Observer-Reporter Athlete of the week
Name: AJ Myers
School: Chartiers-Houston
Year: Junior
Sport: Basketball
Myers’ week: The 6-1 guard led the Bucs to a championship at the Bentworth Holiday Tournament and one win over McGuffey in the Chuckie Mahoney Classic at Burgettstown High School.
Myers had 26 points in a first-round tournament win over South Allegheny last Monday and followed with an unforgettable performance in the championship game against South Side Beaver. His pull-up, three-pointer from 30 feet tied the score and his free throw with five seconds left gave Chartiers-Houston (7-5) the 63-62 win.
He followed it up with 28 points in a victory over the Highlanders Saturday.
“It was a pretty big moment,” Myers said of the shot against SSB. “It was pretty exciting to pull out a victory like that,” Myers said. “I’m starting to get that mindset that we just have to go. Time was ticking. We started to play a different style, I guess, and it worked.”
Observer-Reporter Player of the Year.
Since returning, Myers is averaging 22.8 ppg and again looks like one of the best all-around players in the area.
The slow start wasn’t limited to the regular season. Myers often saves his best for last in games. In each of the Bucs’ wins last week, he did most of the scoring in the second half, including 19 against South Allegheny and 26 against South Side Beaver.
It’s not that Myers is missing shots in the first half of games. His strategy early is part of his new leadership role – trying to get young players involved.
“I’m working on becoming more of an aggressive player, attacking the rim and throwing up shots,” Myers said. “I have to get that mentality to be aggressive. It’s hard to do. You want to be a great teammate, but you have to be aggressive yourself. It’s hard for me to adjust to it. It will be good in the end.”
It’s been a topic of discussion between Myers and Chartiers-Houston head coach Eugene Briggs for two years. It’s moments like Myers’ game-winning shot or his 26 first-half points in a section game against Burgettstown last season show Briggs what the junior is truly capable of – taking over a game at any moment.
“Athletically, when he wants to get to the rim, then he gets to the rim,” Briggs said.
“If you send an extra defender at him, he can shoot that three-pointer. If you back off, he’s a rare, athletic three-point shooter. Most high school kids are either athletic or a three-point shooter and he’s both.”
New role: As a freshman, Myers stretched defenses by using his three-point shot, which made room for C-H’s big lineup of senior forwards. His role evolved last season into Ferrari’s safety blanket on the wing and Chartiers-Houston’s top rebounder.
With Ferrari graduated, Myers is being asked to lead a young C-H team that is inexperienced but deep. Sophomore guard Cam Hanley has become a top scoring threat, but the Bucs will go as Myers does and he’s learning the responsibility is on him to guide the Bucs.
“I kind of like it. It’s more of a leadership role,” Myers said. “I have to control the team and help everyone out. Every practice I’m learning how to be a better leader.”
Compiled by Lance Lysowski