City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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ATLANTIC CITY >> The Select Events Atlantic City Showcase made for a busy live recruiting period on the Jersey shore, with Division I, II and III coaches able to observe a wide swath of GUAA, HGSL, P24, S40 and more programs in person over the three days of the event.

Here’s Pt. 2 our coverage notebook featuring area players from the weekend:

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Select Events Atlantic City Coverage
Standouts | Notebook Pt. 1 | Notebook Pt. 2 | Notebook Pt. 3 

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Dani Brusha (2025 | Penn Fever 17U)

Dani Brusha was in a heap on the court, slamming the floor in frustration.

What that meant Saturday was vastly different than it would have meant a year ago. This time last summer, Brusha was merely trying to get her game legs back after missing her sophomore season of high school with an ACL injury.

Saturday, the tenacious and scrappy guard wasn’t hampered by an injury or a setback, just mildly annoyed she’d slid to the floor for a steal she wasn’t able to come up with.

“I think when I first got back, I was a little more hesitant but now, I don’t really think about it as much as I did,” Brusha said. “The mental aspect, I feel a lot more comfortable now and a lot moe confident.”

The 5-foot-4 Brusha said the scrappy style of play didn’t fade even with a year off. She wasn’t ever worried about getting hurt again, it was just more a matter of getting her conditioning and stamina back.

Brusha’s injury was unusual in that she played her whole freshman year with a partially torn ACL, the ligament finally giving out that following spring and requiring repair. She didn’t lose the will to go headlong after an attempt to get a steal or make a daring drive to the rim, she just needed to regain the ability.

“I was never that scared of being scrappy again,” Brusha said. “I’ve always played like that, so it came back quickly.”

Brusha, who transferred to Lower Moreland after two years at Abington, helped her new team win the SOL Freedom title and come a game short of the state playoffs in Class 5A. It was a very young Lions roster, freshmen Sydney Santora and Mollie Martin both making an instant impact, so Brusha had a role beyond just being an aggressive spark on defense.

“I tried to be a leader for the younger girls and not only find my role, but help them find their roles so we could all come together,” Brusha said. “I hope we have an even better year than last year and are able to go far.”

She’s also relishing her last year playing for Penn Fever and Dean Reiman, following her older sister Sam’s steps with the Lehigh Valley based program. 

“I just hope we have a good, fun summer,” Brusha said. “It’s our last year together, I love my team and I love the program so it’s good to be playing with everybody one more time.”

Brusha is also hoping to follow her sister and play in college. She doesn’t have an offer yet, but Brusha said she’s been talking with Immaculata and Susquehanna a good bit and has reached out to some Division II programs, adding she’d like to stay relatively local.

“I’m going to keep reaching out and hopefully someone watches me play and likes what I bring,” Brusha said.

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Riley Davis (2027 | Comets GUAA 15U)

The grind never stops for Riley Davis.

Having just wrapped up her first high school lacrosse season at Notre Dame, the dual-sport standout can put a little more focus on lacing up her bright pink and black Under Armour high tops with the Comets. However, the lacrosse stick isn’t getting tossed in the back of the closet until next spring either.

While Davis will be plenty occupied with club lacrosse on top of travel hoops, she is ready to put basketball back at the forefront a little more than it has been.

“I’m definitely a pretty busy person,” Davis said. “I’m probably going to miss some lacrosse tournaments for basketball, but I always like playing basketball. I think it might be a little bit of a struggle with lacrosse because I may end up missing so much.”

Davis was a little frustrated Saturday afternoon after her Comets squad downed a solid Lady Runnin’ Rebels National team by a large margin, but the guard’s irritation was inward. There was some detectable rust on Davis’ jumper, despite her best efforts to keep it polished during the spring lacrosse season.

“Whenever I’d get home from practice in lacrosse season, I tried to get out and get some shots up,” Davis said. “Lacrosse season, I’m focused on lacrosse and basketball season, I’m focused on basketball.”

Notre Dame’s lacrosse season ended Thursday, losing to Inter-Ac rival Penn Charter in the PAISAA playoffs. Davis, who plays alongside her older sister Finley for the Irish, saw plenty of time in the midfield and in the circle taking the draw control that determines possession at the start of each quarter and after every score.

“It was a lot of fun. I played a lot, which was good,” Davis said. “Our team got a lot better from their previous season and we beat a couple teams we weren’t supposed to.”

While club basketball season has been in full swing since April, Davis’ schedule won’t get much lighter even with high school lacrosse ending. She’ll be starting up club lacrosse, Davis plays a year up for the True Belles club with her sister and coached by her mom Megan, in early June.

It can be a lot with the travel and different tournaments for each respective sport, but Riley said her mom is always reminding her to just have fun playing and enjoy it for now.

Take away a few things, like someone standing in the goal, the players using sticks and there being more of them on the field, and there’s a lot of crossover between lacrosse and basketball. While Davis is a very talented player in both, she also believes playing both has helped her out.

“Defense,” Davis said when asked where the carryover starts. “In lacrosse, you have picks, you have zone defense, it’s all the same stuff just on a field with a stick and a lot more running. They’re really similar sports, even offense too, you can move the same way, I think playing both of those sports really help me out.”

Davis is teaming up again this summer with Grace Nasr, the two playing together with the Comets last summer then both starting for Notre Dame in the winter as the Irish split the Inter-Ac with Penn Charter and Germantown Academy.

