Opponents will be facing trouble when messing with the Sisco kids

They're baaack!!! The sisters Sisco — Chloe and Mariya — are back for their fourth year of varsity basketball at Prairie Central High School. This means another season of having to try to defend two of the best players in this part of the state.

Who are the Sisco sisters? Chloe and Mariya were born in Bloomington into a family that also included a couple of up-and-coming athletic cousins. Chloe, the sharpshooter of the two, is 12 minutes Mariya's senior.

But when you watch them on the floor, it's Mariya who takes control.

One of the aforementioned cousins the Siscos grew up watching is Kiana Coomber, an all-state player from Prairie Central who started her post prep hoop career at Loyola-Chicago.

“Watching Kiana is probably what really made me want to play,” Mariya says.

“She had friends, like Shania (Scurlock), would come to our Upward games and watch us and support us,” Chloe adds. “I felt that influenced us to want to play.”

Upward is grade school league where Chloe and Mariya got an early start in competitive play.

Coomber was a standout player who ran the point and was a top shooter inside and outside. Once out of the game as a player, Coomber became a coach, which has helped in the development of Chloe and Mariya.

“Her IQ is very high,” Chloe says. “She knows what she's talking about.”

“Having her as a coach and when she watches our games, she can tell us what we're doing and what we need to fix,” Mariya notes. “Her playing at a higher level, I look up to her. I've been wanting to play like her at a higher level since she was in high school.”

In providing wisdom and nurturing talent onto her younger cousins, Coomber has helped developed two talented players who share the same talents. But is there a catch?

“I feel like she doesn't want us to be better than her, almost. She's hard on us,” Chloe notes with a bit of humor in her smile.

Chloe also points out she knows Coomber has their best interests at heart and that it's really trying to make the twins better.

Mariya Sisco is the floor leader for the Hawks. She directs the offense on the floor and tries to find the open player. That player is usually Chloe, who is the 3-point threat. Chloe Sisco is also able to penetrate and shoot or pass off.

Chloe will also take over the point if Mariya is on the bench. And, Mariya is as good a shooter as Chloe and can pop the trey or attack the basket.

“I watch a lot of film, so I'm learning different skills,” Mariya says. “I always look for her (Chloe) on the floor because I know she can hit shots. But if she's being face-guarded, if I'm not passing the ball, I'm setting a screen to get her open because I know she's our main shooter.

“It's not that I can't do the same, we've just always played together and I don't have to do what she does, we have different roles and mesh together, Chloe adds. “She knows how I play and she reads what I'm going to do and I'm able to read what she's going to do. It's easier to let her take the ball up every time.”

Chloe is the typical target for opposing defenses, but Mariya is a lethal weapon in her own right.

“When we played Normal West (a couple of years ago), they prepared for her,” Mariya says. “(Then PC coach Darrelynn) Dunn told me they were surprised for how much I do in a game and they weren't prepared for that. We had a lot of drives and dishes and pass the ball.”

Knowing each others' strengths so well might come naturally rather than just through all this playing together.

“We kind of have this thing; we can talk to each other without saying anything,” Mariya says. “We would look at each other and it's like, I would come and hand the ball off to you. Or, I'm coming to set a screen.

“We've played together since the same age, it's like having a team that played together for so long, you would have a good team,” Chloe adds. “You would know how each other plays. It's like figuring out roles, it's a lot easier to tell what we're going to do.”

But don't think it's all natural, these two put in a lot of time working on their games. And things aren't always chocolate and roses when they are playing together. But it's never really as bad as some might think it appears.

“We've had a lot of training sessions, so it's like we're yelling at each other. But those have helped us connect better,” Mariya says.

“We take criticism well from each other,” Chloe says. “Last year, it was Coach's (Gabby Zeedyk) first year. She thought we were arguing but it's just our way of communicating with each other. We would sometimes get in trouble because she would always think we're fighting, which is kind of funny.

“Marissa (Collins) has played with us since fifth grade, she would say that's not them fighting, it's just how they are and they can handle it from each other.”

They do try to incorporate the teammates into the process. Collins is one of those who is acutely aware of who the Siscos are, having been a close friend and player since grade school.

Mariya notes that there's a play where Marissa seems to instinctively understand what is taking place. She will move opposite the Siscos and be ready to rebound or to be open to take a shot.

One might think these young ladies are basketball junkies, and they might even see themselves in that manner, but there is more to their lives than just hoops.

Chloe notes that she likes to cook, particularly baking, and dancing is fun, especially if she breaks out in dance in a family competition with Kiana.

Mariya likes to settle down a bit.

“I like puzzles. I like other sports, like football,” Mariya says. “I'm chill.”

“When we would go to AAU tournaments, she would have to stop at a Dollar Tree to grab some puzzles to do in the hotel room,” Chloe adds with a chuckle.

Both were senior attendants at homecoming this year, and both are looking to keep playing hoops after high school.

“I want to play basketball at another level,” Mariya says. “I want to be an athletic trainer or sports management.”

“I want to do basketball, as well,” Chloe says. “I'm looking more at a two-year school. I feel that the 2023 class kind of got screwed (because of COVID). You see all these fifth-year seniors, so it's harder to get into a good four-year program. I'd rather get into a two-year and then transfer.”

They both are getting looks from some Division II schools, as well as junior colleges.

Where they end up is not known at the moment, but you can be sure that wherever they go, that program will be for the better, especially if the Siscos come as a package deal.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Opponents will be facing trouble when messing with the Sisco kids