Marquette junior forward Emma Nolan is extremely outgoing, has a bundle of energy and likes to joke around.
Her twin sister, Sophia, a forward/guard, is quieter, somewhat shy and has a calm demeanor.
“I feed off of Emma’s energy,” Sophia said. “She gets me up, and I calm her down.”
Like most twins, these two have lots of similarities but some differences.
“My ears stick out more than hers, and I have big freckles on my face, and Sophia doesn’t,” Emma said. “Sophia’s head is thinner. She has an oval face, while my cheeks are bigger, and my face is wider.
“Both of us like the same foods, really anything. Personality-wise, we’re both goofy. We like messing with each other and our friends.”
Both Saint Louis University commits and North Junior All-Stars, the twins are outstanding students with 4.1 GPAs in honors classes.
Both players are 6-foot-2, have strong work ethics, plenty of drive and focus, and are kind and polite.
The twins, the Post-Tribune 2017-18 co-Players of the Year, are models of consistency on the court.
They’re so good in terms of the one-two punch they provide, they caused a myriad of problems for defenses all season, while helping the Blazers (28-2) win the Class A state title.
Their statistics were surprisingly similar.
Emma, who earned Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Underclass Supreme 15 honors, averaged 20.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, two steals and 1.7 blocks.
Sophia averaged 18.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and one block. She was an IBCA Small School All-State pick, leading the Blazers in 3-point baskets (36) while shooting 36 percent. Emma made 39 percent of her attempts.
“I find it odd we have almost identical stats,” Sophia said. “It’s like we take turns scoring the most points. In games, it seems like one of us is getting all the assists, and the other, all the points.”
No matter how they got the job done, the pair had a penchant for finding opponents’ weaknesses.
“There aren’t a lot of girls who can run the floor and see basket the way they do,” Marquette coach Katie Collignon said. “They’re both really good passers, shooters and rebounders. They have really good court awareness and do so many things well. They present a matchup nightmare for opponents.”
Collignon likes so many things about her twin towers.
“I love the energy Emma brings,” Collignon said. “She plays with so much emotion and passion. She makes big plays and likes the big moments. Sophia has ice in her veins and makes basketball look easy … it’s fun to watch her.”
With a year remaining, the twins aren’t sitting back after winning state.
“We’re working with a trainer (Greg Jones) on our ballhandling a couple days a week,” Emma said. “I know I need to be more efficient handling the ball to be a better all-around player, and so does Sophia. We don’t want to be limited, regardless of the position we’re playing. Our training is helping. I’ve noticed a difference already.”
“The sky is the limit on what they can do,” Collignon said. “They’re always working, trying to improve and get better. They want to learn as much as they can about the game.”
Besides improving ballhandling, the twins want to get stronger.
“We want to win state one more time,” Sophia said. “It would be awesome to repeat and win it two years in a row. If we can play smarter, making fewer turnovers and fouling less, it would really be hard for us to lose.”
John O’Malley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
