IDENTICAL THREAT

The Havre High girls basketball program has had an incredible amount of success over the past four seasons, and there are a lot of reasons for that success as well as a lot of players that have contributed to it.

But, two player, who have contributed more than most are sisters Morgan and Tori Mazurkiewicz, who are not only great basketball players, but identical twins as well.

As you can imagine, twins playing together on a basketball team is pretty rare — even sisters playing together is not something you see every day. So if you have gotten to watch the Mazurkiewicz twins play over the past few seasons, you should know it might be a long time before you see something like it again, especially with two as good as they are.

Morgan, who started as a freshman for the Ponies, has been a key cog on the team from the beginning. Tori joined the varsity squad as a sophomore and since then, the twins have been an essential part of the Ponies’ sustained run of dominance. A big reason for that, according to head coach Dustin Kraske, is their work ethic.

“It’s been awesome coaching them,” Kraske said. “They just work so hard. You know you never have to be worried about them showing up and being ready to go because they were always ready to go. Both are great leaders, they primarily lead by example and it’s been fantastic working with them to be honest with you. They are a coach’s dream.”

Morgan and Tori, who both run cross country for the Ponies and also play on the HHS softball team, have prospered athletically in large part because of all the time and work they put into it. And while they participate in other varsity sports, their first love, far and away, is basketball, the sport they devote more time to than any other.

They love the game so much that they have been going to camps together since they were five years old. Back then it was their step-mother Kelly Mazkurkiewicz driving them, and ever since she has been with them every step of the way as both a parent and a coach.

“It’s been a pleasure to be able to do that with these kids,” said Kelly Mazurkiewicz, who is also an assistant coach for the Ponies. “It’s going to be sad when it ends, but not very many people get to experience what we have. Family trips to basketball games is basically what we did. They enjoyed it, so we kept doing it and they just kept getting better from there. They loved the game, so whatever it took to help them get better, is what I was going to do.”

And get better they did. Both Morgan, who started a season ago, and Tori, who was an important role player off the bench, played important roles in Havre’s 2014 state championship and in the end, got to share a moment together few sisters or twins ever will.

“Winning the state championship with Morgan was the best for me,” Tori said. “When Morgan came and jumped on me after, it was our dream come true.”

Yes, the Mazurkiewicz girls achieved their dream, but a big reason for that was the hard work the two put in together in the offseason to get better. Throughout, their high school careers, if there was an open gym to be found, whether it was run by coach Kraske or someone else, there was a good chance that Morgan and Tori would be there, together, working on their game.

“I think it helps to have someone hold you accountable,” Morgan said. “I think having someone there all the time helps you. It brings you encouragement and confidence when you’re down.”

Like most twins, Morgan and Tori have pretty much been inseparable for as long as they can remember, and while they have other friends and other hobbies, they generally spend most of their time together.

“We do get sick of each other at times,” Morgan said. “We get mad at each other, especially in practice, we probably get madder at each other than most people. But that just comes with being a twin I guess.”

But while playing all the same sports means spending more time together, it can also mean confusion for coaches, who had to try and tell the girls apart over the years.

“We got mistaken for each other all the time growing up,” Tori said. “But people say that we have different personalities and you can tell us apart that way.”

While their careers at Havre High will come to a close no matter what happens this weekend at the Class A state tournament in Hamilton, both girls have an interest in continuing their careers at the collegiate level, which would be another dream come true, but could also mean separating from each other for the first time in their lives.

“That’s something we have thought about,” Morgan said. “But as long as we aren’t too far away from each other, like if we are both in Montana, it wouldn’t be too bad.”

But before they look that far down the road, Morgan and Tori have a few more games to play as Blue Ponies, especially if Tori can return from a leg injury that has sidelined her for the last 13 games. If she is able to play, she will be right alongside her sister, wearing royal blue one last time and making a historic run at back-to-back state titles.

Yet, even if Tori can’t play, she will still be there, supporting her sister Morgan and acting as another coach on the sideline. Because regardless of what happens, with the Mazurkiewicz twins, basketball always has been, and always will be a family affair.

“It’s cool, even my cousin (Holly Purkett) is on the team, too,” Tori said. “So it’s just awesome that family and basketball, two really important things, my two favorite things, kind of go together.”