South’s Kirea Rogers is an athletic, game-changing (and quirky) player

The fundamentals of basketball didn’t come naturally to Wichita South senior Kirea Rogers. While ballhandling and shooting skills were secondary, it didn’t keep her from making her presence felt because she could dominate with her pure athleticism.

“She hadn’t been taught,” said South coach Antwain Scales, who started coaching Rogers around age 8. “She was a project, a diamond in the rough that I kind of took under my wing.”

Seeing her athleticism, though, was enough for Scales, who started a team based around Rogers. When she arrived at South four years ago, he did the same thing.

Now he’s planning on Rogers to help lead the Titans to their third straight Class 6A title.

“I based this program off Kirea,” said Scales, in his fourth season. “She’s been in the four-year process. She’s started the whole time she’s been here. She’s bailed us out a lot.… she’s a game-changer for us.”

There are times, though, when Rogers’ actions draw laughs from Scales and the rest of the Titans.

She’s a classic girly-girl, and not only because she loves to dress up at all times and has modeled.

“Outside basketball, she loves heels and everything,” said her mom, Renee Holloman. “She even plays in (fake) eyelashes.”

And during games a team manager holds lip gloss for Rogers, who insists on putting it on during each timeout.

Her penchant for lip gloss — Victoria’s Secret brand only — once forced her eighth-grade team to run, though.

“It was at Brooks, she’s an eighth grader, and we’re going up and down the court when lip gloss falls out,” said Scales, then the Brooks girls coach. “No one told me who brought it. We ran (as punishment).

“Someone then says, ‘it’s Kirea. She keeps lip gloss in her sock.’ I told her, ‘next time you bring lip gloss, you’re off the team.’ She’s the most silliest of our whole group. She says something and you’re like, ‘what?’ Everybody just laughs, every day.”

When South played in the 2013 title game, the Titans battled foul trouble against Heights, including losing center Kendrian Elliott to fouls with 6:05 to go.

Rogers had a huge game with 14 points, eight rebounds, but her biggest plays came in the final 45 seconds when she blocked two Heights shots.

The blocks were so instinctive, so natural, so athletic, it was breathtaking.

Her skills are varied, allowing her to play on the perimeter both defensively and offensively. She can score anywhere, slashing to the basket or hitting a jumper.

Rogers utilizes her long arms and quickness to become a shut-down defender, whether she’s playing against a smaller guard or a taller post player. Her jumping ability allows her to easily block shots.

“I’ll probably play the three in college, so I need to work more on my dribbling,” Rogers said. “I like the three just because I’m better on the perimeter.”

A knock on Rogers has been that while things come so easy to her, she will take plays off.

“If she plays hard, we blow teams out,” Scales said. In Saturday’s sub-state championship game win over Dodge City, “I ended up sitting her a little bit. If you can’t give me nothing, you’re hurting what we’re trying to do here.

“Sometimes she has a tendency to take plays off, thinks her athleticism will let her get by. I’m the type of coach, I don’t allow that. I’m going to coach them hard, hopefully preparing them for the next level.”

Rogers has had interest from Wichita State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma and Tulsa. She narrowly missed qualifying academically, though, and will attend either Hutchinson or Butler.

“That’s a bummer,” Holloman said. “At first she was down about it. I told her to keep trying and keep trying.… She’s accepted it. She’s going to have to want it. She’s going to have to still love the game and want that.”

Rogers has shrugged it off because she knows what her future holds.

“I feel like I can eventually go D-I,” she said.

Rogers and Holloman know they’ve got Scales’ support. He’s been another strong male role model in her life.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” Scales said. “I tell her all the time I love her. I love all of them. My father, I was 25 years old the first time he told me he loved me. I always tell them I love and respect them and want the best for them.”

Because of their close relationship, Rogers said it makes her want to play even harder for him.

“He’s like a father figure to me,” Rogers said. “He looks out for me in everything, outside of basketball, too. He expects a lot out of me.”