High school basketball: Common bond, diverse skills help Young twins contribute to Gainesville girls' winning streak

Jan. 12—Like most sets of twins, Keidra and Caloni Young share a lot in common.

However, the sisters have become known as much for their differences as they have for their similarities throughout their high school basketball careers as key members of Gainesville's girls varsity team.

That blend has been particularly important so far in the 2022-23 season, during which time the Red Elephants have gotten off to their best start in more than a decade at 13-0 overall, which includes the championship in the 63rd Annual Lanierland Tournament last month, along with a 2-0 start in Region 8-6A.

Still, it's a blend that the Young twins admit isn't exactly always easy to explain.

"It's like a difference, but not really much of a difference," said Keidra Young, who leads Gainesville in scoring (21.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 ppg) and is also among the team leaders in steal (5.2 spg). "Of course we're going to have a connection because we're twins. It's crazy when you have that connection on the floor, too. That just goes with everything. You just go with the flow."

It's actually pretty easy to explain the similarities between Keidra, who is the older of the two by a few minutes, and Caloni.

There is, of course, the physical similarities in body type and height — Caloni at 5-foot-11 is an inch taller than Keidra at 5-10.

Then there is the special bond that they share like most sets of twins, which sometimes exists on almost a psychic level.

"Most definitely," Keidra agrees. "All we do is just look at each other and do a little twin telepathy and stuff for a second and go right at it."

However, while both Youngs share a lot physically and otherwise, including similar basketball skills, the differences that they've developed in their games is what first-year Gainesville girls coach Vanessa White has come to appreciate most.

"Keidra is OK with going down and posting up, getting on the offensive glass more than Caloni," said White, who came to Gainesville last March after a successful six-year run at Peachtree Ridge in Gwinnett County, including winning 52 games the past three seasons.

"She kind of does everything. She'll drive to the basket, she'll pull up and shoot the midrange (jumper), shoot the 3. She'll do anything. She just wants to be able to put the ball in the basket. ... She'll go anywhere you need her to.

"Now, Caloni ... likes the perimeter a little more, she likes the high post a little more. She's a great one-on-one player. If somebody matches up on her one-on-one, she knows how to read the defense and go get a bucket. She has a better feel when she's one-on-one. She likes to face up. Now, we've been working with her on with inside stuff with her where she can face up, so she feels more comfortable."

Indeed, while Caloni is quite capable of using her size on the low block and on the offensive and defensive glass, and does when called upon do so, she is even more comfortable working on the perimeter on both ends of the court.

Her skills in attacking the basket off the drive, pulling up and shooting consistently both inside and outside the 3-point arc and being another key component in the Red Elephants' pressure defense has paid off plenty this season.

And she's been a particular weapon when working on offense for a two-person game in the high post in coordination with Keidra in the low post.

"I'm more on the perimeter and I'll feed the ball into Keidra so (that) Keidra can go to work inside," said Caloni, who is also among the Gainesville leaders in many categories, averaging 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game. "I know Keidra is very dominant in the post. So, I'll be out on the perimeter and I'll knock down my shots there, and also look for her in the post."

Of course, there are a couple of skills that Caloni and Keidra Young share that White believes has been particularly valuable for the Red Elephants as they have already surpassed last season's win total of eight.

One of them is sheer strength, something White says she's seen most vividly by watching them work so intensely in the weight room, especially when the Red Elephants are working out alongside the Gainesville boys team.

"The twins are powerful in the weight room," White said. "They lift what our boys basketball players do. That's how strong they are. They don't even know their strength sometimes to utilize it, but I've never seen high school girls as strong as they are in the weight room. They go hard in the weight room."

The other skill the twins have displayed this season that White has marveled at is how well they handle the basketball.

"The twins can (also) play point guard if you need them to," White said. "They can bring the ball down the court and get everybody's head up, and nobody can take the ball from them."

Like the strength and intensity they've shown in the weight room, Keidra says that the ball-handling ability she and Caloni have developed was also spurred by trying to keep up with the guys, at least in a way.

"Really it was on the blacktop with my uncles, just (watching) a court full of men, just working it," Keidra said of how she and Caloni would often test their dribbling skills by getting involved in pickup games in the schoolyard. "Then when you come in the game, you always get underestimated based off of your shot. ... It's just like, 'We're going to play the game right here.'"

But the one quality White says she values most about the Young twins are two-fold — the amount of buy-in to what she and her staff have taught about team basketball, as well as the work they're willing to put in to fit into the system.

"I will say this as a coach. You can have all the talent in the world as a team and still not be successful," White said. "Look at the (Los Angeles) Lakers (this year). If your best players are not willing to buy into the system of the program, then your program is not going to be successful.

"It all boils down to daily practices and putting the work in and putting the time in so that when you step on the court, now these things are just natural to you. But they've done a great job ... of working on those things."

That appreciation is a two-way street.

The emphasis in detail White has instilled has not only helped the Young twins fit in with teammates like fellow seniors Keke Jones and Zaria Williams and younger players like sophomores Mattie White and Julia Payne, but also brought the team closer together.

And that chemistry, Caloni says, will be key as the Red Elephants try to build on their big start to the season and work towards the postseason, beginning with a big Region 8-6A game at No. 10 North Forsyth on Friday.

"The chemistry is way different (this season), and Coach White has everybody on the same page 100 percent every game," Caloni said. "We're developing. You can see the improvement every time (out), as well. I think that's played a big role."