Kim Mixon and Sidney Shemanski met for the first time when both were young girls.

Mixon was 7 and Shemanski was about to turn 5.

The bond was immediate.

“When we met, honestly, right away we liked each other,” Mixon said. “She was my best friend when I was little.”

The bond between them grew even tighter when Mixon’s mother, Eileen, and Shemanski’s father, Mark, married about a year later.

The two fast friends turned into sisters.

“We have the same likes and we get along so well,” Shemanski said.

The two also formed a bond through sports.

Mixon, a senior, and Shemanski, a freshman, were able to share a soccer field and a basketball court already this school year for Freeport and will share a track in the spring.

It’s been a special experience for them both.

“It’s awesome to play with her because I look up to her,” said Shemanski, 15. “It’s also sad because we only have one year together. I just learn so much from her.”

Mixon, 17, echoed those sentiments.

“It’s funny because we’re only about two years apart in age because of the way my birthday falls,” Mixon said. “Unfortunately, I’m a senior when I could be a junior. We’d love to have next year together as well, but having this year was special, especially since it was my senior year and her freshman year. Honestly we made the most of it.”

Both were standouts for the Freeport soccer team this fall in two vastly different positions on the field.

Shemanski led the Yellowjackets with 12 goals and 11 assists as a midfielder. Mixon was a defensive stalwart and helped Freeport post 13 shutouts and zero shots against its own goal in six of those games.

Freeport advanced to the WPIAL Class AA championship match and also won a state playoff match.

This winter, they also have different roles on the basketball court.

Shemanski again is the leading scorer as a point guard. Mixon is a do-everything player and a defensive whiz.

The two credit their skills to growing up together.

“We would always practice,” Shemanski said. “Go to the gym. Go to the field. Go to the track. We would always work with each other and make each other better.

“We’d practice downstairs,” Mixon added. “We even worked out together. Everything, honestly. When we were working out and making ourselves better in the sports we were in, we didn’t even see it that way because we were having so much fun. We didn’t realize we were bettering ourselves at the same time.”

The Freeport girls basketball team is in a state of limbo now after a loss to Blackhawk in the WPIAL 4A quarterfinals.

If Blackhawk beats South Park on Monday, Mixon and Shemanski will get at least one more basketball game together in the PIAA playoffs.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Mixon said.

Whatever happens, the stepsisters have a deep connection that goes beyond blood.

“We rarely argue,” Mixon said, flashing a smile in Shemanski’s direction. “Which is weird, right?”