Anyone can agree; family time is quality time — and the Penberthy clan takes that to the next level.
They are a basketball family through and through. The family is headed by Mike Penberthy, a former professional basketball player who had a short stint with the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, he supports his family as a shooting coach for the team.
And the lineage looks to continue at the local level for right now. Both of his sons, Ty, a senior, and Jaden, a junior, play varsity basketball at Hart High.
“We’re lucky,” Ty said. “A lot of brothers don’t get a chance to play with each other with their age differences so far apart. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The Penberthy brothers have been playing basketball together their whole lives, for the most part. Last year’s basketball season at Hart was their first time getting to play on the same team since childhood.
“Up from like elementary school to high school he was always a little bit lower than me grade-wise,” Ty said of their separation throughout youth basketball.
Despite the separation, the two never missed a beat when meeting up again on the floor.
“We’ve been practicing together all our life, so it’s fun to actually play games and the chemistry is there,” Jaden said.
The two brothers have been extremely efficient on the court. Both are solid scorers in an explosive offense. They are also able to feed off of each other. On multiple occasions this season, they have been able to create plays for each other to take a wide-open shot.
The duo even put a run together between just the two of them to dash Canyon’s hopes at a comeback earlier this season. Not only did they turn a 4-point lead into a 12-pont lead in less than two minutes, but they did it themselves, assisting each other on every shot.
“Like he said: It’s just chemistry,” Ty said. “We work out together every day. I know what he does well, and he knows what I do. We try to use that to work together during the game.”
Not everything is basketball with these two, though. Off the court, and outside of school, they spend a lot of time together. Food has become a staple of their relationship together.
“Oh man, we eat Chick-fil-A a ton,” Jaden said.
The reaction between the two brothers suggested that some classic Penberthy moments have been shared over a chicken sandwich and a milkshake, but that’s for them to have with each other.
Ty and Jaden will have to cherish the memories they have, as the time they have to build more is fleeting. Ty will graduate from Hart in June and move on. He doesn’t have an official plan, yet — but he is weighing his options.
“It went by too fast,” Ty said.
Jaden said the time he spent playing with his brother will always play in head like a highlight reel. He doesn’t look back on the big plays, but just the small moments they had on the court together.
“I think our memories will come from like the basic things,” he said. “Looking back and seeing little clips in my mind replaying. It’s pretty cool.”
