CROSBY — Go down to a Crosby-Ironton Rangers basketball game on a Tuesday night and out of the five players wearing maroon and white three of them might be from the same family.
Carsen, Cayden and Colten Turk play for the Rangers, so C-I games turn into family reunions.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Cayden Turk said. “Obviously growing up playing basketball together it’s fun playing varsity together and being out there with my brothers.”
Cayden and Colten are identical twins and seniors. The funny thing is during games they will constantly get asked by referees and opposing teams if they are cousins. Nope. They are brothers.
Carsen is the younger brother and a sophomore. He also is Crosby-Ironton’s leading scorer and point guard.
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Carsen averages 16 points and 5.0 assists a game. Cayden averages almost 10 points and three assists. Colten scores 5.5 points a game. All three are the only players to play in all 17 games for C-I.
Defensively, Cayden grabs almost three steals a game and Carsen is just over two. C-I is a smaller team so they rely on pressure defense to create turnovers and more opportunities.
“It’s pretty rare to see,” Carsen Turk said. “You don’t always see three brothers on the same court that often at the varsity level. We’ve been doing this since we were 6-years-old and our parents are super happy about us.”
Carsen admitted being a little nervous coming into the season because it was his first year playing varsity. Having his older brothers to shepherd him helped.
“They really helped me ease into the varsity level,” Carsen said. “It’s just been fun.”
Their dad got them into basketball when they were young and they played on a full-court in their backyard.
For Carsen, being the younger brother, his goal growing up was to beat his older twin brothers one-on-one.
“It took me so long,” Carsen said. “I still don’t know if I have ever done it. We would always shoot together and play together and have friends over, too.”
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Carsen is still scarred from the time Cayden pushed him to the asphalt while playing one-on-one.
“I can’t really remember that,” Cayden said. “But there have definitely been some fights out there.”
Practice can get competitive when the three matchup with each other. They have been practicing against each other their whole lives, so they can predict each other’s movements.
“There is still a lot of trash talk that goes on even though we are brothers,” Carsen said.
They all think playing for head coach Dave Galovich has been a good experience. Cayden can tell he knows a lot about the game and they all agree he gets on them because he wants them to get better.
“He’s a lot about detail,” Cayden said. “If you mess up you will know about it and that’s good to clean up the mistakes we have been making. Crosby-Ironton definitely has a winning culture and to be a part of that is pretty cool.”
The Turks are trying to soak up every last second they get on the court together. They continue to work in practice and are hoping for a dream run to state. Cayden sat on the bench as a reserve his freshman year when C-I made the state tournament in 2017.
“We’ve got to correct our mistakes,” Colten Turk said. “We are looking to get on a winning streak again. We have a lot of memories this season, but we still have 10 more games left. Hopefully, we can make more memories.”
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Nothing stands out to them about playing together. Because they’ve played together for so long they do have great chemistry.
“We basically know what the other is going to do when they have the ball,” Colten said. “We know where to go and our strengths and weaknesses.”
Cayden and Colten both said they thrive off shooting 3-pointers, but it’s Carsen who drives the lane and sets up the rest of the team.
“He’s the best ballhandler out there,” Colten said of Carsen. “It’s going to be fun to watch him play next year. They will have a good team and Carsen and them will only get better.”
Outside of basketball, the brothers enjoy playing video games together. Carsen claims to be the better NBA 2k player and they all agreed Cayden is the best Madden player.
Cayden and Colten also love to golf and both are on the C-I golf team. None of them wanted to say they were better than the other, but last summer Cayden notched his first hole-in-one on the 12th hole at Cuyuna Rolling Hills.
With the basketball season winding down, Cayden’s and Colten’s days on the hardwood will be finished. They both have applied to colleges and the clubhouse favorite for both of them is North Dakota State University.
“They are definitely going to end up at the same college,” Carsen said smiling. “I don’t see them not being together.”
