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Sports

Pair of Dhuses Make Their Mark on Yorkville Basketball

Jordann Dhuse and her older brother Kyle serve as captains for the Foxes; they've blossomed from backyard warriors to on-court leaders.

Siblings often choose separate interests, but that’s not the case for Jordann and Kyle Dhuse.

Both of them chose to play basketball from a young age while attending Cross Lutheran School. Now, they both lead their teams at Yorkville High School.

While it may be reasonable to expect competition among the siblings, their mother, Toni Dhuse, says that’s not the case, not now, anyway.

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“When they were younger, that’s what mattered,” Toni said. “They’re very supportive of each other now.”

Support is what has allowed the two to be team captains and starters on their teams, in addition to playing varsity ball early on in their high school years.  Jordann, a 5-7 junior point guard, has played on the Yorkville girls varsity team since she was a freshman, while Kyle, a 6-foot senior guard/forward, began his varsity career as a sophomore.

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Jordann says they help one another make the most of their talents.

“We practice together, and we give each other pointers,” Jordann said. “We’re pretty close.”

Even big brother Kyle says the two “get along well,” and that they “usually” aren’t in competition. When Jordann talks about competing with her brother she says, “No, I’d lose.”

Yet, the two have been strong players since they were young. Their mother, who played as a guard for the Yorkville girls basketball team, says the kids get their talent from their grandpas, who were “big-time basketball players” for Yorkville and Plattville.

They younger Dhuses used to play on concrete at their house with their father. Bob Dhuse, who was a wrestler at Yorkville, more than once needed stitches after going down particularly hard and suffering an injury during a battle with his two playmates.

“He got stiches several times from playing with them out here because he wouldn’t back off,” Toni said. “The kids would just run over him, and the next thing you know he’d be on the concrete.”

Kyle is now finishing his last season with the Yorkville boys basketball team, though he doesn’t yet have plans to play basketball in college. However, he does plan to pursue track at the college level while studying to become a physical therapist or chiropractor.

He runs the 400- and 800-meter races for Yorkville and placed 13th with the Foxes' 4x800 relay team  last year at the IHSA state track meet. It was the first year running the 800.

The Foxes (9-7) play host to Ottawa at 7 p.m. on Friday in a boys basketball game.

Meanwhile, Jordann still has one year left to play for the Foxes as a senior. Yorkville coach Luke Engelhardt will be glad to have her back, though he doesn’t think next year will be much different.

“I’m looking at her as a senior this year, and then next year will just be another year for her,” Engelhardt said. “I think that’s the way she plays. I don’t classify her as junior, senior. I’m glad I get her for another year. But what she’s doing now … she’s playing like she should, like she can.”

Yorkville (7-10) plays a girls basketball game at Rochelle on Friday night.

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