There’s a pretty good chance that over the 32 minutes of a Grandview girls basketball game, there will be a Faust, Ketcherside or Sparks on the floor.
That’s because the Eagles have not one, not two, but three sets of sisters playing and coaching this season: Senior Karleigh Faust, junior Meaghan Faust and freshman Sarra Faust; senior Kirstin Sparks and sophomore Kaylyn Sparks; and junior Macy Ketcherside and her sister, Madeline Ketcherside, the team’s assistant coach.
Since team chemistry is such an important part of winning, it’s not surprising the Eagles had a record of 11-2 going into Monday’s game against St. Paul Lutheran.
“It definitely helps,” said guard Karleigh Faust. “We’re automatically closer as sisters than normal best friends. I can look at my sisters and know what they’re thinking and that helps on the floor when you have to think fast and make quick decisions.”
Forward Kirstin Sparks, also known as “Sparky,” said she’s been playing basketball with Kaylyn since grade school. Kirstin said she and her sister also share that sibling floor awareness.
“It’s cool that Kaylyn looks up to me and I try to set a good example for her,” Kirstin said. “I work hard every day to make sure she’s following in my footsteps. She’s a good team player.”
Macy Ketcherside, who has given Grandview a badly needed post presence after transferring from De Soto this school year, doesn’t get to pass to her sister on the court, but she does benefit from her coaching – and not just in basketball. Madeline is also the head volleyball coach at Grandview and Macy plays on that team as well. Plus, the two are living together while Madeline’s home is being built.
Macy said, like all sisters, they need their space at times because they’re together so much.
“Playing for (Madeline), (since) she played basketball, it’s brought us closer together and given us a closer bond,” Macy said. “It was a change for her to be my volleyball coach. She’s a great help in basketball because she was a post player. She’s taught me to play strong and to work on my post moves. If I can do that, I can score.”
Grandview won a school-record 17 games last year and is well on its way to breaking that this season. When first-year Eagle head coach Ronda Hubbard took one look at the roster of players she inherited, she immediately noticed the similarity in surnames.
Hubbard said the success of any prep athletic program starts at the top, with the parents, whose support is crucial.
“I’m a little old-school, but I can tell you that nothing’s changed in that the parents determine the mindsets of their children,” Hubbard said. “The (team’s sisters) have team-first mentalities. The thing I’ve been most impressed with about our community is the parents and their support for all the girls.”
Like any new coach, Hubbard had to find out how best to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. She was handed a gift in the younger Ketcherside, who leads the team with 17.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. And Hubbard knew she had leaders in Karleigh Faust and Kirstin Sparks, who plays harder and faster than most of her opponents.
“It’s exciting to coach sisters because they’re brought up the same way,” Hubbard said. “What I’ve found is they all have great work ethics and their parents are supportive of the program.”
Obviously with just Ketcherside, the Fausts and the Sparks, the Eagles could field a starting five with a bench player. All three Fausts have been on the floor at the same time, and Karleigh, Kirstin, Kaylyn and Macy play together a lot, but the three Fausts and two Sparks have not all been in a game at the same time.
Hubbard noted how important Kirstin and Karleigh are in establishing the Eagles’ team culture. Both seniors are well respected by their teammates and the community.
“They’ve earned that,” Hubbard said. “They are a huge part of our success this year.”
Grandview’s 10-game winning streak ended at St. Vincent on Jan. 12. Hubbard learned a hard lesson in road conference basketball as key players got in foul trouble and the Eagles lost 36-28. Grandview made only 11 of 53 shots (20.8 percent) and buckled under St. Vincent’s defensive pressure.
“You have to give them respect for the pressure they put on us,” Hubbard said of the Indians. “We rushed things, which caused a lot of turnovers. We didn’t work the ball very well within our offense.”
Karleigh Faust said the Eagles will learn from their mistakes that night and move on.
“We know we didn’t play that great and we should have executed our game plan together,” Faust said.
Turnovers and silly mistakes spelled doom for the Eagles, as Kirstin Sparks saw it.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “We weren’t playing our best game. As soon as coach (Hubbard) got hyped up and wanted us to push it, we found our motivation, but it was too late.”
Hubbard served as both an assistant and as head coach for Missouri Southern State University in Joplin for 15 years. It had been many years since she coached high school basketball – she led Springfield Catholic to Class 2 state titles in 1992 and 1993 – but she hasn’t changed much as a coach over that time.
“One of the things at the collegiate level is you have young adults and you can tell them the truth,” Hubbard said. “I’ve told these girls I will tell them the truth and I won’t sugar-coat any of the good or bad, and they’ve been responsive to that.
“As a college coach coming down to coach much younger girls, it’s obviously something you think about. They were asked to accept some changes and only through their support can that change happen and be positive.”