KARNS CITY — Chase Beighley is close to finishing the chase.

Karns City's senior point guard has scored 1,499 points in his high school boys basketball career, pulling him within 56 of breaking the school record. That mark of 1,554 was set by Tyler Callihan in 2005.

“Tremendous player,” Beighley said. “I've gone up against him in open gyms. I've been thinking about that record since seventh grade.

“Next two or three games or so ... I'm pretty excited about this.”

There's something else Beighley has been thinking about since seventh grade that's arrived this year — and he's excited about that as well.

For the first and only season, Beighley is a varsity basketball teammate of his younger brother Taite. The latter is a freshman guard for the Gremlins.

“Taite is our second guard off the bench,” Karns City coach Chris Bellis said. “He's a point guard, as is Chase, but they are different types of players.

“Chase is a scoring point guard. He takes the ball and attacks the defense. Taite is more of a creator. He draws the defense out and finds the open man.”

At times, the pair are on the court together. Taite runs the point while Chase shifts over to shooting guard.

“I love when we do that,” Chase Beighley said. “I can get more open looks and Taite handles the ball well.

“This was going to be the only year we'd be on the same team. It's been cool, having this kind of success.”

Karns City is 13-1 so far this season.

Taite Beighley was one of the prime scorers on Karns City's junior high team last season. That squad finished 12-4.

Now he's making the adjustment to playing a role on a winning high school varsity team.

“Chase has been a big help that way,” Taite Beighley said. “I've learned so much just from watching him play. He's helped me fit into this team.”

Both players had five assists in a recent 28-point victory over Redbank Valley, avenging the team's lone loss of the season.

“I've learned to play a certain role this year,” Taite said. “We've got a deep team and most of us are coming back. I think we can be good for a while.”

His older brother agreed.

Destined for college basketball — being recruited by numerous Division III schools — Chase Beighley plans to keep an eye on the Gremlins next year.

“I know they're going to be good,” he said.

But this is this year and the Beighley brothers are doing more than co-existing on the floor. They're flourishing.

“I can identify with them,” said Bellis, who was a teammate of younger brother Shawn for a year of Butler High School basketball. “Sometimes you play your best when your brother is challenging you to do so.

“A player can say things to a brother on the court that maybe he can't say to another teammate. That can be an advantage for both guys.”

The Beighley brothers come from a basketball family. Their father, Dave Beighley, played basketball at Grove City College.

Their mother, Alicia Ritzert Beighley, played girls basketball at Karns City.

“We were practically born into it,” Chase Beighley said.

Now they're enjoying living it.

“I'll never forget this season,” Taite Beighley said.

They're making it one worth remembering.