What does "take charge" mean? Could it be "take control", or "charge" is certain basketball technical term?
Content:

In high school, she'd be on the court, somebody grabbed her, she'd smack them. A ref didn't make a call, she'd go down and punch the next kid down the floor. She also dove on every loose ball. She was flying out of bounds. She takes charge. She's one of those tough Philly kids."

What does "take charge" mean here? Could it be "take control", or "charge" is certain basketball technical term ?

BTW, Philly means Philadelphia, isn't it ? ("She" was in Germantown Academy) It seems to me that most Philadelphia kids have bad-tempered. Maybe that's not true.

Thank you in advance.

Question

What does "take charge" mean? Could it be "take control", or "charge" is certain basketball technical term?
Content:

In high school, she'd be on the court, somebody grabbed her, she'd smack them. A ref didn't make a call, she'd go down and punch the next kid down the floor. She also dove on every loose ball. She was flying out of bounds. She takes charge. She's one of those tough Philly kids."

What does "take charge" mean here? Could it be "take control", or "charge" is certain basketball technical term ?

BTW, Philly means Philadelphia, isn't it ? ("She" was in Germantown Academy) It seems to me that most Philadelphia kids have bad-tempered. Maybe that's not true.

Thank you in advance.

Answer

in addition to steven say take charge mean to take the lead 

in basketball rules charge or charging , or player-control foul, occurs when a dribbler charges into a defender who has already established his position. 

cowboy...

Answer

"she takes charge" means she takes control
If it said "she took a charge" it could be a basketball term.

In basketball, a charge is when a player with the ball fouls a defender.  If she took a charge that means she was the defender in this case.

And, yes, Philly = Philadelphia

Answer

"To take charge" doesn't really mean 'taking control.' It primarily means: 'To take on a leadership role.' Or 'To take the initiative.' (the latter is just taking a leadership role with regard to who will do what). Often, either of the two will boil down to taking some form of control, but that doesn't make 'taking control' synonymous with 'taking charge,' though.