Joe and Dan Justice: 'It’s Harder To Stop Us When We’re Playing Together'

Twins and seniors Dan and Joe Justice might look very much alike, but to their basketball coach Don Rood, they are “as different as night and day.” Describing the players that he has watched grow up in the last few years, Rood cited that Joe is the more serious one who he enjoys finding ways to make him smile and that Dan is the more happy-go-lucky Justice.

"They both know their roles," Rood said, citing that Joe has been the leading scorer in several of the team's games this season and a good defender while Dan has been the team's sixth man and jack-of-all-trades.

"When I need something, he gives it to me," Rood said of Dan.

Rood noted that the Justices have grown up a lot in the last few years. He added that he has asked a lot of them and "they stepped up tremendously."

“They’ve shown some leadership this year that I wasn’t sure they’d show," Rood said.  They’ve really worked hard and gotten better over the years that he's coached them, he noted.

This hard work started for the Justices at a young age and continues now with daily practices. The Justice twins began playing basketball in fourth grade on Dame's CYO team that was coached by their teammate's father Kevin Towey. He has coached the Justice twins for several years on and off, Towey said, most recently in fall ball.

“Kevin’s dad pretty much taught us how to play the game,” Joe said, adding that the boys also learned and got an initial interest in basketball because their father enjoyed the game and still plays it today.

Towey said that he taught the Justice twins how to take layups with both hands.

"I was giving them things that they would later use in high school," he said.

Of coaching the Justices, Towey said, "I enjoyed them. They were fun to coach."

Towey noted that the boys had an advantage playing with their twin because there was always someone there to push them in "a good kind of competition." He added, "They seemed to have this sense of where each other is on the court."

The Justices are aware of that skill that they have.

“It’s harder to stop us when we’re playing together,” Dan said, adding, “It’s a lot easier for us to play together than it is to play with anyone else.”

In part inspired by their dad who still plays basketball, Dan and Joe said that they want to play as long as they can. They anticipate playing club leagues in college. Joe and Dan are planning on going to Nassau Community College next year and then transfer out. Since they'll be in the neighborhood, they said they might drop by and help with next year's team.