The under-14 Tasmanian Tigers have a secret weapon at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup.
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Twin sisters Gemma and Jade McCoy, who hail from Devonport, are playing in the event for the first time and have helped their team to an undefeated start on the Border this week.
The duo, 12, are identical twins, but play different roles on the court.
Jade is primarily a point guard, while Gemma's main position is shooting guard.
"It's been a good experience and it's a bit different to nationals," Jade said.
"We get to interact with all the other age groups, so it's been really good.
"I like it (playing with Gemma) because she knows most times what I'm going to do and can predict things easier than other people."
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Gemma is hopeful the team can continue its good start and play off in the gold medal match, possibly against the Tasmanian Devils, who are also undefeated after the first four matches.
"It's been really fun playing basketball and playing against different people that have different skill levels," Gemma said.
The sport certainly runs in the family with their father, Chris, the CEO of Basketball Tasmania.
"It's nice to see them come and play now after being here previously as one of the coordinators," he said.
"They're identical twins and they're a mirror image, but Jade's left-right foot and Gemma's right-left foot.
"They have their moments like any sisters do, but generally they get along really well (laughs)."
Tasmania has record numbers at this year's Country Cup with 13 teams across the six age groups, adding up to more than 160 people in the touring party, which exceeds 400 including parents.
State head coach Mark Radford admitted the bushfire crisis continuing to impact the region has been a real eye-opener for the team.
"It gives everyone a greater sense of what this part of the country has been through in the last couple of weeks," Radford said.
"You can feel it when you're here with the smoke, but I don't think it's a bad thing for Tasmanians, who are very lucky with air quality, to come here and experience the magnitude of it.
"We've had bushfires but not to the magnitude of this."
While Tasmania's results have been excellent, the trip is focused more on development off the court.
"We're staying out at the weir and it's very much about learning to live away from home in tournament play, deal with adversity, deal with the heat, but do it in an all-Tasmanian environment," Radford said.
"It gives us a chance to build our culture over an eight or nine-day period, all in one place.
"It's not just about the basketball, it's helping develop young people."
Radford added the goal is to have basketball the sport of choice for young Tasmanians by 2023.
"We've got a lot of work to do and there's been a lot of change, but I think if we're going to keep embracing change, we're going to make basketball the sport of choice," he added.