Pequot Lakes’ Darci Martini Becomes Latest in Family to Make Noise on the Hardwood

There’s a saying that good genes run in the family, and that’s definitely the case for the Martinis of Pequot Lakes.

Darci, the youngest member of the Martini clan, is following in the basketball football of sisters Maci and Kelsi, who both played basketball for Pequot Lakes High School. In March, Darci qualified for the Elks Hoop Shoot National Finals in Chicago and was the first Brainerd Elk to do so since her sister Kelsi qualified nine years ago.

As Darci says, free throw shooting has become a part of her daily routine. “In the morning before I got to breakfast, I practice in the gym and after school, and that’s helped me a lot.”

But what’s had an equal part in Darci’s improvement on the court is growing up with ballers for sisters.

“She’s been watching us play as she’s grown up,” said Kelsi Martini, a former Pequot Lakes girls’ basketball player. “And just being around basketball has helped her build her competitiveness and her want to succeed.”

And her will to win certainly shined through when she needed it most in Iowa City last month for the Hoop Shoot Regional.

“Every contest we went to, each level it got higher and higher and Darci kept improving,” said Lisa Martini, Darci’s mom. “And so when we were at Iowa to go to Nationals, she shot the best she’s ever shot, which was perfect timing. And we were just so excited, so excited for her.”

And now, sister Kelsi can enjoy seeing things come full circle, even if being in the crowd’s a whole lot more stressful than being the one on the court.

“I would say watching, honestly, we like just watching her shoot out there,” added Kelsi. “She handles it awesome. But I would say I probably got more nervous watching her than I did shooting it in the contest.”

But Darci was far from shaken at the free throw line, as she had plenty of sibling advice to fall back on.

“I learned to take your time and to just have fun,” she explained.

Darci’s the latest Martini making noise and is doing so before even reaching her 10th birthday, after lacing 20 of her 25 free throws to win the 8-9-year-old bracket of the Regional tournament in Iowa City. Her family believes the biggest factor in Darci’s prowess on the court is her calm demeanor.

“She definitely stays calm,” stated Lisa. “She says she gets a little nervous. We don’t really see it, but she just goes and does her thing.”

“Their calm competitiveness, their demeanor on the court, just, you know, in high pressure situations, they’re – you can’t really tell their highs and lows,” said father Shaun Martini of his children. “And that’s kind of kind of been the same with all our kids.”

And as for the tournament, Darci, like a true Martini, has some ambitious goals.

“In the top five, and maybe in the 20s for shooting,” she said.

The Hoop Shoot Nationals in Chicago will be held April 18-21. The Martinis also wanted to give a special shout-out to the Brainerd Elks for all the program has done for Darci and the Martini family.