Vince Grippi: What’s the key to the Truong sisters’ success at Gonzaga? Loving the moment.

It’s hard to remember. Especially this time of year. March. NCAA Tournament time. All the hyperbole, intensity, heck, even the commercials, cover it up. The simple immutable truth gets buried.

Basketball is a game.

No, really.

The same game maybe you and millions of others played in kindergarten. In elementary school. Middle. High school. Every age. Every life stage.

And yet, at times it seems every aspect of the tournament conspires to turn our eyes from that fact. Rants about the seeding. The officiating. The coaches. Players missing shots. Unexpected losses. Rants, rages and roars.

All based on a game. Think it’s more important than that? We beg to differ.

And we have proof. We enter, in evidence, the joyful way Gonzaga’s twin sisters, Kayleigh and Kaylynne Truong, play the game. Yes, the game.

Are they exceptional at it? Well, after five years in Spokane, the guard duo has combined for 2,702 points and 1,101 assists. They’ve made 458 3-point shots and are better than 80% from the free throw line. Those numbers certainly qualify as exceptional.

But they don’t tell you one salient fact. You have to watch them play to appreciate their joy. Of just, you know, playing. The fist pumps, sure. The high fives, of course. But more. The exclamations after either hits a big 3. The exaltations when any teammate does something special. Or something mundane, even. That joy. It stands out.

Where did it come from? How did it grow in this era of travel ball, transfer portals and endless sales pitches? We asked the Truongs to trace their journey for us. Surprise. It started in kindergarten. Or maybe first grade. They are a little fuzzy on that detail.

But not on what it began for them.

“We were fairly new to the game, not really quite understanding a lot of the rules and where we’re supposed to be,” Kayleigh said Friday, sitting in front of a locker adorned with a hand-drawn paper-sized poster of encouragement from a local elementary school student. “In the very first season I scored my first two points off free throws and those were my only points that season.”

“I remember just being very excited for Leigh,” added Kaylynne. “She scored two points for our family.”

Kaylynne laughed, a common occurrence during the conversation.

The game’s rules might have been a bit of a mystery, but one aspect wasn’t. It introduced them to the magic of being part of a team. And it all started in a Houston elementary gym, with teammates like the yoga-pant-wearing Model Kelly (their affectionate nickname), with their dad and mom watching, all the while wondering if they really understood anything said to them.

“The first season was just like a learning curve, just being able to get on the court with each other,” Kayleigh said. “I just know, it was really fun just being around our teammates. That’s all I knew.”

And it was magnified in their second season.

“We just kind of fell in love with that aspect of being around a team,” Kayleigh said. “Then we developed a better understanding of what basketball was. The rules, what it’s for, how it’s played. Just loved it. I can’t really find a reason why basketball was it. It caught my interest, you know?”

Yes, we do.

And we understand how the interest could grow.

And become serious, something Kayleigh also tried to explain.

“I didn’t think we really got serious until, like …” she paused and Kaylynne jumped in, “middle school.” “Yeah, middle school,” Kayleigh continued. “When our AAU coaches were telling us, telling our parents at least, your kids can go and earn a college scholarship. And play. At that time, we didn’t know, our parents didn’t know, it was very uncharted territory for us.”

It is for many. Some fall for glitz. Others for unfulfilled promises. The Truongs – mom, dad and the two players – figured out they must be decent if college coaches came to watch them play, but they wanted to be better. To earn a scholarship.

“We watched film back then over and over again,” Kaylynne said. “I think it’s funny. I asked her how much patience did she have because, back in the little league days, we were not great.

“My mom told me she thinks the payoff is how we developed into the players we are now, just getting to live our dream out, playing college ball together, that’s what makes her proud and happy and full of joy.”

A joy they shared in those early days. A joy shared when they starred at Jersey Village High in the northwest part of Houston’s sprawling metropolis. And a joy that brought with them to Spokane, as they began their Gonzaga journey. Together. As they always have been. They shared a bedroom at home with, as they described it, a dorm-like feel: Two beds, drawers in between and a closet. Nothing about that has changed.

“It’s funny, freshman year, we were asking if ‘as incoming freshmen, do we live in the same dorm, suite, whatever?’ and coach Lisa (Fortier) brought up in the conversation at some point we will have to split ways,” Kayleigh explained. “I said, ‘that is at some point but right now, when we get a chance to be together on the same college campus, we are staying together.’ ”

They did. They have. They are still roommates. Perfect ones? More laughter.

“It’s family,” Kaylynne said. “We fight here and there but we love each other. It’s blood.”

A blood they shed on the court together. Blood they will shed at least one more time – in Spokane. Their fourth-seeded Zags, coming off Saturday’s first-round NCAA home win against UC Irvine, match up Monday with one of the Pac-12’s best, fifth-seeded Utah. Both ranked. Both experienced. Both capable of making a long NCAA run. It is, no matter what, the Truongs’, Eliza Hollingsworth’s, Brynna Maxwell’s and the injured Destiny Burton’s final game in the Kennel.

Only one of tonight’s teams will move on to the regionals in Portland next weekend. The other? Their season will be over. And for fifth-year seniors like the Truongs, whether it’s Monday or next week or never, if they cut the nets in Cleveland, their college career as well.

What’s next? Neither Kaylynne or Kayleigh will say for sure. But they know they would like to stay together, if at all possible. They have international experience playing for Vietnam, their parents’ home country. They represented the nation in April 2022 at the Southeast Asia Games, winning silver in the 3x3 competition. There may be more of that type of competition in the future.

As well as professional play overseas.

“Honestly, ya, there will come a point in time where we’re forced to go our separate ways,” Lynne said, “but until that time comes I think I’m just trying to enjoy every moment and if we do get to play together overseas, it will definitely make it a lot easier for our parents to come visit us. We’ll see in the future.”

“We talk about it all the time,” Kayleigh adds. ” ‘Oh, it’s coming.’ Back in high school, we (attended) college camps and they always put us on separate teams. We were never allowed to be on the same team. We’ve learned to play on different teams, just not in different areas yet.

“And I know that will happen some time in the near future. I think we’re ready,” she said, though a crack in her voice might indicate otherwise. “At the same time, if we have the chance to be together, we’re going to be together.”

Together. Playing, yes, a game they love. Building memories with a smile.

“The games come and go,” Kaylynne said as the conversation wound down. “We will remember some games here and there but I think we will remember most how we felt with the people who care about us, the ones we are surrounded by.”

Thanks to a game. No matter what March might argue.