There’s still a chance that Andrean seniors Kate Sippel and Nora Sippel attend the same college.
The twin sisters both intend to study nursing.
But Kate Sippel, a 5-foot-5 guard, has been eyeing Marquette, and Nora Sippel, a 5-4 guard, has focused on St. Louis. Even if they do go to the same school, they’ve agreed not to share a room. They did that at home until two years ago.
No matter where they go, they’re supporting each other throughout the journey.
“We fight, but it’s nice having my best friend always here with me,” Kate Sippel said. “On car rides home, we’re always talking or singing. We’re very close.”
Nora Sippel joked that they hash out any differences “behind closed doors.”
“As long as I have coached them, I have never seen them fight,” Andrean coach Tony Scheub said. “I have always seen them get along. Or if they were mad at each other, it didn’t last long.”
The 59ers (9-9) have won five straight sectional titles and back-to-back regional titles. Last season, they reached a Class 2A semistate final before losing to eventual state champion Fort Wayne Bishop Luers. Kate and Nora Sippel contributed to that run.
“Our scout team is very important to what we do, it was big for us last year, and they were big members of our scout team last year,” Scheub said. “Kate and Nora know all of our plays from front to back. But they pick up things really quickly, and they know the opposing team’s too — they probably knew the other team’s offense as well as they did.
“Kate was able to be a post player when we needed her. She was able to be the point guard because she knew all of the positions. They might not be Lindsay Arcella or Maddie Walton, but they’ve been a big part of our program.”
Scheub said Kate Sippel “has dug out a role” as the team’s first guard off the bench. She has hit some timely 3-pointers and earned additional minutes by defending well and taking care of the ball.
“I’ve been focusing a lot on my shooting and just trying to be a role player,” Kate Sippel said. “Just going out on the court and doing exactly what I’m supposed to do and paying attention and knowing the plays. Even if I’m on the bench, helping other players on the court. If they mess up, just always being there and supporting them.”
Nora Sippel has played sparingly. But she’s always engaged in the process.
“I’ve been trying to work on my defense more and not only make myself better, but help my teammates get better,” she said. “Just give them support and be positive.”
That type of attitude influences the rest of the team.
“They do a good job of talking all of our kids through stuff,” Scheub said. “In practice, as seniors, they’re not captains of the team, but their effort on the floor in practice is infectious. If you see them working hard, it makes other kids work hard. That is something that is never in doubt when these two are on the floor.”
Indeed, the Sippels are diligent in maximizing their ability. That’s certainly the case in soccer, a sport in which they were part of Andrean’s Class 1A state runner-up team as freshmen in 2021. Kate Sippel got time in the championship game.
The Sippels then started alongside each other on defense for three seasons, with Kate in the middle and Nora on the outside. Andrean won sectional and regional titles when they were sophomores in 2022, and the Sippels were captains as seniors.
Both were named all-conference this past season. They were also selected for the academic all-state team, and they should follow suit in basketball.
“They’re awesome kids,” Scheub said. “They come from a tremendous family. Watching film, you always see their parents. Their parents are fans for all of the kids. It’s fun as a coach to see that.”
Kate and Nora Sippel are also distance runners in track and field, and they’re members of the National Honor Society, student government and Young Adults Really Care, a program in which students host holiday parties for people with special needs at Halloween, Christmas and Easter.
Kate Sippel is also an accomplished baker with a small business, and Nora Sippel quipped that she’s the “taste tester.”
Kate Sippel provided the desserts for Andrean’s team banquet after last season.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Scheub said. “I’m not lying. It looked like it was bought at a store and brought here and put out. It was pretty unbelievable. There were a number of desserts, and it was all pretty impressive.”
Andrean also hopes to have much to celebrate at its banquet after this season. The first-place 59ers, unbeaten through four games in the Northwest Crossroads Conference, travel to Lowell on Saturday. They finished second behind Munster in the conference last season.
After just one player graduated and a promising freshman class joined the strong core, Kate and Nora Sippel agreed the 59ers have the means to flourish down the stretch. They know what it takes to succeed.
“This year definitely is different,” Kate Sippel said. “It means more. Not that past years haven’t meant a lot, but it means more now that it’s our last year. We’re putting in everything we have.”
