Northeastern MS/HS

Keaton and Ava: The ‘carbon copy’ Mikesells lead Northeastern basketball to success Zach Piatt Richmond Palladium-Item FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. — Mikesell takes the ball up the court, passes to a teammate, gets it right back and shoots a 3-pointer. Nothing but net. Next possession, same thing. Six points before some fans have even found a seat. After setting up a few plays for their teammates, Mikesell drives to the rim for an easy layup. The ball was through the hoop before the defenders — now with confused looks that say “I can’t guard that” — even knew Mikesell had blown by them. Northeastern senior Keaton Mikesell dribbles the ball up the court during the Wayne County Tournament championship against Hagerstown Jan. 7, 2023. Fast-forward not quite 24 hours, and get ready to hear the same story. Mikesell takes the ball up the court, dribbles around a screen and shoots a 3-pointer. Swish. Next possession, same deal. Six points before some fans have even found a parking spot. After setting up a few plays for their teammates, Mikesell knifes through the lane and finishes at the rim for an easy layup. Mikesell had no issue getting around the defenders, who now have puzzled looks that say “I can’t guard that.” Fast-forward another almost three hours, and teammates gather for a team photo around Mikesell, who has a Wayne County Tournament championship trophy at their feet after leading their team to yet another title. WCT:Northeastern basketball sweeps Wayne County Tournament, and ‘no,’ it doesn’t get old Northeastern sophomore Ava Mikesell waits for play to resume during the Wayne County Tournament championship against Hagerstown Jan. 7, 2023. Some Northeastern basketball fans will say “That’s just what Keaton Mikesell does.” Others will say “That’s what Ava Mikesell does.” In reality, that’s what they both do. Keaton and Ava Mikesell, the starting point guards for Northeastern’s basketball programs, are a sibling duo unlike many others you’ll find in that they are “just alike.” “Carbon copies,” head girls’ coach Cody Dudley said. “They play with the same high motor, same intensity. Every time they get a good look, you feel like it’s going in. You know they’re going to make all the hustle plays. They just play at a different speed that other kids just aren’t capable of.” 'The right fit':Cody Dudley goes from Seton boys assistant to Northeastern girls head coach Now, rewind neither Keaton nor Ava knows how long, before they were terrorizing opposing teams in a No. 4 Knights jersey, to when they were first terrorizing each other in their driveway. Whenever that was, the two youngest of the four Mikesell siblings started playing against each other, forming a not-so-friendly brother-sister rivalry. “We’d put our shooting shoes on, go outside and play one-on-one,” Ava said. “He’d push me down, and I’d get up. He’d push me down again, and I’d get mad, but we’d just keep playing. Taught me how to be tougher.” Keaton was proud to know he had a hand in making Ava into the player she is today, but he was just doing what his older brothers did to him. Kaleb (2017 graduate) and Cole (2019 graduate) Mikesell, who both also wore No. 4 for the Knights, used to beat up on Keaton the same way all three of them then did to Ava. Get the Pal-Item High School Sports newsletter in your inbox. The latest news on Wayne County high school sports and athletes. Delivery: Weekly Your Email “All three of us were picking on her and shoving her, and she’d pop right back up and come right back at us,” Keaton said. Talk about a competitive household. All that rough-housing by the young Mikesells, also known as love, made them into some of the best leaders to come through Northeastern. Fans have seen that firsthand with Keaton and Ava since the start of the 2021-22 basketball season. Northeastern senior Keaton Mikesell gets into position defensively during the Wayne County Tournament championship against Hagerstown Jan. 7, 2023. Keaton didn’t score much last year as a junior, but he didn’t have to; that was Raedhyn Foust and Payton Lumpkin’s responsibility. Keaton’s leadership showed in his distribution of the ball and his defense. He shared point guard duties with Ben Deitsch and finished second on the team in assists. He was also just a tenth of a steal per game away from leading the team in that category. Now a senior, Keaton is pacing the 10-3 Knights, leading them in points (11.0), assists (3.5), steals (2.1) and minutes played (25.3) per game as well as free throws (39-for-42) and 3-pointers (18-for-37). Earlier:Northeastern, Seton opening game is just a preview of both teams’ destined success “He’s a good mentor to younger players and everybody else on his team,” head