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The only thing better than a brilliant athlete is when one of the country or world's best sportspeople come in pairs.
Like Eddie and Meredith Bone before them Orange's Ainsley and Keeley Holmes are hoping to channel sibling rivalry to make waves together on the sporting field.
The sisters have both been picked in their respective age group for Australia Country following stand-out performances at the Australia Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury-Wodonga the past week.
Ainsley was selected in the NSW Country under 16s squad, while younger sister Keeley was in the under 14s - and while Sage Annis-Brown was selected, she broke her wrist the day before the tournament started.
While neither side dominated their respective age groups, with the 14s and 16s finishing fourth and fifth respectively, both sisters had carnivals worth noticing in the eyes of the Australian Country selectors.
I was just playing the games without thinking about what else would happen
- Keeley Holmes talking about her Australian Country selections
Ainsley had a strong tournament at point guard and shooting guard, while Keeley hit 37 points across three games, including 19 against the New Zealand Kea side.
"During the week we got a lot better as we learned to play together," the elder Holmes said.
"We worked really well together and that kind of made all of us play well as we knew each other."
She said she hadn't been focused on further honours while on the court, just following the old cliche to take it one game at a time.
"Just kind of focusing on the game and what was happening then," Ainsley said, saying exposure to more coaching was a big boon.
While Orange-based maestro Paul Masters was her side's assistant coach, she relished the chance to learn off new basketball minds, and admitted selection was a nice payoff.
"It felt good because I'd worked really hard and effort and hard work had paid off ... I knew there was a NZ team but didn't think I'd get into it."
Keeley was in much the same boat, saying she was "happy and excited" by the unexpected Australian Country selection.
"I felt I played pretty good, all my hard work paid off," she said.
"I was just playing the games without thinking about what else would happen."
She said she was excited to head overseas to play alongside people from other states, and taking on international opposition.
The tour heads to Tauranga at the Mel Young Easter Basketball Classic at Trustpower Stadium in April, giving the sister their first taste of the land of the long white cloud.
But the best part?
They get to do it alongside each other.
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