SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In the moments prior to tip-off, the five starting players sit in a row, each waiting for the public address announcer to call her name and jersey number so that she may run through the gauntlet of coaches and teammates as part of the pregame introductions. 

As St. Francis basketball begins its 2022 postseason run this week, the number of opportunities for sisters Oge and Chidera Okoye to share this ritual will become fewer. The two posts are often the last players to be summoned, based purely on wearing the highest uniform numbers of the typical starting five. 

Oge has reached her final semester as a Troubadour, and will graduate this spring as one of her class' top all-around academic performers. Chidera winds down her sophomore year in style: she leads the Troubies in scoring (8.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.2 per game).

To be clear, the Okoyes are hardly the only sisters getting to play alongside each other on a Troubie sports team this year. Softball has the UConn-bound twin standouts of Hope and Grace Jenkins, while two of the highest scorers on this year's JV Gold basketball team were twins Emma and Eva Karamanoukian. Nor are Oge and Chidera the lone older-younger sister combination, either. The current St. Francis tennis team alone has two such pairs among its 19 members.

However, a pair of sisters playing a team sport like basketball has a different feel than, say, the four sets of siblings on the Troubie cross country team. The teamwork and the literal give-and-take of basketball simply presents a unique dynamic. Furthermore, the two-year age difference would normally separate siblings in a sport with varsity, junior varsity and frosh squads. But in the same way that Oge earned a varsity spot as a 10th-grader, Chidera matched that feat two years later. In fact, the '21-22 season marked the first time the two sisters played on the same team in seven years.

When asked to reflect on the experience, Chidera admits not having given it much thought. Instead, her first fond memory was that of a sweet spin move Oge made in the team's Senior Night finale against Pleasant Grove the week before.

"I genuinely don't remember that at all," said Oge.

"It's because I hype you up, and not from the sideline but from the actual court," replied Chidera.

Indeed, the two sisters have relished the chance to see the other play from the best possible vantage point. 

"I just like to see Chidera play, that's really it," Oge said. "Plus, I can help her in practice. If she was playing JV, I wouldn't be able to give her tips like how to run plays. I also like being able to communicate with her about stuff outside of basketball. That has really been an enjoyable experience for me."

"Now that I'm looking back, it is pretty cool. It's going to be a really cool memory, to be honest," said Chidera. "Being able to play together is a good bonding moment."

Off the court, Oge did not own as many occasions to show Chidera the ropes as she would have liked, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019-20 school year sent all students home in mid-March, while 2020-21 – Chidera's freshman year – saw a "hybrid" format in which the two sisters spent only part of the week on campus. Needless to say, the St. Francis experience has been atypical for all involved during the past three school years.

"Sophomore year has been pretty cool," Chidera says. "I have met a lot of new people and classes are pretty chill. I'm just really grateful to be on campus because I've made a lot of memories."

Despite the pressure cooker that prep basketball frequently resembles, the two sisters remain refreshingly supportive, rather than competitive, in their interactions together. "We're both really competitive, but not with each other," said Oge. "I want to see her grow so I go a little harder on her, but it's not because I want to win. It's because I want to see her do better."

"Right back at you," Chidera responded.

"Chidera reminds me of my younger self in that she is really hard on herself and she gets down on herself," said Oge. "She doesn't give herself credit for what she can do, and I used to do that. It's a similarity that we share."

With college decision days rapidly approaching, Oge sets her eyes on a future in pediatric nursing. She also hopes to supplement that with a minor in either computer science or in finance, simply because the skills will always come in handy. "It's not that I like science more, it's just that I like taking care of other people"

Whether the two sisters end up at the same university seems less likely, though. Chidera still has some time to iron out such decisions, and orthopedics already ranks high as a potential future. Their older brother, Obinna, attends Creighton, and while their parents would certainly appreciate the convenience of having multiple Okoyes in one place, Oge already has stated a preference for a school in a larger locale than Omaha. Meanwhile, Chidera's talents on the hardwood will almost certainly grant her some looks to play collegiate ball.

First things first: Chidera still has two more years to make the most of her St. Francis experience, while Oge has only a few months to impart any last wisdom in person. "It is hitting home. This will be the last time we'll be at the same school," said Chidera.

"I think it's going to hit the hardest on graduation day," Oge says. "I won't only be leaving my sister and my family, but all of my teammates and the friends I've had for the last 10 years. When I have that culmination, it's really going to hit."

And while Oge may have missed out on a few St. Francis moments that her sister still will get to enjoy, she says she will treasure the challenging and oft-interrupted time she had as a Troubie.  "I have a new sense of patience. I have a new sense of appreciation for myself," Oge said. "It's great being around people, but during that time when I couldn't be around people, I was able to learn about my personal interests. I was able to learn about myself."

"My overall high school experience has changed my perspective on the world, especially with the violence against races and with COVID," Oge added. "It changed my worldview to see my classmates stand up for their beliefs. I definitely think I'm coming out of St. Francis a new woman."

St. Francis and Lincoln will tip off for Thursday's first-round playoff game at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game are available exclusively through the GoFan website and mobile app.