boys’ coach Brent Ross said. “He’s the most unselfish point guard I’ve probably ever coached … He’s so about getting his team involved and being that true point guard, but I really need him to be more of a scoring point guard, and he can do it. He doesn’t turn the ball over, he runs what we need to do and he’s a smart kid.” Northeastern sophomore Ava Mikesell defends Hagerstown sophomore Sydney Martindale during the Wayne County Tournament championship Jan. 7, 2023. Ava’s road to holding the reins to her team was a bit more direct, and it came a lot quicker. Where Keaton was naturally the next one in line, Ava was the only one in line last year. With a young, newly depleted roster, then-coach Sara Mayo threw the freshman into the fire right away. Ava went on to lead the Knights in every category her brother currently leads his team other than free-throw percentage, where she finished second. Again, she was a freshman. Now a sophomore — it feels weird calling her a sophomore given her experience and maturity — Ava has already taken the 13-7 Knights to new heights. While she’s scoring a smidge more than a year ago (10.3 points per game), it’s her passing (4.6 assists per game) and defense (4.2 steals per game) that have really opened some eyes. 'Earn the hype':Mastriano, Mikesell lead Northeastern, Dudley to first win after slow start “However good anyone else thinks she is, they’re underrating her,” Dudley said. “She just puts on her hard hat, tough as nails, very coachable, soaks everything up. She just does all the hard things. Ava’s talented, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to help her team win … Floor general, coach on the floor, all the cliches — that’s exactly who she is.” Northeastern sophomore Ava Mikesell gets a play from her coaches during a Wayne County Tournament game against Centerville Jan. 5, 2023. Did you notice all the similarities? There’s a reason Keaton’s teammates told him “Man, you two play just alike” while watching the girls’ county championship Jan. 7. They play the same, they look the same, they wear the same number. The only thing that seems to separate them is their age. “I play a little game with them,” Dudley said. “If Keaton has a good game, I don’t call Ava by her first name. I call her ‘Keaton’s little sister.’ And if Ava has a really good game, I see Keaton the next day at practice, and he’s ‘Ava’s big brother.’ Right now, I think they’re just Keaton and Ava.” With how they’re both playing right now, you can’t put one over the other, but that is certainly an effective way to light a fire under your star point guard. The Mikesells’ lives, especially when winter rolls around, revolve around basketball. Their work continues beyond the practices and games at Northeastern. When teammates are unavailable, they work with each other, which is when their limits really get pushed. After watching the entirety of each other’s games from the stands, they share notes. It’s a constant cycle of helping one another improve their game. “She supports me just as much as I support her,” Keaton said, “and I know she’s trying to pick up things I do on the court just like I’m trying to learn from her even though she’s younger.” Northeastern senior Keaton Mikesell waits for play to resume during the Wayne County Tournament championship against Hagerstown Jan. 7, 2023. Underneath that competitive drive to win, there is a softer side that roots deeper than the game. You can see it if you watch them watch each other. For example: Ava led her Knights to a semifinal win in the county tournament Jan. 5, and she was back with her teammates the next day to do two things: scout the other semifinal girls’ game and support her brother. Yes, she watches Keaton to learn from and critique him, but she also just wants to see him play. Whenever Keaton made a shot or a good play, you could hear Ava cheering and clapping from her seat. Well, she would have stood up from excitement by then, so you could probably see her, too. “In my heart, I love it because I know it’s his senior year, and I’m trying to get all his last games I can,” Ava said. “It’ll be tough when he leaves, but we’ve had some of the best moments ever.” In the end, it all comes back to basketball. So, after leading their respective teams to another county title — they’re a combined 6-for-6 on those — and after all those one-on-ones, who’s going to win that matchup today? “I am, for sure,” Keaton said with a laugh, “but I’m sure it would be pretty close.” It was no laughing matter for Ava, though. Stone-faced, with no hesitation, she said, “Me.” Yeah, talk about a competitive household. Zach Piatt is a reporter for The Palladium-Item. Contact him at zpiatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.