Briggs is back at Fort Cherry
Observer-Reporter
Eugene Briggs spent the past 10 years as the boys basketball coach at Chartiers-Houston. He was recently hired for the same position at Fort Cherry. It will be his second stint as the Rangers’ head coach.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Eugene Briggs spent the past 10 years as the boys basketball coach at Chartiers-Houston. He was recently hired for the same position at Fort Cherry. It will be his second stint as the Rangers’ head coach.
When the search began for a new boys basketball coach at Fort Cherry High School, those in charge of the process didn’t have to look far to find a qualified candidate who knows a little about the Rangers’ basketball history.
Eugene Briggs, who spent the past 10 years as head coach at Chartiers-Houston, was recently hired as Fort Cherry’s coach. It will be the second stint at Fort Cherry for Briggs, who guided the Rangers for 12 years (1995-2007).
The 61-year-old Briggs is a Fort Cherry graduate, a Hickory resident and was the first boys basketball player to score 1,000 career points for the Rangers.
And, by the way, Briggs, is a member of the Fort Cherry School Board, which means he won’t be drawing a salary for coaching the Rangers.
Briggs said there was no particular reason for him to leave Chartiers-Houston. The Bucs went 10-12 last season and missed the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs because of a pair of two-point losses to Jeannette.
“I had no reason to leave Chartiers-Houston,” Briggs said. “I was out of coaching for a while when I went to Chartiers-Houston, and it was to help Jerry Cypher, who was the coach there. Everything fell into place and I ended up getting that job when Jerry left. I had a great 10 years. Chartiers-Houston has great people, great kids. We did some things in those 10 years that hadn’t been done at Chartiers-Houston in the previous 55 years.”
Briggs said the lure of returning to his alma mater was too strong to pass up.
“It was an opportunity to come home. The timing was good,” Briggs said. “At 61, it was time to come home. My business is here.”
Though Fort Cherry spent the last two years playing in Class 3A while Chartiers-Houston was in Class 2A, Briggs is familiar with the Rangers’ players. Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston, who used to be rivals in the same section, met in each of the last two seasons in non-section games.
The WPIAL realigned its sections for the upcoming basketball season and Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston will be together again in Section 2 of Class 2A, along with Burgettstown, Carlynton, Northgate and Sto-Rox. The section opener for Fort Cherry will be at home in early January against Chartiers-Houston.
“It has been tough getting started because I can’t even meet with the players,” Briggs said referring to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. “I do see a very versatile, athletic roster. We can go pretty deep and do some of the things I like, such as press and play a transition game. There is talent in the lower grades, too.”
Briggs succeeds James Kirker, who went 18-48 in three seasons. The Rangers were 4-17 last season while playing in Class 3A. Fort Cherry has had seven head coaches since Briggs left in 2007.