It’s triple-double trouble when Lindenhurst point guard Emma Burmeister takes the court.
The Cortland-bound standout, one of triplets whose two brothers are also pursuing college athletics, has left Bulldogs fans barking with a legacy for the ages — and most points scored since the 1980s.
“Having such a strong family that I come from has helped me out socially and on the basketball court,” Burmeister told The Post of her bros Alex and Jacob.
“They’re actually at every single game.”
The four-year varsity player set her senior season ablaze by becoming Lindy’s second all-time point scorer with close to 1,200 and counting with three games to go.
“She’s been coming to my open gym since she was in seventh grade. I knew then she was going to be a great player, going to be one of the greatest ones we had,” said coach Gregory Flynn.
“I’m going to miss her. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her next year, to be honest.”
Burmeister’s “legendary” point scoring tally will finish only behind former Duke player Monika Kost, who notched 1,448 in 1987.
She recently overtook 2016 grad Alexis Perdue as the second all-time leader.
“Around the end of my sophomore year, I was around 500-600 points. I was like, ‘You know what? This is something I want to do, and I want to accomplish in high school,’” Burmeister said.
Flynn quickly noticed.
“Everything that I’ve always asked her to work on, she’s come back and improved,” he said.
“She’s lefty. She needed to get a better right hand, so she came back the next year with a better right hand. She needed to get a better handle, so the next year, she came back with a better handle.”
Three ball
As Burmeister kicked into another gear as an upperclassman, so did Alex and Jacob, who are speedy wideouts on the football team.
Emma, who, like Alex, plays lacrosse in the spring, keeps her fall season open to see her brothers on the gridiron each week.
“In the stands, I’m explaining everything that just happened to my mom and to my friends,” she said.
“I just want to see them succeed, and I want them to do well. I would hate missing that.”
Alex, a long pole defender, will play at Geneseo next season, while Jacob is evaluating some college football offers at the moment.
“It’s always been competitive since we were young,” said Emma, who plays attack in lacrosse and often trains with Alex.
“Everything’s a competition, playing basketball in my driveway, basically doing anything you could think of.”
The friendly rivalry among the trio stops at the final whistle, as the Burmeisters are an inseparable bunch who’ve contributed significantly to one another’s success.
“This newfound independence that I’ll have in college, that’s going to be difficult. I’ve never walked into school by myself — I’ve always shared a birthday,” she said.
“I’ve never had to do anything on my own, really, because they’re always there to be my other two halves.”
No isolation
She won’t be leaving the nest entirely, though, as her new college coach, Colleen Ames, is a familiar figure to Burmeister and Bulldogs b-ball.
“A funny thing about the Cortland coach is that she played under Flynn, and she graduated from here,” said Burmeister.
“She’s come and watched me play in the past, but not in terms of recruiting me, just as a fan.”
Flynn, who had Ames as his assistant coach for years in AAU ball, is quite confident that the two will hit it off.
“I think it’ll ease the transition into college for her in terms of basketball-wise,” he said.
“Coach Ames is very connected with her team.”
And the player-coach duo has more in common than sporting Lindenhurst green and white.
“We’re both so competitive and passionate about the game,” Burmeister said.
“She’s really intense. I’m really excited to go play for her.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
