Laurel and Bridget Quinn grew up in the same house, played many of the same sports, but never had the opportunity to play on the same team until now.
Because the sisters are three grades apart, Laurel, a senior, and Bridget, a freshman, knew this season with the King’s Way Christian girls basketball team would be their one chance to play together.
It was a moment the two and the Quinn family looked forward to for a long time. They also started to ponder what it would be like sharing the same team.
“Every year … it’s literally been like, two more years until you get to play together, one more year,” Laurel said. “So it was exciting, but also a little bit weird because I’m like, ‘how is it going to be playing with her?’ I would see her play and I would see (myself) and wondered how we would fit together.”
Whether it was their connection as sisters, a shared basketball acumen or something else, Laurel and Bridget have a natural chemistry playing with each other in the Knights’ backcourt. Laurel, one of only three returning players, has taken on an even bigger scoring load after averaging 20 points per game in the spring. Bridget stepped in as the team’s starting point guard, a significant role for a freshman to take on.
“Those two, when they get in their groove playing off of each other … I think their court awareness, how they know where the other is at, is what I love,” King’s Way head coach Nicole Bagley said. “They’ll kind of know, if she goes one side, then I can go this way. I think they just have that court sense with each other, that common basketball knowledge.”
Well before joining the Knights’ varsity squad, little sister was taking notes on older sister and filing them away. Bridget attended Laurel’s games and studied not only her tendencies as a player, but how teammates worked with her.
“I watched her so much and I’ve watched her other point guards,” Bridget said. “So I kind of know where she wants the ball and when.”
After transferring into King’s Way for eighth grade, Bridget had the opportunity to swing up to the JV girls basketball team, getting an early introduction to the program. The Knights needed a starting point guard, and Bagley was comfortable handing the reins to Bridget this year, noting how well she handled herself in the face of pressure as the team’s primary ball-handler.
In just the second game this season, King’s Way’s opponent, De La Salle North, picked Bridget up full-court on defense for the entirety of the game and she never once subbed out, helping lead the Knights to a 46-40 win. King’s Way has started the season 3-1.
“What stuck out to me is how well she’s handled pressure,” Laurel said.
“I know it was hard for her to handle, but she did a great job and distributed it well … She’s a really unselfish player. It’s nice to have her be my point guard.”
It’s also been nice for Bridget to have a shooting guard of Laurel’s caliber who can find a shot from almost anywhere on the floor and provide a spark for the Knights.
“She’s a shooter and she can drive, which is really good as a point guard,” Bridget said. “I don’t have to just pass to her on the 3-point line — she can cut in and I can trust her with the ball too. She’s a very versatile player.”
While Bridget balances both basketball and volleyball, Laurel decided to focus on basketball soon after starting high school, realizing the time and hard work required to reach her goals. After the school season ends, she plays club seasons lasting from February to August, then trains at Shoot 360 and Legends Gym five to six days per week before the winter season starts.
Unlike seasons past, Laurel was also tasked with being the leader of the team as a senior. She got a taste of the role as a co-captain in the spring, but this year, the team was officially hers to lead.
“Personally, I’m not a super loud person, I’m not super outgoing, so it’s a little bit hard for me to be like, ‘OK guys, it’s time to rally the troops,’” Laurel said. “But I feel like I kind of naturally fell into that role being a senior and being pretty experienced basketball-wise. I hope I’m doing a good job (laughs). I’m definitely learning, definitely growing.”
Bagley said Laurel’s response to her new role has “blown me away.”
“She’s handled it with such maturity and grace for everyone,” the coach said. “We have just three people that were on this team that were here last year. We are totally new … and Laurel comes in with her senior leadership and it’s neat that she gets to kind of build the program to come now with this new, young group. Some of them haven’t had a lot of basketball experience. It’s neat that they get to see a leader that leads by example with her work ethic.”
Laurel has also started to consider how she wants to leave the program for her teammates, her sister included, by the season’s end.
“I’ve been thinking about, how can I help lead our team in a direction that people want to still be part of this great culture and people want to eventually become leaders and step up into my role,” Laurel said. “I think this season means to me, how can I best lead my team, especially my sister as a freshman, to be good basketball players and good teammates to each other.”
In the meantime, the sisters and their family who often attend games, parents Jim Quinn and Rachelle Quinn, grandfather Jim Huston, are enjoying the time they have left playing together, finally, after years of anticipation.
“It means a lot,” Bridget said. “I’ll definitely remember it, especially when she goes away for college I’ll definitely remember this season a lot. I think it will grow our relationship … I’m excited for this season.”
