the best passes of the entire tournament in Redline’s win today hitting her North Forsyth teammate, Leah Bryan Leah Bryan 5'10" | SG North Forsyth | 2028 State GA , several times with quick, closes passes resulting in open shots and points. Emerson is kind of kid and player every coach wants to have on their team. She is a selfless as it gets, which is saying something in today’s age.

It’s hard to think of Kendall Arnett Kendall Arnett 5'8" | PF/SF North Forsyth | 2028 State GA without thinking about Emerson Carnes Emerson Carnes 5'10" | PF/SF North Forsyth | 2028 GA as the two play both high school and travel ball together and certain parts of their games are very similar. Both kids play with toughness and are not going to back down no matter the opponent. Both are very good offensive rebounders, anticipating where the ball is going land after bouncing off the rim, and getting themselves in place to quickly snatch the ball out of the air and score. Carnes is almost always significantly smaller than the post she is trying to defend, but Emerson does a good job using her strength and physicality to push them off the post and away from the basket. Like Arnett, Carnes is very sneaky on the offensive boards and usually gets points on put backs. She also does a great job using her quickness against those bigger posts drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. For folks my age, her game is very similar to smaller power forwards of old like Dennis Rodman, whose competitiveness, toughness, and the willingness to outwork their opponent led to very good success for themselves and their teams.

Carnes provided size and a post presence against a long, athletic front court from Brunswick. Carnes battled hard in the paint when she was in the game, especially on defense guarding Lauryn Walker Lauryn Walker 5'11" | SF/PF Brunswick | 2027 State GA , a strong, skilled forward. Emerson was physical and used quick feet and angles to keep Walker away from the basket. Carnes also had two different plays where she was able to come up with a loose ball or offensive rebound and get the put back and foul creating plus one chances for North Forsyth.