Family affairs have always been a regular part of Whatcom County basketball, but one thing you can count on every year is siblings playing for their schools’ varsity teams.
This season, eight of our 11 high schools have either brothers on the same team, sisters on the same team, or in a few cases, both a brother and sister playing for their varsity squads.
But there are some unique combinations in 2025-26.
At Squalicum, basketball season really is a family time with three sets of siblings — Addison and Avery Kettman, Audri and Carli Kiesau, and Kingston and Tiana Thompson. And if you toss in the junior varsity teams, the Storm have two more sets.
Then there are the Holland twins at Bellingham. Although not identical, it’s hard to tell the two sophomores apart on the court since they both start and play a lot. (Hint: Lucy is the left-hander, Elise the right-hander.)
And Blaine has three siblings all playing, and none are twins — senior Bea Dickson and her brothers, junior Gus and sophomore Chris.
But in a county where basketball talent frequently runs through multiple generations — you can start with the celebrated Dykstras of Lynden Christian, the Andersons/Soareses of Mount Baker, and the Heppners of Lynden — there is one family with a rare hoop relationship: the Turrells.
Senior Cole Turrell is a starting post for the Sehome boys team, and sophomore Taylor is a starting guard for the Sehome girls team. So far, pretty normal.
But then there’s father Josh Turrell, who played for the Sehome boys team, and finally mother Stacey (nee Miller), who played for the Sehome girls team.
Parents and children playing for the varsity at the same school. That, hoop fans, is pretty unusual.
If you know of any other families where siblings were on varsity and both parents played on the varsity at the same school, be sure to let us know at WhatcomHoops@comcast.net.
“I can’t think of any others,” said Stacey at a recent Sehome boys-girls doubleheader. “When you’re young and first have kids, you don’t think that far ahead, where they might be playing (high school sports). But we’ve lived here almost our whole lives, and we still know so many people there (at Sehome). It’s been really fun.”
Both Cole and Taylor have had success on the court and in other sports — Cole is getting college scholarship offers for football and Taylor was a standout setter on the Mariners’ volleyball team that just took fourth in state — but the two accomplished youngsters have nothing on their parents, who both graduated in 1998.
Josh was a three-sport standout — quarterback on the football team, guard on the basketball team, and shortstop on the baseball team. While basketball was probably his third best sport, he was good enough as a sophomore to be on the 1996 Sehome state championship squad often recognized as the best team in Washington state history.
He also helped the Mariners go to state in football and baseball, where they took second his senior year. And remember, this was when Sehome was playing in the AAA ranks (now 4A). Josh would eventually take his baseball talents to St. Martin’s College where he earned all-academic honors.
But even Josh couldn’t outshine his high school sweetheart, who is one of Sehome’s all-time great athletes.
Stacey Miller earned 11 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball, and softball, garnering at least all-league honors while leading the Mariners to the playoffs in each sport. But her specialty was basketball, where she was a four-year varsity player, three-year starter, two-year team MVP, and all-state her senior season when the Mariners placed fifth. When she graduated, she was the third highest career scorer in school history.
She went on to play two seasons of volleyball at Washington State University before returning to Bellingham and starting for three years on the Western Washington University basketball team, leaving behind school records in 3-point shooting and earning all-American honors.
Of course, the former all-stars and college standouts are now just Mom and Dad in the Turrell household.
“We don’t talk about it much,” said Stacey, who was an assistant coach at Sehome for three years before returning to Western where she has been the lead assistant to women’s coach Carmen Dolfo for the past 14 seasons. “When Cole was a freshman, so many teachers would talk about Josh and I (in high school). We thought it was funny, but I don’t think they (Cole and Taylor) think it’s very cool.”
So while a lot has changed — Sehome’s old building and gym were torn down and replaced in 2019 — there are still ties to the good old days, including current athletic director Colin Cushman and girls assistant Kim Kirk, both of whom coached Stacey.
“It still feels like home,” she said of her alma mater. “We had such a great experience. But now we love watching them play. It’s just hard to believe it’s been almost 30 years.”
Here’s a list of Whatcom County’s other sibling combinations:
BELLINGHAM GIRLS: Elise (sophomore) and Lucy (sophomore) Holland
BLAINE: Bea (senior), Gus (junior), Chris (sophomore) Dickson
LUMMI NATION: Deandre (junior) and Celestine (sophomore) James
LYNDEN GIRLS: Rian (senior) and Izzie (junior) Stephan
LYNDEN BOYS: Malachi (junior) and Markus (sophomore) Koenen
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN: Gunnar (junior) and Tyra (sophomore) Dykstra
MOUNT BAKER: Peyton (senior) and Kalyn (sophomore) Abitia
SEHOME: Cole (senior) and Taylor (sophomore) Turrell, Keira (senior) and Kaila (sophomore) Reeves
SQUALICUM: Addison (junior) and Avery (freshman) Kettman, Carli (junior) and Audri (freshman) Kiesau, Tiana (junior) and Kingston (freshman) Thompson
