by Bryce Phillips

Star Staff

bryce.phillips@elizabethton.com

Twins are a remarkable occurrence in nature, and when the connectedness of being twins is transferred into the realm of sports, some pretty outstanding things can happen. 

For EHS basketball players and twins Kayla and Kelci Marosites, their connectedness is something that they have taken advantage of during their three years with the Lady Cyclones.

The two have played basketball together all of their lives, and when they are pushing down the court during a fast break, it may seem that they are reading each others minds.

“We can just find each other on the courts,” Kelci said. “She always knows were I am at, and I always know where she is at. We always have one of another’s back, and we always know what each other is thinking.

“For example, when me and Kayla got on a fast break during one of our AAU games, she was running down the floor with me, and I knew she knew I was going to throw it up to her so she could tip it in,” Kelci added with a laugh.

In sports history, there have been many successful twin duos who have done big things at different levels. When asked who their favorite twins players in basketball are, the two immediately said the Kentucky twins, Aaron and Andrew Harrison, who both played with the Wildcats from 2013 to 2015, before being drafted into the NBA.

“I think it awesome that they got to play together at that level, and they were stars at Kentucky,” Kayla said.

There have been other notable twins in basketball, such the Miller sisters, Kelly and Coco, who played for Georgia University from 1997 to 2001. They both earned the Andrew E. Sullivan, becoming the first pair of twins to receive the award. However, like the Harrison twins,  Kelly and Coco went their separate ways once they entered the WNBA.

Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris, who both played ball for University of Kansas, got to do what a lot twins do not get to do at the professional level: play on the same team. After going two years on separate NBA teams, the brothers were reunited after the Phoenix Suns traded for Marcus Morris in 2013, marking the second time that the Suns have had twins on their roster.

For the Marosites, their career together will continue after high school. The two recently made a verbal agreement to play for the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers after their 2015-16 season with the Lady Cyclones.

 With being twins comes a lot of misconceptions, the  Marosites girls said. The biggest misconception of all?

“Some people believe we can actually read each other’s  minds,” Kelci and Kayla said while laughing. “They think we  know each other’s exact thoughts. No, we can’t do that.”

“We do have a better sense for each other, probably more  than just regular sisters,” they said.

A perk of being identical twins, like the Marositeses, is the  confusion it brings people, especially when that confusion  wreaks havoc on opponents during a game.

“Sometimes people who are guarding us get confused about  which one they are guarding,” Kayla said. “They will try to  pick out differences.”

People do try and pick out difference about the two senior ballers all the time, in both appearance and personality, they said.

“Some people say that I am a little bigger,” Kelci said. “I might be a little taller. I have a longer face, bigger eyes.

“They will say that Kayla is a little more outgoing,” she added. “But a lot of this stuff just goes vice versa, because other people will say that I am more outgoing. So it just varies. I mean we are 99 percent identical.”

The two will hit the court this season as the Lady Cyclones vie for another state title.