A Different Kind of Double Team

There are going to be some double-takes, some confused faces and a lot of program-checking this season when the Edmond Memorial girls play basketball. "It's like we have a twins convention," Memorial coach Shane Coffey said. "It's really wild." The Bulldogs have three sets of twins on the roster. And they all have game. Not only that, all three sets of twins are sophomores. Memorial has Amanda and Rebecca McLish, Hannah and Emily VanMeter and Mallory and Madison Johnson. "To have three, and then have three in the same class, is amazing," Coffey said. "The fun thing to watch is the way they interact. None are alike. But they have each other's back. There is a sisterhood here." The Johnson's are fraternal twins. They are regarded as the more polished basketball players. The McLish's are identical twins. Teammates and coaches have trouble differentiating between the two. The VanMeter's are part of quadruplets. Their brothers, Zachary and Ethan, play on the soccer team. Those four are competitive with each other. "It's really a neat situation," Hannah said. "It's cool that we (Emily and I) have something in common and unique with other players on the team. There's nothing like having a sibling on the same team, and it's almost like we have six because we have so much in common." All three played on the freshman team last year, helping the squad to a 20-0 season. They received plenty of reactions from fans and opposing teams. "Some were filled with shock," Mallory said. "We get asked all the time what it's like. It's great being a part of it. You see teams and they are not surprised when it looks like we have an advantage on the court because we know where each one is at and what each one is going to do." Memorial hopes that advantage translates into wins. Most likely this year, the Johnsons will battle for playing time on the varsity team while the other two sets of twins will play on junior varsity. Mallory is expected to be the starting point guard. "With the twins so close, our chemistry is solid," Coffey said. "Part of that is attributed to the fact that the girls are the model of that skill, to be tight and work for each other. When you see that and the entire group, and have that the next three years, we think we have the potential to become championship material." The dynamics of the team are different than most. But Coffey said they don't treat the twins any differently than any of the other players. The twins share plenty of stories and experiences of having a sibling on the same team. One set of twins can go through arguments or have a funny experience and the other twins understand. The twins are the majority on the basketball team, not the minority. "It's real comforting," Amanda said. "It's different being siblings on the same team. We laugh, argue and talk a lot. It seems more like a family atmosphere."