Two of a kind

Published 4:05 pm Monday, December 15, 2008

Shooting a layup is one of the most basic skills an aspiring basketball player must learn.

The process wasn’t much fun for Mokun Fajemisin. As a third-grader she wanted to know more about the sport, so her brother Simi Fajemisin tried to teach her. There were some tense moments.

“He’s impatient so we were both yelling at each other,” Mokun Fajemisin recalled.

These days Mokun Fajemisin makes layups and all sorts of more difficult shots without her brother’s assistance. A freshman at Lynnwood High School, she starts for the 2-2 Royals girls basketball team and leads the squad in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots (13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks per game).

Meanwhile, Simi Fajemisin, a 6-foot-9 Lynnwood junior, is a powerful 250-pound center on the Royals boys basketball squad. He also makes a potent all-around impact, averaging 12 points, 10 boards and two blocks.

The siblings — who share a calm, ultra-polite demeanor — both said they hope to eventually earn Division 1 basketball scholarships. But Mokun Fajemisin, a 5-10 forward/post, said the sport wasn’t always her favorite.

“When I was younger I didn’t really want to play basketball. I just played it because my brother did,” she said.

Mokun Fajemisin stuck with it though and got hooked on hoops like her brother, who has been playing for about 10 years. Simi Fajemisin appears to have his sister beat when it comes to being a basketball fanatic.

“He plays basketball all the time and he watches it. He knows everything about high school, college and pro teams,” said Geoff Meinken, Simi’s Lynnwood teammate.

How devoted to hoops is Simi Fajemisin? Recently he talked about how excited he is to get his driver’s license so he can drive to other gyms and scout opponents, Meinken said.

Anyone who watches the Fajemisin siblings, who moved from Chicago to Washington when Simi was age 6 and Mokun was 3, might notice similarities. They’re both powerful and love to block shots, for instance. But they have different talents too.

Darrell McNeal, Class 3A Lynnwood’s first-year head boys basketball coach, praised Simi Fajemisin’s hands around the hoop and footwork. Fajemisin displayed those skills last week at practice with some quick, effective post moves.

“He’s able to use his body and he’s well-coordinated,” McNeal said of Fajemisin, who last season received All-Wesco South honorable mention.

Also a solid passer, Fajemisin is well-rounded, McNeal said. That extends to schoolwork. Fajemisin has a 3.66 grade-point average. Academics are his top priority, he said.

“You look at character and qualities of a student-athlete (and) I believe anybody that would be interested in Simi would be getting the perfect kid,” said McNeal.

Mokun Fajemisin mirrors her brother’s blend of academic dedication and athletic success, but her impact in basketball is more varied. While Simi Fajemisin is strictly a post, Mokun contributes all over.

“She’s more versatile,” said Simi Fajemisin, who watches his sister’s games when his schedule allows it. “She can play several positions.”

The sky is the limit for Mokun Fajemisin, depending on how hard she works over the next several years, Lynnwood girls basketball coach Everett Edwards said.

“Her speed and her strength, those are her two biggest assets,” said Edwards, who praised Mokun Fajemisin’s ability to anticipate when to go for rebounds and blocks.

Speaking of blocks, Edwards recalled a funny sequence from an early-season practice when Mokun Fajemisin displayed her shot-swatting prowess. Seemingly tireless, she rejected at least four consecutive shots by teammates.

“It was pretty comical because they would try to shoot and she would just stuff them. Girls couldn’t shoot over her,” Edwards said.

Instead of focusing on individual achievements, the Fajemisins said they are determined to help lift their respective programs back to prominence. The Lynnwood boys team won 12 games last season but has been to the state tournament only once since the 1980s. Wesco South coaches picked the Royals (2-2) to finish sixth overall (third among 3A teams) in The Herald’s preseason poll.

Coming off a four-win 2007-08 season, the Lynnwood girls squad was seventh in the Wesco South coaches’ preseason rankings. The Royals’ last state-tourney trip was in 1994.

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.