The car ride home with the Friend family after a basketball game can be a confusing experience. Coleman Hayes, a former teammate, said he'd sit quietly and listen as the family critiqued the play of Danny Friend Jr. or his little sister, Precious. Half the time, Hayes said he couldn't understand the criticism because their teams had just won.

"They'd say, 'Danny, you didn't do this or that. You should have gotten back on defense,' " Hayes said. "I wouldn't say nothing, but I'd be kind of laughing, I know my parents wouldn't say that."

Basketball is serious stuff in the Friend family, and now the siblings have accomplished at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy a rarity in Georgia: Son and daughter will start in state semifinal high school basketball games Wednesday night in Macon. The SACA boys play top-ranked Randolph-Clay at 5:30, followed by the SACA girls against Pacelli at 7 p.m.

At Redan, the only other Georgia high school with both teams still playing, Cedric Dixon starts for the boys, and his sister, Felecia Dixon, is a reserve for the girls.

When SACA played in the Class A quarterfinals in Rome, a teammate joked that it must be a Friend family reunion because the stands were packed with cousins, aunts and uncles. Rhonda said even more are making the trip for the semifinals: It truly will be Friend and Family night at the Macon Coliseum tonight.

"It touches me that they've come this far," Danny Sr. said of his children. "I prayed on it. I did my best to teach them the basics of the sport. It's overwhelming, and we're very proud of them. We called all the family members to let them know they need to be in Macon to support them."

He worked with his son. They spent hours in the Fulton or Clayton County recreation centers. When his son got old enough, he brought him to the adult rec games, sometimes letting him play with the men.

All the while, little sister Precious, who's often referred to by her middle name, Nikki, was on the sideline watching. When dad preached to his son about exposing an offensive player's weakness on defense, it was Precious who embraced the advice. When dad told his son to be aggressive, Precious listened.

"Sometimes the younger siblings will take in more of what you're teaching," Danny Sr. said. "She learned to defend; she picked up on that better than he did."

But Precious had to do some serious convincing to get on the basketball court. Her mom said she always wanted a "girly-girl" for a daughter, so instead of basketball, Precious was enrolled in ballet and tap dancing. She cried every day on the way to those lessons.

"She was like, 'Let me [play basketball],' and I'm like, 'You're not really interested; you're not ready,' " Danny Sr. said. "Now, she's done it, she's proven it to me. I told Danny if she was his height, she'd kill him."

Those are words Danny certainly doesn't want to hear. The 6-foot-5 senior, whose development this season is a major reason SACA has returned to Macon, said he and his sister are competitive with each other.

"It's amazing they always fuss at each other, but if anything happens to one of them, the other is there to make sure the other is OK," Rhonda said.

If you foul Danny during a game, you're going to hear it from Precious. Her best friend, Chaniel Parker, said it's obvious that little sister loves to watch her older brother compete. And lately, he has been competing at a high level. Against Bremen in the quarterfinals, Danny scored 18 points before fouling out, and Precious was there debating every call.

Precious' biggest complaint is that Danny Jr. is overprotective. He explained to her that she can't date anybody older than her, younger than her or her age. That doesn't leave a lot of options.

When rumors started flying that one of Danny's teammates might be interested in his sister — and we're not naming names, but his older brother plays for the Orlando Magic — Danny tried to keep the two apart.

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