Fort Cherry not in sharing mood, wins title outright

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Fort Cherry's Shane Cornali clashes with Burgettstown's in first quart action at Burgettstown on February 9.

Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter

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Fort Cherry's Derek Errett (22) drives on a fast break past Burgettstown's Zach Schrockman (5) on the way to two of the 21 points he scored in the Rangers' 56-53 victory over the Blue Devils at Burgettstown on February 9.

Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter

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Fort Cherry's Shane Cornali (14) splits the Blue Devil defenders and puts in two of the 22 points he contributed to the Rangers' 56-53 victory at Burgettstown on February 9.

Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter

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Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter Ranger Derek Errett (22) finds daylight for a shot between Blue Devil defenders as Fort Cherry worked to preserve its third quarter lead in the February 9 game at Burgettstown.

Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter

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By Joe Tuscano

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

BURGETTSTOWN – It might not be as ferocious as the Hatfield and McCoys but the rivalry between the high school basketball teams at Burgettstown and Fort Cherry has its moments.

Always a big draw with the fans, Friday night’s game was expected to be a thriller and it was.

Fort Cherry held off a second-half charge by Burgettstown to take a 56-53 victory and wrap up its third straight section title in Class 2A.

Derek Errett had a strong second half, finishing with 21 points after scoring just four in the first half. Shane Cornali had a game-high 22 points, 20 of them in the first half.

“I got two fouls and my teammates stepped up and made plays for us,” said Errett. “Winning three in a row is awesome. We went 8-0 against them (over four seasons).”

“(Errett and Cornali) controlled the ball for us,” said Fort Cherry head coach Eugene Briggs. “Derek was in foul trouble the first half and the second half, we gave him the ball and he made some good decisions. He got to the free throw line and made the shots.”

Fort Cherry moved to 16-5 overall and 11-1 in the section, winning the title outright. Burgettstown fell to 9-3 in the section and 16-6 overall.

Zack Schrockman, who needed 18 points to reach 1,000 for the season, scored 12 points. For Cherry’s defense frustrated him

and the rest of Burgettstown’s players until a 10-6 run to start of the third quarter cut a 16-point Fort Cherry lead to 46-40.

The first half was filled with turnovers, nine for Burgettstown and seven for Fort Cherry, and missed shots. Schrockman didn’t score until 4:32 remained in the half and he finished the half with just six points. Derek Errett, who has taken on the scoring responsibilities for the Rangers this season, had four points in the first quarter, none in the second.

“We got off to a slow start in the first half,” Burgettstown head coach Bryan Maltony said. “The second half we came out and made a run. We fought back. They are a good team, section champions for a reason. We just fell a little bit short.”

James Lueice led the Blue Devils with 18 points.