High school basketball preview 2020: Triplets Molly and Marianna Plas motivate one another on and off the court

Some people talk to themselves in a mirror for motivation, but for Molly and Marianna Plas, the reflection talks back. The Vermilion juniors are triplets along with a brother. They share the same look, competitiveness, motivation and a desire to make sure the other doesn't fall behind. "She pushes me to be my best," Molly said. "I look at her in many ways. She's a great shooter so I aspire my shot to be like hers. I love to play with her. Whenever we're on the court together it just seems to click. We play really well together. Whenever I get down on myself, she's always there to pick me back up. We're always there to cheer for each other." About the only difference in their games is style. Molly is more defensive-minded while Marianna is a purer scorer. Vermilion coach Jason Sockel said Marianna, who averaged 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 steals last year, is probably one of the most athletic players in the league. Molly may not fill up the stat sheet, but she's the team's No. 1 on-ball defender, often tasked with pressuring the point guard — or the opposing team's best player — to set up the Sailors' defense. That pairs well with Marianna, who excels in reading the passing lanes. When Molly forces an errant pass, Marianna is often there to swipe it. Sockel knew he had a pair of special players before he took the job last year. He previously was an assistant on the boys team and watched first-hand as the sisters petitioned to work out with the boys varsity as eighth-graders. Sockel said they held their own, and are constantly pushing themselves between seasons. "It got to the point where we're actively asking them to give themselves a little rest before the season starts," Sockel said. "Part of what makes them special is that they have each other to motivate the other one. If one of them is having a day where they're just not feeling it, the other is there to push them." Both sisters took on a heavy offseason training regimen, but they also looked inward. Marianna said she needed to get stronger mentally to avoid letting small mistakes snowball into bigger ones and keep out of foul trouble more consistently this year. She found inspiration in the book "Shoot Your Shot," by Vernon Brundage Jr. "I struggled a lot last year," Marianna said. "Whenever I'd mess up, I'd go and do something stupid — like pick up a foul or something. I just need to bounce back after making a mistake. "I messed up recently in practice and coach got on me. Last year I would have thought that I sucked or something, but this year I know I've got to push through and be stronger. I just have to put my mind to it. Mentally, it's so much better. I'm a pretty good shooter and play defense, but mentally you have to be there too. You can't get down because it brings the whole team down." Molly took a similar approach, but for a different reason. She's had some unfortunate physical luck, losing her freshman year to a back injury. This preseason, she injured her right shoulder, but fortunately it won't cost her the season. She turns to motivational quotes for inspiration, and plans to share one with the team before each game this season. "When I got hurt my freshman year I lost a lot of self-confidence," Molly said. "I got discouraged, so I just started looking up quotes that would improve my confidence so I could improve mentally because I couldn't be with my team physically." Each has the other's back, but they also compete like siblings, and Sockel said it manifests itself during team drills. They're almost always paired together and the competition can get intense. When one pulls ahead, the other immediately shifts into a higher gear to try and restore balance. Sockel added, though, that their competitiveness is out of a desire to improve, and once the drill is over they're right back to being sisters. "When we're on the court together, we're a duo," Marianna said. "We're always by each other and it's really fun whenever we're doing things the right way. We have that connection on the court." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter.