Brothers Christian and Drew Parrish enjoying lone year together on basketball court

While it is very important that teammates have a close bond with one another, it goes without saying for Christian and Drew Parrish.

They are brothers and both are members of the varsity boys basketball team for Gig Harbor High School. Both have a big passion for basketball and both are in important roles for the Tides.

But they couldn’t be more different on the court.

“Both are different but very unique. Drew played varsity for us and played well; and Christian has been in our youth program,” said coach Billy Landram. “It’s unique that they are brothers, and it is unique that they play opposite positions.”

Where Drew is the senior center standing at 6-foot-3-inches, Christian is a 5-foot-10-inch freshman point guard.

Even though they are in different positions, the Parrish brothers are often involved in the Tides’ offense. Christian is the one that will bring the ball up court and gets everything set, while Drew controls the inside lane with rebounds and kicks the ball back out.

“It’s pretty fun especially since we play with such different styles, we play together a lot” Drew said. “We’ve grown up playing with each other… and we’ve watched each other grow up too. We just know our games pretty well.”

On the court, Drew has had experience playing in the Tides’ program for several years. He has become something of the elder statesman not only to his brother, but also for the entire team as well.

In his experience, Drew has seen what it takes for his team to be great and he takes that responsibility to hold teammates to a high standard. Even in practices, the senior center wants high energy and high focus to yield great results in the next game.

“I’ve seen what it takes for us to win and how we look differently when we are and aren’t successful,” he said. “I’ve had to call out if we are having a sloppy practice if we don’t look like we are purely focused… I feel like it’s on me to keep the team focused and we attack every day the same way.”

That also doesn’t stop Drew from telling Christian things a little more straight forward either. Because the brothers are so close, any words said between them are not taken as mean but used to help improve the next thing at practice or the next possession in a game.

In a sense, Drew has taken Christian under his wing.

“We handle [our relationship] pretty well. Sometimes he can get on me a little bit, but that’s just basketball,” Christian said. “Before I had to make free throws against Lynden to lock it up, he just grabbed me and said ‘It’s just like any other free throw. You’ve done this your whole life.’”

Even though he is a freshman, Christian has already made a large impact on the Tides. He starts most games and sets the tone for what they are trying to do on defense as well.

Despite only having these few months with the varsity squad, the Christian has gone through the Tides’ youth program and it has helped him gel with the upperclassmen.

“Christian has the ball in his hands a lot, so he dictates a lot of what is happening,” said Landram. “That’s always a major influence… Christian is like most point guards, where they want to dribble or shoot a lot. So we’re always trying to get the kids to throw it inside to our post.”

When he is on the court, Christian provides strong defense for the Tides. Often times, he is shutting down the opponent’s players and creating more opportunities for his team.

And speaking of offense, Christian likes to drive the ball himself to the rim to get layups or kick the ball out to another open shot. He really wants wins more than anything. And if there are games where he doesn’t score but the Tides win, then that’s just fine.

“Scoring is nice but I would rather get zero points and win than 20 points and lose,” he said. “I like driving past people and getting nice ‘and one’ lay ins, getting past [the defense] and then kicking it out.”

Both brothers provide their own type of leadership as well by setting a good example for the rest of their teammates.

Siblings sometimes fight and sometimes it can get physical, but Drew and Christian always leave it on the court. No matter what may have been said or done, they move on and don’t let it get under their skin.

Plus it helps they play different positions as well.

“It’s not like they are getting in fights. They are both there working together,” Landram said. “There has not been any real downside. The other brothers I’ve had would go at it and there was nearly a fight every day… I think being in different positions helps when you’re not stuck going head to head against that kid every time.”

Maybe not on the practice court, but the competitiveness is there especially when the Parrish brothers are playing NBA 2K on their Xbox.

With a win over Capital on Jan. 8, the Tides took sole possession of first place atop the 3A SSC.

Their next test will be against Timberline at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 at Gig Harbor High School.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 6:00 AM.