Newfield’s Moravec twins savor senior season at St. John Fisher

It’s already uncommon enough to have a set of twins play on the same high school basketball team. It’s even more rare for them to continue playing together in college. That’s what makes the bond Kelly and Katie Moravec share so unparalleled.

Hailing from Newfield, the Moravec twins have enjoyed an illustrious career together at St. John Fisher women’s basketball team. In their first three seasons, they helped guide the Cardinals to Empire 8 titles each year. Now in their final year joining forces, they’ve had little time to reflect on their time in Rochester as they’ve been busy aiming for a four-peat.

“It’s gonna be really weird kind of realizing that we’re gonna be done with basketball,” Katie said. “I’m looking forward to a future ahead of us, but I don’t know if I really realized it yet.”

“Getting towards the end of the season, I’ve started to reflect on this season so far and also just my four years and kind of realized, ‘Wow, it has been really special,’” Kelly said. “I’m really happy for the unique experience that I’ve been able to have with my sister being a part of it. I’ve created great memories, and it’s gone by very fast, honestly, so it’s kind of crazy to think about.”

Katie and Kelly have different roles on the Cardinals but are equally significant to the team’s extraordinary amount of success. Katie is a starter and one of their go-to scorers, averaging the second-most points per game on the team. She’s also written herself into the record books at St. John Fisher, becoming the 25th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. That achievement allowed for even more time for reflection on the legacy she’ll leave behind come the end of the season.

“It means a lot to me because it kind of shows that my hard work has paid off, and I want to be able to do it with the people that have been in my life and supported me,” Katie said. “I think it just allows me to reflect in on the importance of setting goals for yourself and being able to know that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to, especially in women’s basketball, and then on top of it, just knowing that I have that support system throughout high school and college has been really awesome, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”

Kelly—who also scored 1,000 points at Newfield—is the Cardinals’ sixth player and has consistently provided a spark off the bench throughout her entire collegiate career. While it took some adjusting after starting at Newfield, she’s fully embraced that role at St. John Fisher.

“At the end of the day, I’m here for my team’s success,” Kelly said. “I’m here for my personal success as well, but if I go into every game with a mindset of, ‘What can I do to help my team win? What can I do when I’m on the court to help them get to that point?’ I think that’s helped me a lot. My coach says to me all the time [that] she loves the defensive intensity that I bring when I come from the bench onto the court, so I think it’s purposeful with her decision to do that.”

When Kelly and Katie are on the court together, it’s a sight to behold. While it comes as zero surprise to those who watched them at Newfield, their synchronicity is at another level when competing against so many high-caliber opponents in college.

“Both Katie and I have naturally a lot of defensive intensity and [are] pretty aggressive as players, so I think having both of us on the court is kind of like a double threat here, and it’s been really unique and special to be able to play with her. I think the other teams realize that when we’re both on the court, it’s gonna be an issue… We definitely have this unique connection on the court. We’re always looking for each other. We’re always knowing where each other is. We talk to each other all the time throughout the game, giving each other tips or supporting each other. We really lean on each other and have trust in one another, and that’s really a special thing to have during basketball.”

The Empire 8 tournament tips off on February 22. The Moravec twins are not only looking to go out with a bang and win a conference title every year they’ve been in Rochester, a deep run in the NCAA Tournament could be on the cards if Katie, Kelly and the rest of the Cardinals are on their A-game.

“I think our defense and defensive intensity will lead to our offense,” Katie said. “I think our offense has always been pretty strong. Sometimes teams play us in zone, so I think also [it’s] being able to be confident both running the offense when teams are playing in man and in zone, and then staying composed, as well.”