SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Miles Bulldogs have had an impressive season so far on the hardwood with two of their top players sharing not only the love of the game but the same last name.

“He can get under my skin more than anyone else,” Sophomore, Cooper Ellison said.

Carson and Cooper Ellison are brothers who are only two years apart.

Carson Ellison – “It’s truly cool, it’s a different experience, I mean I like to consider my team my family but having someone on my team that’s blood, it’s a different type of feeling, better connection,” Senior, Carson Ellison said.

“I mean I just want to be better than him at everything so, I mean he’s good, so I’m just trying to score more than him, but we’re also trying to win every game,” said Cooper.

With brotherly love, comes brotherly competition and they are no strangers to it, even if it may be bittersweet this season.

“After the game, we’ll talk about the game for I mean a good hour or so, just recapping it and saying what we could’ve done better,” Cooper said. “But also trash talk and say, “I mean you missed a wide-open three” and “you missed a layup”.”

“I wish I could have one more year with him,” said Carson. “But got to make it count why I’m still here hoping that I can leave something with him and something with the team that they’ll carry on throughout their final years.”

The energy from the Ellison brothers is unmatched, from the jump ball to the last whistle, they both feed off of each other’s energy.

“I think we both had it but last year I didn’t show it as much as I was playing but as much but yeah, definitely rubs off,” Cooper said.

“This is a new program put in place but I think it was there long before us and you know they just compete well and that goes back to their parents and upbringing and stuff like this,” Head coach Gerald Butts said. “So, you know, they come from good homes, good families, and like you say, that never-ending will to win and to do what it takes to win and they are 100% on board.”

“Well, I’d like to think we have the same type of energy. We’re both super intense, are both high-intensity players, so whenever something big happens, our energy just spikes and I think that carries throughout the team,” Carson said.