Jimmie bound Ketterling twins help lead Imperials hoops

Nov. 30—NAPOLEON, N.D. — Heading into the 2022-23 girls' basketball season, the Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter Imperials will be looking at the end of the Ketterling twins' basketball career. However, the two's athletic careers will not end when the Imperials season ends.

After coaching his son Eli in boys' basketball, girl's head coach Caleb Ketterling is heading into his second season coaching his twins Sophie and Emma.

"It'll be somewhat bittersweet I guess, able to get them through their senior year," Caleb said. "So, that's a pretty good deal. We went through it in golf, I coach the golf team as well, both my daughters made all-state in the golf team. They just went through volleyball, they just signed with the Jamestown Jimmies in volleyball for college for next year...As far as daughters go and being a parent it's a little extra special being able to watch them complete their senior seasons in succession here."

Early in their final seasons, Caleb said he looks for Sophie to make a big impact as the starting point guard and Emma to be a sparkplug off the bench.

"Sophie's the catalyst for us, she's our point guard," Caleb said. "She's going to need to score but also facilitate and get other people involved.... Emma comes off the bench for me, she's very smart, a smart player, always in the right spots. She knows exactly what I'm thinking, so it's nice to have a second coach out there on the floor. So as far as Sophie being a little bit more athletic, she's going to carry more of the scoring load. As far as Emma, she's more of a team leader type of situation where she's not so much necessarily a scoring threat but gets everybody else involved and knows exactly what I want and is always in the right spots when I need her."

The Imperials junior season ended with a first-round exit in the Region III tournament, which Emma said will fuel her and Sophie this year.

"We've gotten kicked out of the first round of regionals pretty much in every sport," Emma said. "Sophie and I have never gotten past the first round in both volleyball and basketball, besides golf obviously. We're a little fed up, we're a little angry about it, we want to definitely get our revenge, get past the first round, hopefully take it deep this year because it's our senior year, we've only gotten one shot at it."

The Imperials started their season on Nov. 28, with a 53-45 loss to New Rockford-Sheyenne before taking on Ellendale on Nov. 29.

The Imperials take part in two early season tournaments as they play in the Linton shootout on Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3 before taking part in the Stutsman County Invitational starting on Thursday, Dec. 8.

"I think it mostly has to do with the school and travel, being able to hammer out a few games in one spot is always a nice thing," Caleb said. "But, the Linton shootout, we've always been a part of, generally, we only play one game over there, this year we always play two. Of course, we've got the Stutsman coming up right away. We've got a lot of early games, we've got 10 games scheduled before Christmas so that's quite a few. Then we've got a nice long break where we will readjust if we need to."

The family said they watch film together at home and study the game. Sophie said her and Emma work together in the off-season and practice together.

"She's a really good teammate and she's a really good defender and so playing with my sister has been one of the most fun parts of high school, especially since we get to play together in the offseason with practices and open gyms," Sophie said. "On top of that, it's fun to have a built-in partner that can rebound for you and do different drills, do one-v-ones, and things like that."

Sophie said Emma's best skill on the floor is her intelligence, while Emma said Sophie's best skill is her basketball IQ and her ability to think on the fly.

The two seniors have committed to play volleyball at the University of Jamestown for the fall of 2023.

"I'm so excited, Jamestown is a great program, and getting to play volleyball with them is really exciting because the program is so good and the coaches and the players and everybody's so nice there," Sophie said. "We get to continue the sport that we love to play for the next four years which is realy really exciting and just playing by (Emma's) side again and knowing that high school wasn't the end is probably the best feeling in the world."

Emma is the older twin by two minutes, and both siblings said once Sophie arrived they've been inseparable ever since.

"You will not find Sophie at a place without me," Emma said. "We're very very close, we're pretty much together all the time. We're best friends."