By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Tighe Rogan has been dribbling a basketball since the fourth grade, but he has been playing soccer even longer and considers himself more skilled on the field rather than on the court. While soccer is his preferred sport, he has enjoyed his time on the basketball court for the Sutton Sammies.

Rogan, like so many others, followed his older brother onto the court playing in the Sutton Youth Basketball Program growing up and when it came time to enter high school he decided that he wanted to continue playing basketball. Unfortunately, the year he entered high school he found himself entangled with the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

“I was just going into the tryouts my freshman year trying to make the team and learn how to play high school basketball,” Rogan said. “I did make the team, but with covid freshman and sophomores were assigned to the JV team and the juniors and seniors to varsity.”

With Covid running rampant through the area athletes also had to continue to wear masks while playing their particular sport in addition to having no one in the crowds to cheer them on. 

“It was definitely not a great situations, but we had to make it work,” he said. “It was not the ideal situation, but what happened, happened and we just had to do the best we could.”

Rogan really wasn’t surprised when the ruling came down just before the basketball season was to get underway; he already had to deal with covid during the soccer season.

As all athletic teams trudged through their seasons admid Covid, Rogan took it as a signal to work on his game and by the time his sophomore campaign was completed he felt that he had a really good grasp on the high school game.

“Entering my sophomore season, I was ready, and I think that year was my biggest development year. Coach taught me a lot about my footwork and blocking out properly,’ he said. “I know that I am not the most skilled basketball player, but I go out and do my job to the best of my ability.”

By the end of his sophomore season rogan found himself swinging between the junior varsity and varsity teams. The ability to play with the varsity squad allowed the sophomore to get use to the faster and more physical game of basketball on the high school level. By playing with the varsity athletes, he not only learned to play with intensity, but it would also prepare him for his junior season.

Rogan decided to play summer ball prior to his junior season hoping that he’d be at the top of his game when the season began in December. Sutton put together a decent campaign last year on the court earning themselves a number eight seed in the Division 5 State Tournament. The Sammies would destroy Mystic Valley Regional (62-36) and Hoosac Valley (59-27) before falling to the number one seed Taconic in the Round of Eight. 

As Rogan enters his senior season with his teammates, he knows this year is not going to be like last winter. Sutton has graduated the majority of their big men and will look to the upper classmen to fill the vacant roles.

“We lost six seniors who saw a lot of time on the floor last year, but we do have some underclassmen who have the skills to play the game,” Rogan said. “They just need to learn the little things that make our program what it is; we have the potential to do well if we keep on working.”

According to the senior he doesn’t believe that his outside shot is that great, but he does know that he can be a scrappy player that can go to the hoop and post-up when needed to help the team. 

“Although it is not me, we do have a lot of players who can shoot the three, while I’m in the trenches doing my job battling for the rebound,” he said.

Being his lasty season with Sutton, Rogan is hoping to be able to help his team get back into the State Tournament and hopefully advance further than last year. 

“I’m looking to go out and do my job while on the court while helping the team have success,” the senior said. “We have some really good shooters and I’m just looking forward to picking up the missed opportunities and finishing. I’m hoping that I can set the tone and keep this team moving in the right direction. If I can do that, we should be able to get back to the tournament once again.”