By Brian FeesSouthern Tier Sports Report
CORNING — For the Peters brothers playing basketball together is something they do all the time outside at their house.
Monday night was a little different as the five brothers made history, becoming the first known time that five brothers all started a varsity game together as Corning Christian Academy beat Port City 54-43.
“This is a rare chance, I’m just glad I could be a part of it,” Teddy Peters said.
When the game tipped off there was Tyrus, Denton, Mickey, Teddy and Gehrig all on the court together. Tyrus, a senior knows how special this moment was.
“Not anyone has gotten this chance before besides me,” Tyrus said. “To play with all of them was great. We worked really well together on the court.”
For the brothers the moment was special, but they weren’t expecting the kind of reaction making history drew.
It was coach Merlin Button who set up this magical moment for the five brothers. The game was originally scheduled before Christmas, but weather got it postponed until Monday night.
“It was our coach and it was kind of a Christmas gift,” Tyrus Peters said. “That’s why when the game got canceled it was kind of upsetting, but he just wanted to do it for us. He wondered if this had ever happened, it happend. He called the news stations and got everyone here. It was our coach that put this together.”
When the game had been postponed, the brothers weren’t certain this moment would ever come.
“I was worried we wouldn’t get the chance again, but I’m glad we did,” Teddy said.
The game started with the five brothers on the court, and they more than held their own. Tyrus started things off, getting a basket and a foul and then Denton followed with a jumper.
“It got the game going and then Denton hit that one shot,” Peters said of his basket.
That basketball by Tyrus fired up his brothers.
“For Tyrus to get the hard and one, I felt the energy and then I had to come back and get the two,” Denton said.
For the brothers the entire moment was special.
“I think it was really fun,” Gehrig said.
“I really enjoyed it,” Teddy added.
The brothers loved getting a chance to be a part of history.
“It was a great time to be playing with them,” Tyrus said.
“It was just fun to be playing with so many people that are good at basketball,” Mickey added.
“It was fun to have my family on my team,” Denton said.
The brothers represent five different grades as Tyrus is a senior and Teddy is a junior. Denton is a freshman, Gehrig is in seventh grade and Mickey is a sixth grader.
All of them, but Mickey, have played in a varsity game before. For Mickey, while he may be the youngest, he had plenty of faith in what he can do.
“it was really fun, I was just glad to be a part of it,” he said. “I am known to be the most confident out of all of us.”
Tyrus saw how quickly his brothers fit in starting on varsity.
“There was a little pressure to show up and make something happen,” Peters said of being the one regular starter out of the brothers. “But, I think we did fine for how long we were out there. They didn’t really play nervous or under pressure. They just played like we would outside.”
Denton wasn’t sure how his younger brother would handle playing kids five or more years older than them, but they held their own.
“For how big those guys (on the other team) were, I was kind of worried for these guys,” Denton said. “I was not sure if they were going to get killed out there.”
The whole thing was kind of like playing a home, only on a bigger stage.
“It worked out great,” Tyrus said. “We got outside and we play together all the time and we did it out here.”
Tyrus just started playing basketball a few years ago and he wondered if maybe he’d ever get to play with his brothers.
“I didn’t even start playing basketball until three years ago,” Tyrus said. “I wondered if we would play together in the same game. I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was. I was actually surprised all the buzz about it.”
Seeing the atmosphere in the gym was something the brothers will always remember.
“It was great,” Tyrus said. “It was probably the loudest it’s been in the gym. Family, friends, it was great having someone here cheering us on. We usually don’t have a lot of people here cheering us on, it’s just msaller groups. But, today we got a lot of people and they really helped boast the morale of the game.”
And, the whole thing was a moment the brothers will be talking about for years to come.
“It was fun to make history,” Denton said.
“It was unexpected, but fun,” Gehrig said.
“I can imagine myself talking about this in the future,” Tyrus said. “Saying I played with all my brothers on the basketball team together one game, it’s something special.”
And, for the younger brothers, this game will just help boast their morale for the future.
“Getting a chance to see the competition is going to be like,” Mickey said. “And, to play with five brothers is great.”
Corning Christian led 25-21 at the half, and pulled away with 29 second-half points.
Tyrus led the team with 21 points, 11 in the opening quarter and Grant Thomas had nine points, while Teddy Peters and Zhyaire Driscoll had five points each.
Isaiah Sissel, Lincoln Miller and Richie Blackman had four points each, while Denton Peters had two points.
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PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:
