Double trouble: Rogan, Smith twins coming up big for KR
SPRINGFIELD — At some point during a game, the referees will inevitably turn to Kenton Ridge High School boys basketball coach Brian Smith with a simple question: “Are those twins?”
Smith typically laughs and responds: “Which ones?”
“I can’t tell you how many times the refs have stopped me and asked if those are twins,” Brian Smith said, “and then they realize that there are two sets of twins. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Kenton Ridge has two sets of identical twin brothers in its basketball program — Smith’s sons
Braden and Bryce Smith and brothers Canye and Ckai Rogan.
The Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division champion and fifth-seeded Cougars (18-5) will play Oakwood in a Division II second round game at 5:30 p.m. today at Trotwood-madison High School. The winner will play either third-seeded Tippecanoe or 11th-seeded Dunbar in a D-II district semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The foursome have played together since fourth grade. Over the years, the Rogan twins’ father, Larry Rogan, has coached both sets of twins alongside Brian Smith.
“It’s been a lot of fun and it’s coming to a close,” said Brian Smith, who took over Kenton Ridge’s varsity program last season. “It’s been a lot of hours in the gym and a lot of time with them. I’m so blessed to be able to get this opportunity to coach these guys the last two years.”
The Rogan twins met the Smith twins as third-graders and they started playing together the following year. They knew their class — including fellow seniors Logan Fyffe and Tyrinn Robinson — could be special.
“As soon as we transferred over, we knew we had the
talent to do something,” Canye Rogan said. “We just put it to use. Every year we’ve been one of the top teams, if not the top team. We’ve just grown off of it every year and we’ve been able to get it done.”
The 6-foot-1 Smith twins are three-sport athletes, also playing on the Cougars football and baseball teams, while the 6-foot-4 Rogan twins solely play basketball.
Ckai Rogan leads the team in scoring (12.7 points per game), rebounding (4.7 rebounds per game) and 3-point shooting percentage (43.9%). Canye Rogan is averaging 11.5 ppg, 3.3 rebounds and leads the team in free-throw percentage (80.4%). Braden Smith is averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, while Bryce is averaging 1.1 assists per game.
“We always stuck with each other,” Bryce Smith said. “We’ve played together and we know what it takes, we know how each other plays. We always have up-and-downs but you pick them up because those are your brothers.”
This year, the Cougars’ senior class set out to win its first CBC title in 15 years — and they’re not ready for it to end anytime soon. The team’s next goal is to advance to a D-II district game at UD Arena. Kenton Ridge beat Bellbrook 72-58 in a first-round game on
Monday.
The two sets of twins have always had a great bond, Bryce Smith said.
“We’re really close and it’s a great bond that you never want to lose,” Bryce Smith said. “I appreciate these guys a lot and I would do anything for them.”
Despite coaching them since fourth grade, Brian Smith wasn’t able to tell the
Rogan twins apart until last year, he said.
“I don’t know how, but I couldn’t,” he said. “The kids always can. They always know that this one is Canye and this one is Ckai. They don’t understand how we can’t tell them apart. It’s the same with my kids — I can tell them apart easily, but others can’t.”
Especially the officials.*