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Triple-double: Valencia girls basketball eyes deep playoff run with three sets of sisters

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The “family dynamic” phrase, in all its variations, gets thrown around a lot in sports. For Valencia girls basketball, it’s more than a cliche: it’s literal.

The Vikings have three sets of sisters on the team in Alyssa and Chelsea Besina, Libby and Olivia Oxciano, and Cara and Hailey McKell. On the coaching staff, Riley and Kenadee are assistants to their father, Kevin Honaker, who’s the head coach.

“We have six people that are really connected and know each other,” Honaker said of the sisters. “And it is helpful because each of the sisters are very demanding upon themselves and to each other.”

Valencia players and coaches have noticed a sibling telepathy that each sister tends to have with her counterpart. They’re more competitive with each other than with anyone else on the team, communicate well and can most times predict the other’s emotions.

It’s there regardless of how much time they’ve spent in games with the other. Libby and Olivia, a junior and a sophomore, respectively, grew up practicing together but have never played on the same team until this year.

Cara and Hailey, a freshman and senior, are also playing together for the first time. Hailey had transitioned to volleyball, which was the focus all through high school until this year.

“I decided to play just for fun, to grow those memories with (Cara),” Hailey said. “I realized it would be fun to look back and be like, and think of all these memories I made with her, not just at home, but like doing something like basketball and in a team environment.”

The new sister additions have worked in the Vikings’ favor this season. They tied for second place in the Foothill League and have their first CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoff game on Thursday at Holy Martyrs Armenian.

The comfort level between sisters means easier communication, which has resulted in player and skill growth.

“There’s no sugarcoating anything,” Libby said. “A lot of times my sister will just tell me what I’m doing wrong, what I need to improve on and same thing with the other sisters. Since we’re all so comfortable, it’s just really easy.”

It’s not always family-portrait-perfect. The benefits of sisterhood outweigh the drawbacks, but arguments inevitably ensue. They’re usually minor and are laughed about after.

“In the Hart game we got in a little argument on the court, and it kind of lasted a while,” Hailey said. “Cara threw the ball and I wasn’t there, and it just went out of bounds.”

Honaker encourages the sisters to push each other despite the possible side effect of frustration. Many times, it’s the younger sister pushing the older one. He sees similar behavior in his son and daughter.

Assistant coaches Riley and Kenadee Honaker are brother and sister rather than sister and sister like many of the players are, but their own sibling dynamic has helped shape the team in a positive way.

“They butt heads a lot, but it’s good,” Honaker said of his assistants. “You want to have different views and different points and things and I think that’s helped collaborate to make us a better team.”

Both attended and played basketball at Valencia, with Kenadee going on to play at Southern Oregon University.

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Kenadee finished her senior season at Southern Oregon in 2022 with 52 steals and a desire to coach at her alma mater. She’s become a surrogate older sister to the Valencia players and even organizes a mentorship program between JV and varsity players, dubbed the “sister” program, of course.

“I view her as an older sister for sure,” Hailey said. “I can go to her for anything, like if I had a bad day or just anything like that. I can talk to her and she’ll make me feel better.”

Valencia will lose two seniors who have sisters on the team to graduation in Hailey and Chelsea Besina. The family dynamic is expected to stay, and there are still younger sisters who could join the team in the future.

“I would love to have as many siblings and sisters in this school just to be together,” Honaker said, “because I do think there’s a bond and a friendship by playing sports. So if there’s other sisters that could do that, from soccer or volleyball or lacrosse, the more the merrier.”

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