East Nashville seniors Talya and Trinity McGee — the Eagles’ twins — do everything together.
So maybe it wasn't a surprise they scored 19 points apiece in a 65-52 win over Pearl-Cohn for the TSSAA District 8-2A tournament championship on Feb. 24, then stood side-by-side as all-tournament selections.
Teams wanting to knock East Nashville out of the TSSAA basketball tournament will have a tough time if the McGees lock-in at the same time. And they’ve been doing that their whole lives.
“It’s kind of crazy because we always do the same things. Wherever she goes, I go. Whatever she does, I do,” Trinity said. “If we’re not right next to each other, the other one is usually following directly behind.”
East Nashville will host a Region 4 tournament game while earning a No. 1 seed. The Eagles start with East Robertson on Feb. 27 in the first round.
Talya was named district tournament MVP. She’s the intense and physical one, East Nashville coach Kyle Upton says, compared to Trinity, who plays a little more smoothly.
Otherwise, it’s not easy to tell the McGee twins apart. And there’s an advantage to having a lookalike. Defenders have lost track of them when both are on the floor at the same time.
Both are tenacious rebounders, grabbing nearly 10 per game.
“We probably get at least 20 second-chance points because those two crash the glass so well,” Upton said. “That’s why I tell our guards to shoot the ball, because sometimes our best assist is a missed shot.”
While Kennedy Thornton is the Eagles’ top returning scorer from last year’s state tournament team, Upton doesn’t worry about losing production when she’s off the floor.
Talya averages 15.5 points and Trinity averages 13.5. They’re both the same height, but Trinity plays guard and Talya plays power forward.
They’ve been on the same team since age 4.
“When she’s off her game I can tell that,” Talya said. “I can read her energy. It’s like reading a book.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform,@tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg.Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: East Nashville tops Pearl-Cohn in TSSAA basketball district tournament