Identical Twin sisters Alyssa and Alyssen Rivers have built-in excuses when they lose to each other in their hotly contested one-on-one basketball games. The 5-foot-8 Alyssa has the height advantage as she is two inches taller, but Alyssen has more experience, as she is two minutes older.
Alyssen feels she also has a real advantage, as opposed to a 120-second age difference.
“I’m typically stronger than her,” she said. “I use my muscle to my advantage and muscle her out. But if she wanted to she could probably reach over me.”
It has led to some great battles. Both High School South seniors have won their share playing each other at the park under the watchful eye of their dad, Dudley, and their brother, Bryan, a former High School South star now playing for Pace University.
“Those games would get intense,” Alyssen said. “At some points we would get frustrated. We just wanted to be done with it. You know people will ask us, who’s better. We just play so aggressive against each other. They’d always be long games. I would win, she would win, no one would win.”
Alyssa added that “there were a lot of those games with my dad and my brother, they made us do it all the time. We hated playing against each other. But our skill level is the same and we’re both competitive, so playing a lot of one-on-one made us really good.”
It made them good enough to be four-year varsity performers for the Pirates. They were a solid nucleus for first-year coach Dezarae Fillmyer to inherit when she took over.
“They are both great girls,” Fillmyer said. “Both of them are very talented and find their way to the basket. They are both tenacious on the court and handle pressure well. It’s hard to keep them off the court. They are both leaders on and off the court. Whenever someone on the team needs them they are there.”
Through their first three seasons, Alyssen averaged 7.8 points with a high of 9.9 per game last year, and Alyssa averaged 7.6 with a high of 10.0 as a junior. Alyssa had 29 three-pointers during that time and Alyssen added 25.
This season, in the Pirates’ 2-2 start, Alyssa was averaging 12.8 points and Alyssen 9.5. They are doing so while playing several different positions in addition to their spots at guard.
“A lot of times we have to play almost all of the positions because we’re both relatively tall and we can play a lot of positions,” Alyssa said. “We’re strong and we’re fast. It helps us a lot in other positions. If our coach needs us there she’ll put us there.”
Fillmyer said both girls are just as good at shooting as they are driving to the basket with enough aggression.
“Alyssen plays some at the post position as well,” she said. “She’s very strong and isn’t afraid to get into someone. Alyssa has a good shot from three-point range and also has no problem being aggressive towards the basket.”
Alyssen feels playing all over helps make her a better player due to a greater understanding of the entire picture.
“It helps me when I’m playing guard, I know what the post has to do,” she said. “When I see a post player working hard down low — because I know what that’s like — I want to get her the ball. I get the plays from all the different angles, so it’s easy to see what happens and what should happen.”
The twins have been together since they were tykes, always playing on the same team. They started playing soccer and gymnastics competitively, and also went to softball and tennis camps.
“We went to a lot of sports-related camps rather than doing the sports themselves,” Alyssa said.
Basketball and soccer were different stories. The two played rec soccer and, after leaving Pop Warner cheerleading in eighth grade, they returned to the sport at South. They began basketball in first grade and, after playing rec ball, went to travel and eventually began AAU in fifth grade.
Through it all they remained on the same team, which has helped provide a built-in chemistry. Noted Fillmyer, “They both know where the other is on the court. The way they connect passes and play defense together is great.”
“I don’t know if we have a sixth sense but we do play well together,” Alyssa added. “Growing up we had a lot of experience playing together. I know if Alyssen is on the floor I can trust her to do anything. I have the confidence she’ll do what she needs to do. I know if I throw her a pass, she’ll go to basket and take her shot.”
The two have always been there for each other. Despite their intense one-on-one games, both agree that they are not really competitive with each other — which is what made those games at the park so tough, since they really do like each other.
“We’ve always played the same position most of the time, and you’d think we’d be competitive,” Alyssa said. “But we kind of used it to our benefit. We work really well together and practice really hard together. It was nice not to be competitive.”
Fillmyer says both girls have a good shot and can drive to the basket. She added that Alyssa can play point guard and is a great communicator on the court, while Alyssen is aggressive, fast, and good at anticipating.
Each one agrees they have different personalities, but weren’t totally sure how to explain the difference. That was left up to their coach.
“They are both outgoing, caring, and all around nice girls,” Fillmyer said. “I would say Alyssa is more talkative and silly. Alyssen is more quiet and serious.”
They are both serious about basketball, as is big brother Bryan about teaching it to them.
“We would do workouts with him,” Alyssen said. “He’s so much stronger than us, and he would tell us stuff like ‘You should pull the ball back at this point, or you should go in and get the foul.’ He’d tell us things you wouldn’t necessarily learn at camp. You’re getting the experience from a player’s point of view.”
The girls plan on attending college and possibly playing club sports. They will make their decisions based strictly on the school. If they pick the same one, so be it. They just wouldn’t room together. If they split up, that’s fine too.
But first they would like to end their basketball careers with a strong senior season under Fillmyer, who took over for Mika Ryan.
“It’s different because they’re different people,” Alyssen said. “The way (Fillmyer) coaches us, the framework allows us to move around. She likes to listen to us and how we see the play on the court. Things were good under coach Ryan, too. It’s just a different style.”
The twins have no problem with things being different. Just look at their height and age difference as proof of that.
