O-R Athlete of the Week: Owen Norman, Fort Cherry
Name: Owen Norman
School: Fort Cherry
Sport: Basketball
Class: Junior
Norman’s week: The 5-9, 145-pound guard has scored more than 20 points in all of Fort Cherry’s game this season. He’s helped the Rangers to a 4-0 start, the program’s best since the 2008-09 season.
He opened the season with a 22-point effort in a 73-20 victory over Frazier Dec. 10 in the McGuffey Tipoff Tournament and followed it with a 25-point effort in a 63-49 victory over McGuffey the following day.
He scored 21 points in a 53-44 victory over Moon on Dec. 14 and had his best performance, 26 points, in an 89-76 win over Carmichaels last Thursday.
He took a 23-point average into last night’s game against Waynesburg. Norman also averages around four assists and two steals a game.
“I never got off to a start like this before,” Norman said. “This is my first time. I attribute this to my coaches and the hard work I put in over the summer.”
Norman’s shooting drills brought his average up. Eugene Briggs, Fort Cherry’s head coach, credits the shooting machine Norman used for improving his shot.
“His shot was kind of ragged at first,” Briggs said. “He spent a lot of time on the shooting machine. If you use that shooting machine right, you can get 100 shots up in 10 minutes from one spot.”
On offense, Norman is a slasher and works well with Dylan Rogers, a 6-3 senior guard who has a strong outside shot.
“This is not a surprise that we got off to such a hot start,” Norman said. “I know that this was going to be a pretty good team. I think the sky is the limit.”
Transplant: Norman arrived in McDonald a couple years ago. He transferred in from North Vermillion High School near Terre Haute, Indiana, because of his father’s job opportunity.
He’s seen how competitive the Hoosier state is in the sport.
“It’s pretty competitive, really tough,” said Norman. “There’s pressing, a lot of up and down, just like here.”
It took Norman a while to adjust to a country-style school like Fort Cherry.
“It took me a while to get comfortable around here,” Norman said. “Making friends, team bonding were the biggest things.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano