By GEORGE THWAITES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
HINTON — Brittney Justice looks an awful lot like her sister, Whittney. Her jersey number on the Summers County girls basketball team is almost literally a mirror image of her sister's. And, as you may have noticed, their first names even rhyme.
But as close as she might be with her identical twin, the Bobcats' co-star has demonstrated that her individuality is a force to be reckoned with on the hardwood.
Last season, Whittney earned a Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Girls Basketball Player of the Week Award. Now Brittney has one.
Last week, on the night before New Year's Eve, Brittney Justice exploded for 30 points in a 67-45 win over Woodrow Wilson. The 5-foot-8 junior wing-post also grabbed 11 rebounds, kicked out five assists and nabbed three steals.
"My teammates are feeding me the ball a lot and are just getting me some good looks," said Justice, who is averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and five assists per game for unbeaten Summers County (7-0).
She must have gotten more good looks this past Monday, when she scored 35 points in a 113-31 win over Independence. She also had 10 rebounds, four assists and six steals in that game.
The Justice girls aren't the only talented sister act to have played for the Bobcats girls basketball dynasty. They aren't even the only pair of twins to be standouts in the program.
Still, the two sisters — who were awestruck grade schoolers when Summers County embarked on its state-record 105 game winning streak and five consecutive state titles — are making their own unique contributions to Summers County basketball history.
While both returned to this year's team as all-staters, Brittney is the sister whose game has probably undergone the greatest transformation in the off-season.
"Whittney is a point guard-wing and Brittney is a wing-forward. We use Brittney literally at all five positions, depending on who's in the game and what's needed. She's really versatile," said Summers County head coach Wayne Ryan.
"They've both always been tremendous players. Whitney's numbers were a little better last year when it came to scoring. But Brittney's numbers were really balanced. This year Whittney is putting up bigger offensive numbers for us as far as scoring. I just think she's a little stronger and a little quicker than she was last year. I think as a junior, she's starting to come into her own," said the Bobcats coach, whose Bobcats are the second-ranked team in the Associated Press Class AA poll.
Ryan said Whitney is rebounding better and stronger around the bucket. He also thinks the increased strength and speed is helping her open court game.
"I think she's starting to create more offense in transition, which is something we've wanted her to do for a couple of years,” he said. “Take misses and go down the court in transition and create some offense in the open court.”
Ryan has grown accustomed enough of the twins' idiosyncrasies to notice subtle individual differences between them. But there is one big flag when subtlety fails: Whittney is right-handed and Brittney is left-handed. Another way to tell the sisters apart on the floor: Whittney wears No. 32 and Brittney wears No. 23.
It's what their jersey numbers have been ever since they were little. And while it's quite clever, the effect is entirely unintentional.
"(The reverse numbers) ... that's an accident. We started wearing our numbers because I liked Michael Jordan and Whittney liked Shaquille O'Neal," said Brittney, whose favorite contemporary player is Steph Curry.
Ryan believes any Summers County defenders with dyslexic tendencies probably distinguish between the twins by noting their right-hand or left-hand dominance. The Bobcats coach does worry a little that fouls could be assigned to the wrong sister by officials due to the reverse jersey numbers.
Matching up with a post when you think you're matching up with a guard and vice-versa can be problematic for a defender. Whittney thinks it happens a lot more frequently during the course of a game than Ryan realizes ... if only for brief moments.
"Oh, sure. It happens all the time. You hear somebody say 'I've got 23!' and then you hear somebody in the stands yell, 'Watch out for her right!' when it's the exact opposite," she said.
Both Justice twins are solid softball players for Summers County (it's their fun sport). Both are also horse enthusiasts to some degree, although Whitney — who took up barrel riding quarter horses two summers ago — is the only one of the two who rides competitively.
While the twins are naturally competitive with each other, they are also symbiotically close. They train hard together in the off-season and spot one another in the weight room. Their strong mutual intuitions carry over to the floor, where each always seems to know how to find the other one for an interior pass or a kick to the perimeter.
Both have ambitions of playing at the next level and have already visited Fairmont State and Radford University. Both talented kids are different enough that it's conceivable that they could be recruited separately by any given program. Whittney thinks its unlikely that the twins will split up and pursue playing careers at separate programs.
As competitive as she can be with her sister, she has strong feelings about where the two belong on a basketball team.
"Together," she said. "Yeah. Together."
Player of the Week Honorable Mention
Girls - Week 5
Bland County: Sydney Walker scored nine points in a 44-38 loss to Chilhowie. Malee Lambert and Lakyn Patterson scored 14 points apiece in a 56-48 win over Tazewell.
Bluefield: Jia Coppola scored 13 points and had six rebounds in a 71-22 win over Hedgesville, scored 13 points in a 58-55 lloss to Greenbrier East and scored 16 points in a 68-61 win over James Monroe. Dani Janutolo scored 10 points and had seven rebounds against Hedgesville, scored 12 points against Greenbrier East and scored 12 against James Monroe. Autumn Spangler scored 16 against James Monroe, nine against Greenbrier East and nine against Hedgesville. Alyssa Lester scored 14 points and had five rebounds against Hedgesville and scored eight points against James Monroe. Emaleigh Gallinger scored nine points against Hedgesville, and nine against James Monroe.
Grundy: Emily Boyd scored 17 points in a 50-41 loss to Virginia High. Emily Lane scored 14 points against the Lady Bearcats.
James Monroe: Megan Bailey scored 26 points in a 68-61 loss to Bluefield. Gracie Mann scored 19 points against the Lady Beavers.
Richlands: Olivia Harmon scored 20 points in a 53-49 loss to Marion. Haleigh Whited scored 14 points against the Scarlet Hurricane.
River View: Katie Dobbs scored 14 points in a 67-40 loss to Greenbrier East and had 19 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, four steals and four assists in a 59-18 win over Hedgesville and scored 11 points and had nine rebounds in an 84-46 loss to Wyoming East. Kiersten Roberts scored 14 points in the loss to Greenbrier East, scored 15 points in the win over Hedgesville and had nine points and nine rebounds in the loss to Wyoming East. Lindsey Meade scored 11 points in the win over Hedgesville and had nine rebounds against Wyoming East. Paige Cooper had eight assists against Hedgesville.
Summers County: Whittney Justice scored 16 points in a 67-45 win over Woodrow Wilson. Hannah Taylor scored 11 points, dished out seven assists, grabbed seven rebounds and collected six steals against Wilson.
Tazewell: Gracey Cline scored 30 points in a 56-48 loss to Bland County.
Wyoming East: Gabby Luparadus scored 20 points and distributed 10 assists with six steals in an 84-46 win over River View. Jazz Blankenship scored 23 points. Emily Saunders had six shot blocks and Haley Butcher grabbed 10 rebounds against River View.
2015-16 Girls Winners
Week 1: Maggie Guynn, Narrows
Week 2: Madison May, PikeView
Week 3: Jia Coppola, Bluefield
Week 4: Katie Dobbs, River View
Week 5: Brittney Justice, Summers County