“I think we knew we were good enough,” Davis said. “We knew we could beat these teams, we could have started a little better. I think we were ready but we didn’t put in enough effort at the start, so I think that will motivate us to work really hard and have that 100 percent effort.”

Davis, who led Notre Dame in scoring and earned third team all state honors, didn’t take long to become an impact basketball player as a freshman. The 5-foot-9 guard has already started to draw some college interest as well.

For basketball, Davis listed Penn, Louisville, Villanova and Penn State as programs she’s had calls with while Drexel was out for a game during the high school season. In lacrosse, programs have to wait until September 1 of a player’s junior year to start calling but Davis said she’s been invited to a few ID camps.

If the right opportunity presented itself, Davis said she’d be open to trying to play basketball and lacrosse at the next level but that’s also a long way off. For now, she’s more engaged with finding her shooting stroke again, continuing to build a rapport playing with Nasr and pushing herself with the Comets this summer.

“I’m focused more on basketball, it’s more of a competitive sport and more of a challenge for me,” Davis said. “I’m excited to play more basketball, I’ve been missing it since the season ended. Even though it’s only been how long, a couple months? I just missed it.”

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Rian Dotsey (2025 | Philly Belles - Gumbs 17U)

Versatility is a hallmark of Rian Dotsey’s game and she’s only added another dimension to it.

The Philly Belles and Haverford forward added a small haul of Division I offers earlier this month, giving her some versatility when it comes to finding a place at the next level. Dotsey, who picked up her first offer from Holy Cross back in November, collected early May offers from FDU, Army, American and Maine, where her older sister Caroline just finished up her freshman year and tacked on a Colgate offer on Monday.

“It’s started picking up a lot more,” Dotsey. “It’s really good to see all the work I’ve been putting in is finally showing and knowing people believe in me and see me as a fit is really nice.”

The 6-foot-2 forward was terrific in her junior year, her first as a starter, helping the Fords repeat as Central League champions and advance to the second round of the PIAA 6A tournament.

She can handle the ball in the open court, make threes, attack the basket, score inside and defend all over, so it’s not surprising that wide-ranging skill set was a frequent topic when talking with college coaches.

“My versatility is a big thing for a lot of people,” Dotsey said. “Being able to play multiple positions from the three to the five is a main thing for me.”

The forward doesn’t have a timeline for making a decision, taking heed of something her sister said to really take in the specifics of what each individual program is offering.

“I’m getting everything out on the table and when I feel like I have the right fit, that’s when I’ll know,” Dotsey said.

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Emerson Gunther (2026 | PA Royals 16U)

Patience is rarely a virtue for a shooter.

When the ball comes their way with any glimmer of an opening, there’s no time to wait, it’s either fire the shot or have to pass the ball or worse. Emerson Gunther knows all that but what the PA Royals and CR South guard also picked up is an appreciation for patience and slowing down enough to see what it takes to get on the floor.

Off to a hot shooting start this travel season, Gunther is hoping she won’t have to wait long to show what she’s got next winter for her high school either.

“It’s just the waiting part, even if you feel you’re ready, there’s other people who may deserve it or are better than you,” Gunther said. “Sometimes, you have to wait you turn to prove you’re good enough.”

Gunther, a 5-foot-5 sniper, didn’t hesitate when asked what she needs to do in order to get her chance.

“Defense is going to be key,” Gunther said. “Jesse (Krasna), our coach, is really big on defense. Defense wins championships and that’s what we’re going for.”

To that end, Gunther hasn’t been shy about asking PA Royals coach Ray Horn for some tougher defensive assignments in games or going up against teammate Avery Kocur in practices.

Gunther gave teammate Sarah Freeman a shout out as someone she’s trying to emulate, citing the junior guard’s tenacious efforts to get in and fight for rebounds and loose balls most wouldn’t expect her to get.

The guard has been shooting the ball really well this spring. She’s a good shooter, but also a dedicated one.

“Lots of work, lots of work in the gym,” she said with a smile. “That’s really where my shot’s coming from, I shoot hundreds of shots per day.”

Emerson has roped her dad David into it too as her dutiful rebounder at the Newtown Athletic Club for her drills.

“My dad is my biggest supporter ever and he rebounds for me every single day,” Gunther said. “We start off with form shots, then I do five spots with 10 makes in a row from midrange, five spots with five makes one-dribble off the pull-up, then five spots or seven spots with 10 makes for regular threes then I go deep and finish with some spin moves to the basket, that sort of thing.”

Gunther knows she’ll have to earn a spot on the court this coming season and if she does, the last thing she wants to be is one-dimensional on offense. The confidence is there playing with the Royals, but it’s different playing teams in the SOL that just know each other so well.

“I’d love to just sit at the three point line if they’d just let me shoot there,” Gunther said. “I hope at first they don’t realize, at least I think I’m a great shooter but hopefully I prove that I am one and once they have to run at me; taking it all the way in against six foot defenders, they’re not going to be my best friends, so I want to have that one-dribble pull-up or floaters.”

Playing in college is the ultimate goal, Gunther saying she’d play anywhere if it meant she was playing. She’s waited for her chance to make an impact at the varsity level and she’s confident once she gets that, the rest will fall in line.

“It’s mindset,” Gunther said. “If you put in the work and you believe every shot is going in, you’re there.”

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