Courtesy: Northland Sports Information
ASHLAND, Wis. -- Usually siblings see the opportunity of going off to college as an opportunity to get away from each other and get a new start on their own. This isn’t the case for the duo of Maria and Michael Mackey, however. Maria and Michael are brother and sister from Holmen, Wisconsin, both majoring in education at Northland College. Not only do Maria and Michael take their sibling relationship to the classroom, but they also take it to the basketball court. Both have just entered their senior seasons, and have played key roles in the success for the LumberJacks and LumberJills on the hard court in recent years.
Michael was forced to sit out last year with a medical redshirt after breaking his foot early in the 2010-11 season. In his past three seasons from 2007-2010, however, he produced impressive statistics. His best season was his junior season (2009-2010) where he ranked in the top 10 in the conference for points (6th), assists (10th), steals (2nd), and minutes played (4th). He also was in the top 10 for assists (9th), steals (6th), and assist to turnover ratio (7th) his sophomore season (2008-2009). Coming into this season Michael had career totals of 205 rebounds and 190 assists. Just recently Michael joined the 1,000 point club for his Northland career in a conference game against Presentation College, showing his hard work and dedication to LumberJack basketball. He is only the 16th men’s basketball player in Northland College history to surpass the 1,000 point mark. Michael along with his great statistics on the court was able to produce in the classroom as well earning academic all-conference honors in his sophomore and junior years. Michael has played a key role through his leadership on a young LumberJack team thus far in his senior season. Thru the years Michael has also had the privilege of playing for his father, Tom Mackey, who is an assistant coach for Rob Robinson. “Having him helping us reminds me of when he used to coach me in 8th grade, which was probably when I had the most fun playing.”
Maria came into the season with high expectations on a LumberJill team that was ranked in preseason to finish second in the conference. She was able to make an impact early in her first season at Northland as she was a key 3-point shooter for the LumberJills. As a freshman she aided the Jills in winning the conference tournament for only the second time in school history in 2009 while ranking 3rd in the conference for three-point field goal percentage. As a sophomore, Maria would play a key role in getting the LumberJills into the NCAA tournament, the first time in school history for the women’s basketball program. Maria would put together her best season during her junior year. Maria was in the top ten in the conference for scoring (8th), three-point field goals (3rd), and minutes (5th). She was also the leading scorer on the team, and was rewarded for her efforts, being named 2nd Team All-Conference. The LumberJills have made the conference tournament all three seasons of Maria’s career. Maria, like Michael, was named Academic All-Conference her sophomore and junior seasons.
According to Maria, Michael had a huge impact on her decision to come to Northland. “The fact that we both play on the same night back to back has been tremendous for my family. If I would have gone somewhere else, we wouldn’t see each other play and my parents would have to split up for games.”
Having the whole family have the opportunity to watch both of them play is something Maria values extremely. “The support and love my family has for each other because of this experience is something I wouldn’t change for the world.” Michael also set the bar pretty high for Maria, academically and athletically. “My whole life I’ve been known as ‘Mackey’s sister.’ Walking into classrooms on the first day of school or meeting someone for the first time, I could always expect to hear ‘you must be Michael Mackey’s sister!” Maria admits that early on that this irritated her, but if you say it now, she’ll just take pride in it. “I have a feeling at some point in the upcoming years I will do anything to hear the phrase, ‘hey aren’t you Michael Mackey’s sister?”
With most sibling relationships there is conflict and rivalry, but this isn’t the case with the Mackey’s. The best rivalry they have involves one of the best college basketball rivalries. Maria is an avid Duke Blue Devils fan, while Michael is a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Other than the college basketball rivalry, though, this duo doesn’t disagree on too many other things.
The best part of playing college basketball for both the Mackey’s is the fact that they get to spend time together and watch each other play the game they love. They have paired up together playing basketball since they were little. Maria mentioned that in the earlier years, “He’d dominate me in one on one but I could get him in horse any day.” They both are extremely grateful that they have been able to watch each other thru the years. “It’s so fortunate that we have been able to watch each other succeed in the skills we perfected in our driveway,” says Maria. The duo of Maria and Michael Mackey is surely an inseparable one.
The LumberJacks and LumberJills have recently just started conference play, and if you’d like to watch the Mackey’s hit the hard court, all home games are played at the Kendrigan Gymnasium on the campus of Northland College. The next scheduled home games are on February 10th and 11th.