Twins Mercades and Matrail Lopez lead Idabel boys, girls in Class 3A basketball tournament
For twins Mercades and Matrail Lopez, basketball is a secondary sport.
Matrail is committed to play football at OSU as a wide receiver. Mercades hopes to play softball at the next level, having received a few junior-college offers.
But don’t get it twisted. They can hoop, too.
With Mercades starting for the girls and Matrail for the boys, the super siblings of Idabel played state tournament games hours apart Tuesday at The Big House.
Mercades had 23 points and six assists as the Idabel girls overpowered Adair 67-51 in the afternoon. Tuesday night, Matrail and the Idabel boys lost 55-50 in a back-and-forth battle with Victory Christian.
Mercades leaned against the railing as she watched her brother play.
“It’s pretty cool,” Mercades said. “We’re very close. We do everything together.”
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There were lots of one-on-one games growing up.
“They’ve been competitive all their life,” their dad, Sammy Lopez, said. “In the backyard playing wiffle ball, basketball, dodgeball, they’ve always pushed each other. Plus they’ve got two older brothers and sisters that pushed them as well.”
Which twin got the best of the other?
“Me, definitely,” Mercades said.
The junior guards naturally have some similarities in their games, but Mercades might be a better bet to fill up the box score.
“We play pretty much alike,” Mercades said. “He doesn’t score as much, but we both work really hard on defense.”
“They’re both really unselfish,” Sammy added. “They try to play the game the right way and really enjoy getting their teammates involved.”
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With the Idabel girls back in the state tournament for the third consecutive season, two wins away from a Class 3A title, it’s hard to believe basketball isn’t Mercades’ best sport.
She zipped around the court Tuesday, sparking so much of Idabel’s success.
But sure enough, “I like softball better,” she said.
Meanwhile, her brother might be catching passes for the Cowboys before too long.
Tuesday, though, was all about basketball for the Lopez twins.
“Having twins is fun in itself,” Sammy said, “but to watch them compete in the state tournament and do things like that is very special.”
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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Twins Mercades, Matrail Lopez lead Idabel to 3A basketball tournament
