Extra Effort: Emerson Thompson blazes her path from Falls Lake Academy to Campbell

Talk to coaches, talk administrators at Falls Lake Academy and they'll give you some interesting descriptions of senior and girls basketball star Emerson Thompson.

"Oh, she's the GOAT."

"For the last four years here, everybody knows who number 13 is."

"If I could use one word... Emerson is special."

More than 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds, plus plenty of winning for the Firebirds have led her to Campbell, where she'll be attending in the fall, playing basketball for the Camels.

"I love to make it about her because she doesn't and she deserves all the credit because she's just a phenomenal player on the court," assistant coach Morgan Oakley said.

It's not just about the on-court accolades, Thompson is near the top of her class at Falls Lake and has been that way for quite some time.

"She's actually stayed the same for the past six, seven years, she's always been a top notch student, always been a top notch athlete," Falls Lake Academy Athletics Director Weston Pearson said.

"It just means everything to me, the relationships I've made, the memories I have, not just in this gym, but in the classroom as well," Thompson said.

A lot to brag about, but leave it up to others to get the message out. Like her dad, who also happens to be the head coach.

"She's all about everybody else and making everybody else better, never wants anything to be about her self," Brad Thompson said.

That goes to the community too, where Thompson and the rest of the team have volunteered with groups like The Ronald McDonald house and the the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford, raising supplies, especially around the holidays.

"She's the kind of person you want your kids to be around and your family to be around, I look forward to seeing how bright her future is through basketball and beyond," assistant coach Jeff Teal said.

And that's why Emerson Thompson is this week's winner of the Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award.