North Tama girls basketball assistant coach Nicole Hemann, center, pictured with her first cousins, players (l-r) Kahlia Even, Kinsley Even, Lydia Taylor, and Delanie Taylor. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY LIDGETT/AMY’S IMAGES

TRAER – The North Tama girls basketball team is sporting a whole lot of one family this season.

Assistant coach Nicole (née Schlichting) Hemann – a 2012 North Tama graduate and starter on the only Redhawk girls basketball team to make a state appearance (2011-12) – is currently helping head coach Harold Youngblut helm a team of first cousins – her own.

Hemann’s cousins include sisters Lydia and Delanie Taylor, and sisters Kinsley and Kahlia Even. The Taylor sisters and Even sisters are the daughters of twins Laura (née Detje) Taylor and Lisa (née Detje) Even, respectively, while Hemann’s mother, Tina (née Detje) Schlichting, is Laura and Lisa’s older sister.

And if that wasn’t perhaps confusing enough, the team also features a separate trio of cousins – Ava Breakenridge and Gabriella and Violet Seda are also first cousins but unrelated to the Hemann/Taylor/Even cousins.

Heading into the week, the Redhawks were 3-4 (2-2) on the season led thus far by junior Breakenridge with 58 points (eight 3-pointers) and seven assists, while sophomore Rylee Ridout leads the defense with 51 rebounds, seven steals, and two blocks.

Heading into the week the team was set to face Waterloo Christian (6-1) at home on Monday, followed by North Butler (2-4) on Tuesday and Gladbrook-Reinbeck (5-3) on Thursday – both road games – before the holiday break.