Sister act
SLIPPERY ROCK — They look alike, but that's where the similarities between Slippery Rock High sophomore guards Karly and Kourtney Rhoads end.
"They are so completely opposite of each other," said Rockets girls basketball coachAdrienne Orris about the twin sisters. "They try to downplay that. They try to say they are really not that different, but they are total opposites."
Karly likes to handle the basketball; Kourtney doesn't.
Karly would rather pass than shoot; Kourtney hasn't met a 3-point attempt she didn't like.
Karly likes romantic comedies; Kourtney likes horror flicks.
While they are not necessarily the odd couple, the differences, both on and off the court, are striking.
"Yeah, we're pretty different," Kourtney said. "We act different. Everyone knows it."
But they do have one thing in common: They have been a major force in helping the Rockets back to the District 10 Class AAA playoffs.
SlipperyRock will take on Meadville at 7 p.m. Saturday at SlipperyRock University.
The Rockets have gotten there with a roster full of sophomores, forcing Karly and Kourtney to mature much faster than second-year players usually develop.
Karly figured she was going to have to grow even faster to replace her older sister, Jence, who left to play college basketball at Vanderbilt.
More of the onus was onKarly because she was going to assume the point guard role from her big sister — and all the pressure that went with it.
"I talked toJence about it (after last season)," Karly said. "She told me she had confidence in me thatI could do it. If Jence believes in me, then I should, too."
Karly has more than taken to that role, leading the team with 14.6 points per game. She also is averaging more than five assists and five rebounds per contest.
Karly has scored in double digits in 20 of the Rockets' 24 games and recorded her first career triple-double earlier in the season.
"Karly is driven," Orris said. "She is willing to do whatever it takes to win."
Kourtney has been a study in contrasts. When she is on, her shots rip through the net without mercy.
When she is off, her numbers have suffered.
Still, Kourtney averaged 12 points per game and hit 66 3-pointers, almost twice as many as the closest area shooter.Kourtney has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game this season."Her role is to shoot. She's a shooter," Orris said. "When she wasn't shooting so well, I didn't allow her to stop shooting. In fact, I punished her if she did."Kourtney had no problem with that. She has the shooter's mentality: she has the memory of an amnesiac."If I'm shooting well, I have the confidence that every shot is going to go in," Kourtney said. "If I'm not shooting well, I just go with it. I just keep shooting until they do."And the twins hope to keep going far into the postseason.Karly and Kourtney, as well as the other sophomores on the team, got a taste of playoff success last season when the Rockets made it all the way to the PIAA quarterfinals.Still, heading into this season, there were many who figured the team would slip, perhaps even far enough to miss the playoffs."We've been playing together for a long time," Kourtney said. "A lot of people weren't sure how well we would do. We really had something to prove. That made it so much more fun to be able to prove them wrong."
