Showcase Q&A: Marion County’s Holt discusses cosmetology, her older sister and basketball court toughness
The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10.
PHILADELPHIA, Mo. — The ferocity with which Riley Holt plays on the basketball court has left several people close to her shocked at her chosen career path.
“When I told my friends that I planned on getting a cosmetology license, they were all like, ‘Really? You seem too tough for all that,’” Holt said.
Holt had a sound response.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I know I can be kind of mean and tough when it comes to sports, but I like being a girl,’” Holt said.
Holt, a Marion County graduate, will attend Moberly Area Community College to earn a two-year business degree before getting that cosmetology license, following in the footsteps of her sister, Tristen, who graduated from Marion County in 2023.
“My sister attended MACC, so I was like, ‘Oh, I should go there, too,’” Riley Holt said.
The two sisters plan to join forces in the cosmetics industry one day.
“She’s getting an online makeup artist license, so then we thought, ‘Oh, we could start a sisters business. You could do the makeup, then I could do the hair and nails,’” Riley Holt said.
Riley and Tristen developed the idea within the last year, but their love of cosmetics began in their respective seventh grade years.
“That’s when Marion County starts their dances,” Riley Holt said. “That’s when you’re first allowed to go, so Tristen got into hair and makeup then, and then I got to seventh grade, and I was like, ‘Oh, I like makeup,’ but Tristen has taken it on more professionally in the past two years or so. She’s been doing some wedding sets and stuff.”
Riley channeled the wedding spirit to come up with a name for the sisters’ future beauty shop.
“We asked Snapchat AI and ChatGPT for name ideas, and we weren’t finding any that we liked, so I came up with, ‘I Do Makeup,’ because it goes in with brides and all that with them saying, ‘I do,’” Riley Holt said.
Before embarking on this endeavor, though, Riley will play one more basketball game when she plays for the Missouri girls in the Muddy River Showcase. She chatted with Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey in this Showcase Q&A.
Q: What are you looking forward to most about playing in the Muddy River Showcase?
A: I’m looking forward to just getting back on the court again and meeting new friends, hopefully.
Q: What are some of your biggest strengths as a player?
A: I think my biggest strength is on the defensive side of the court. I’ve never been a super big scorer, but if my coach tells me to not let them score, that’s my job, I’m going to do it well.
Q: What makes you such a good defender?
A: I’m willing to take charges whenever. That’s my favorite thing to do in basketball.
Q: Have you gotten a little numb to it?
A: Yes, definitely. It no longer hurts anymore.
Q: What goes into being good at taking charges?
A: I think it’s mostly just being willing to sacrifice your body for your team. A lot of girls are scared to take charges. I’m just like, ‘I’m in here for it all. I’ll take one for you guys.’”
Q: Where does that mentality come from?
A: It’s mostly just I was raised to work hard and do everything for other. I’m a human servant to everyone. That’s also something Coach Wood used to really push — be a servant to your teammates. Help everybody.
Q: Do you take that mentality into everyday life?
A: Yes, absolutely. I work at the Rebel Pig, so I’m always helping customers, obviously, but even with all my other coworkes, I’m willing to pitch in or go the extra mile cleaning. I just think it’s something everyone should do.
Q: So, you want to make everybody else’s life easier?
A: Yes, absolutely.
Q: What was it like playing with your sister, Tristen?
A: Freshman year, it was a lot different. I was used to being the one with the most minutes, then I come into freshman year, and we have six seniors, a junior and a sophomore, so I didn’t get as much playing time. I think that’s when I really started to become a servant. I was always there to help them do better in their games and practices and whatnot. My sister was basically my ride to every practice. We became partners for every drill. The next year, when those seniors graduated, Tristen I were pretty much the leaders. I think her and I played a big role in shaping the now seniors at Marion County into better players, along with our coach, obviously.
Q: Where there times when you and Tristen butted heads?
A: Oh, yeah. Her senior year, we didn’t get along too well. We kept on yelling at each other, blaming each other for everything. My freshman year, it was fine, but once she became a senior, we argued all the time in basketball and yelled at each other across the court.
Q: That’s just what sisters do, isn’t it?
A: Yeah, but we definitely had a telepathy. We always knew where each other was going to be at like every moment.
Q: How do you two get along outside of basketball?
A: We’re very close. She’s building a house, and she’s building me a room so I can go over there and stay whenever I want.
Q: With Tristen being a couple years older, what are some things you’ve learned from her that have served you well, whether that’s in basketball or life in general?
A: Looking up to her from when I was younger, she got a job at the Rebel Pig, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want to have a job.’ A few years later, I get a job there. She’s just always like one step ahead of me and then I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to do that,’ or she’s building a house, and I’m like, ‘I want that in my house.’ She’s just a very good role model for literally anyone. She’s very determined and hard-working. I think that’s where I get my hard-working mentality from.
Q: How did you two come up with the idea for a sisters business?
A: My sister loves makeup. Like anytime we had an event that we needed our makeup and hair done for, I would do her hair, and she would do my makeup.
Q: What was the moment you did somebody’s hair that you were most proud of?
A: My friends and I were going to the derby in Palmyra, and I had to mine, my sister’s and my two other friends’ hair. I did it so fast, and it all looked perfect, so I was very satisfied with my work.
Q: It sounds like you and Tristen are pretty similar. Are there any ways your personalities are different?
A: I’d say they’re pretty different. She’s more emotional and always crying about something, and I’m over there like, ‘It’s OK, Tristen. Get over it. It’s fine.’ I can be nice to her for a second when she’s upset, but then I’m just like, ‘OK, stop crying. This is getting ridiculous now.’”
Check out more of the Muddy River Showcase Q&As at the links below:
Payson Seymour’s Blake Schwartz
South Shelby’s Callie McWilliams
West Hancock’s Lewis Siegfried
Quincy Notre Dame’s Alex Dance
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