Kenton Ridge tops Urbana, grabs lead in CBC Kenton Trail
Rogan twins combine for 34 points; Cougars bolster title hopes.
SPRINGFIELD — The Kenton Ridge High School boys basketball team is one step closer to accomplishing its ultimate goal: winning the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division championship.
Senior Canye Rogan scored 20 points and twin brother Ckai Rogan added 14 points as Kenton Ridge beat Urbana 67-53 in a key CBC Kenton Trail Division game in front of a packed house on Friday night in Springfield.
“As soon as the day started, I was just ready to play,” Canye
Rogan said. “It was on my mind all day. I was just ready to come out and play. I wanted this one bad.”
Senior Logan Fyffe scored 15 points for Kenton Ridge, which improved to 14-3 and 6-1 in the Kenton Trail Division.
“We just came into the game realizing that we had a big chance to (take the lead) in the CBC,” Ckai Rogan said. “It was a big game. It was a great win. We stuck to the principles just like coach told us to do and we came out on top.”
Senior Will Donahoe scored 20 points and senior Drake Dixon added 14 as Urbana fell to 9-6 and 5-2 in the division.
KR grabbed a one-game lead in the division with three to play. The Cougars travel to London on Feb. 2, play at Bellefontaine
on Feb. 9 and host Tecumseh in their regular season finale Feb. 16.
“Urbana is going to hold serve and we’ve got to hold serve,” KR coach Brian Smith said. “We set ourselves up nicely, but we still have to take care of our business.”
Dixon hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter as Urbana grabbed a 17-12 lead after the first quarter.
“We knew that we had to hold it together,” Ckai Rogan said. “We knew they were going to come out and get a punch in, but we knew we had to punch right back and we did that.”
Kenton Ridge erupted in the second quarter, outscoring the Hillclimbers 23-11 to take a 35-28 halftime lead. Ckai Rogan led the Cougars with eight points in the quarter.
“I was just looking to come out, be aggressive and score, get some shots off when I was open and that’s what I did,” Ckai Rogan said.
The Rogan brothers and Fyffe combined for 19 points in the first half, hitting five 3-pointers.
“Once we settled in, I think we showed what we’re capable of,” Smith said. “We’ve had some real letdowns against them. We’ve been ahead 8, 9, 10 points in the tournament and the first game this year and we just kind of stopped. This time we kept building.”
KR pulled away in the third quarter, holding the Hillclimbers to three points. Senior Braden Smith scored all seven of his points in the period, extending KR’S lead to 20.
Canye Rogan scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, nailing his fourth 3-pointer.
“I was focused on the game and I was ready to come out and knock down my shots,” Canye Rogan said. “As soon as I got the ball, I was just thinking about looking for my shot or finding space to create for another player on the team, kick it and do my best for the offense.”
The Rogan brothers, each averaging about 12 points per game, hit six of the Cougars’ nine 3-pointers.
“They’re capable of getting lightning hot,” Smith said. “I’ve watched them in the gym on the (shooting machine) and — even as sophomores — they were just canning shots, moving back deeper and deeper and deeper. It’s just getting them hot. Once they get hot, I don’t know how you guard them.”
Kenton Ridge bounced back after falling to rival Shawnee on Tuesday night. KR led by 14 points in the first half, but Shawnee fought back to win 43-40, snapping KR’S 10-game winning streak.
“It woke us up enough to know that we have to be ready to go,” Smith said.
They weren’t going to let it happen again. The Cougars led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter against Urbana and spent most of the period running out the clock.
Kenton Ridge is seeking its first CBC championship since the 2008-2009 season.
“We still need to take care of some other people, but we’ve got the lead and we want to keep it,” Canye Rogan said.