KARNS CITY — Emily Hegedus is many things.

Scorer.

Rebounder.

Passer.

Even a quasi older sister, psychologist and motivational speaker for a very young Karns City girls basketball team.

The senior point guard has been a major reason why the Gremlins are off to a 4-1 start heading into a showdown Friday night at home against rival Moniteau.

She's leading the team, on the court as well as off of it.

“A couple of times we had some breakdowns in practice and the younger girls were getting frustrated,” Hegedus said. “A couple of them started crying. I walked up to them and said, 'Hey, I know, it's frustrating. Varsity's scary. There's so many people and so many student sections. You just have to calm down. Just be patient.' I told them, 'I make so many turnovers, and you just have to let it go and move on to the next play.'

“They texted me later and said it was so helpful.”

Hegedus is one of three seniors on the team, along with Livia Andreassi and Olivia Mourer, who is injured.

Only two starters returned to a program that has won four consecutive District 9 Class AA championships.

Even with opponents trying to take her away as one of the few known commodities for Karns City, Hegedus is averaging 23 points and 14.4 rebounds per game early this season.

She's recorded a double-double in all five games, including a 28-point, 18-rebound monster night last week in a five-point win over Keystone.

“We've seen some junk defenses against her and us and everyone's responded pretty well,” said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi. “We expect to see more.”

Hegedus just shrugs it off.

She learned a long time ago not to let the things she can't control bother her.

“You just have to keep your head in the game, be strong and pretend like nothing's wrong,” Hegedus said. “You just have to be calm and move on to the next play.”

That's something she's tried to impart on her younger teammates.

She remembers life as a first-year varsity starter when she was a freshman. She remembers the nerves and the anxiety and the fear of failure.

And she could lean on her older sister, Annie, to get her through those times.

“I had Annie, she was tough on me,” Emily Hegedus said, smiling. “She told me to just suck it up. But I know what they're feeling. When I was a freshman, I was so scared coming in.”

That feeling quickly evaporated and Hegedus has developed into one of the best all-around players in Butler County and the state.

She scored her 1,000th career point last season as a junior and has a shot at the all-time scoring record at the school.

Elizabeth Whitmer holds the record with 1,496 points.

Hegedus needs to average roughly 14 points per game the rest of the season to break Whitmer's mark, which has stood since 1987.

That, too, she shrugs off as something to worry about at a later date.

“It's definitely an honor to be mentioned with any of the top leading scorers in Karns City history,” Hegedus said. “There have been some great players that have come through this program, but our goals as a team are to win and to play five-as-one. If I do get the record, then that would be a great accomplishment.”

While her scoring has been impressive early in the 2017-18 campaign, her rebounding numbers are particularly eye-popping — even more so when considering they are coming from a point guard.

“She's killing the offensive boards,” Andreassi said.

In the last two seasons, the Gremlins have lost leading rebounders LeeAnn Gibson and Mackenzie Craig to graduation. Hegedus said she didn't consciously set out to be the leading rebounder for the Gremlins. It's just happened.

“When I see the ball,” Hegedus said, “I want to get it.”

Hegedus is still undecided about where she would like to play college basketball.

With her sights set on a degree in the education field and a desire to contribute to her collegiate basketball team right away, Hegedus is still mulling her options.

She's mostly focusing on Division III schools close to home.

“I do believe I can play at a higher level,” Hegedus said. “But education is a lot more important to me, and basketball is really important to me, but I think it's smarter to go lower. I want to be a good player on that team. I want to have a lot of playing time. I want to be one of their leaders. I don't want to go and sit the bench.”

Hegedus isn't bothered by the outside chatter that might suggest she's settling or not good enough to play at a higher level.

“I don't care if someone says, 'Oh, she only went D-III,” Hegedus said. “It really doesn't bother me. It's more about what I want and what my family wants.”