Jan 3, 2018 4 min read

CLAYSVILLE – C.J. Cole is similar to the cherished Christmas present that gets delayed in shipping and doesn’t arrive until a few days after the holiday.

Tracking the shipment hourly, with the hope it’s closer to the destination, the anticipation and expectations are identical in nature: extremely high.

In a non-section finale for both teams, Cole arrived for McGuffey and also dropped a lump of coal in the stocking of Fort Cherry, scoring a career-high 23 points to lead the Highlanders to a 59-44 victory over the Rangers Wednesday night.

“The sky is the limit for him,” McGuffey coach Mike Fatigante said about his sophomore guard. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near his best basketball. There are times when he looks great and times when you’re reminded, as a coach, that he is a sophomore. But it’s nice when you have a couple guys that can score.”

McGuffey (9-1) did nearly all the scoring in the first quarter as Trent Belleville poured in the first nine points, then was followed suit by eight consecutive from Cole, including two three-pointers, that gave the Highlanders a 17-2 lead they wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the game.

“Trent got it going early, then that opened the door for me,” Cole said. “It was just other guys helping me, whether that was getting me open looks, setting screens or making great passes. Tonight was big. It was definitely a confidence booster.”

Boiled down to good shot selection and forcing five Fort Cherry turnovers, the same dominant McGuffey team didn’t come out in the two middle quarters.

Fort Cherry (5-5) scored 11 of the first 17 points in the second quarter as Ryhan Culberson and Nate Higham sparked a Rangers comeback. Culberson scored 10 of his 14 points, including a layup with 45 seconds left, to trim the halftime deficit to 34-22.

“We had a game plan that we executed in the first quarter,” Fatigante said. “Offensively, we took good shots. We had open jumpers and shots around the rim. But we jumped off the gas pedal.”

The Highlanders needed every bit of that lead coming out of the break as Culberson and Higham scored on consecutive fast breaks after forcing turnovers. Fort Cherry’s Zach Vincenti finished the six-point run with a layup on the following possession to bring the Rangers within single digits, 35-28, with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

But for every inkling of a comeback Fort Cherry gave, Cole had an answer. He made a three-pointer 29 seconds into the fourth quarter to mitigate another late Rangers rally, then delivered a pass to a cutting Belleville to give McGuffey a double-digit lead for good with 4:15 remaining.

“Any time you can win games, you want to,” Fatigante said. “We are 9-1 but at the end of the day it’s just another game. It’s better than the alternative, 1-9. When you are trying to go from losing games to winning them, you have to focus on the little things. We have to continue to do those little things if we want to win games.

“There are certain things we have to do to be successful. Our team knows that. Last year, they all bought in and saw that it works. We know that we have to be the hardest-working team on the floor. We know that we have to make good decisions. If we do those things every night, then we have a chance to win.”

Higham finished with a team-high 17 points for Fort Cherry.

Belleville, matched most of the game with Culberson, had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s beautiful,” Cole said about the balanced McGuffey offense.

“It was a big win tonight, a big confidence booster for me, especially with section play starting Friday.”