Jan 20, 2022 3 min read

McDONALD – It looked like it would be a rough night for Dylan Rogers.

The Fort Cherry senior sprained his ankle against Northgate this past Friday but felt well enough the play against Burgettstown Thursday night, hit his shots during pregame warmups and even went into the half-court circle to go after the opening jump ball.

Rogers won the jump ball but came down on his bad ankle and re-sprained it.

“It’s pretty swollen,” Rogers said.

Despite the pain, he never thought about leaving the game.

“I didn’t feel that was an option,” he said. “It’s Burgettstown. It’s a rivalry game. No way I wasn’t going to play.

Rogers played and played well, scoring 22 points. He and Owen Norman (23 points) combined for 45 of Fort Cherry’s 66 points in a 66-43 win over Burgettstown. Adam Wolfe also added eight points and 12 rebounds for the Rangers.

Fort Cherry coach Eugene Briggs described Rogers’s performance as “tough.”

“That says a lot about somebody,” Fort Cherry coach Eugene Briggs said. “You know, obviously, you’re in pain. You step up, and you really come back and play with no limitations. He still was taking the ball to the basket, and he was still active on the glass playing with a bad wheel.”

Behind 12 points by Rogers- all from beyond the arc- Fort Cherry (12-2, 4-1) took a comfortable 32-18 lead into halftime and never let Burgettstown back in the game in the second half.

Although Rogers’s gutty effort might have been the story of the game, Norman narrowly edged him out for high-scorer. The two have become quite the duo in WPIAL Class A.

“We just have really good chemistry,” Rogers said. “He knows where I’m gonna be; I know where he’s gonna be. We just somehow find a way to finish each other’s passes.

Briggs said Norman played an intelligent game for the most part.

“A few times, he forced the action a little bit,” Briggs said. “But for the most part, he took what they gave him. Overall, good decision making.”

For Burgettstown (5-7, 0-5), James Leuice led the way with 15 points, and Caleb Russell added 13.

Burgettstown has now lost six games in a row and five straight by double-digits. Blue Devils’ coach Tim Murray saw some progress in Thursday’s loss despite another bitter result.

“Mainly our effort, our attitude,” Murray said. “I feel like we haven’t been very mentally tough in recent games. Even though tonight didn’t go our way, I think we showed a lot more toughness.”

Neither team will have long to rest. Fort Cherry plays Jefferson Morgan tomorrow night at 7:30 in Jefferson. The Blue Devils are also in action tomorrow night at Avella. Even though it’s a non-section game against a school that one classification below, Rogers said he’s “definitely playing” against the Rockets.

The Rangers are now a half-game behind Carlynton in Class 2A Section 2. For Briggs, better decision-making on offense will be essential for the Rangers to beat the better teams in 2A.

“If you want to make some noise in the postseason, you’re playing some darn good teams,” Briggs said. “So every one of those possessions has to be valued, and sometimes we’re not doing that. But, overall, we’re doing pretty well.”