Conference added Pleasant View in '59
By
Bob Patton-
Marshall High School, long a hotbed of basketball, closed its doors following the 1959-60 school year. For a few years, the district was not consolidated with anyone, leaving its high school students free to attend any contiguous district they chose.
There were still some very talented basketball players in that group, and coaches of the surrounding high schools kept the telephone wires hot.
Legendary coach Glen Sparks was without a job, as well, and many thought most of the team would go wherever he landed. But, Sparks accepted the job of principal of Fairfield High School, in Leesburg. Fairfield did not border the old Marshall district, so transportation would have been an issue there.
Several of the Marshall students enrolled at Belfast High School in the fall of 1960. Most of the remainder went to Hillsboro, where it soon became evident that the Marshall transfers were going to dominate the basketball program.
John and Ferris Cummings were experienced and capable basketball players. To this day, John Cummings is the fifth all-time leading scorer in Hillsboro High School history and he only played two varsity seasons there. Sharp shooting guard Bob Grover had the skills, and the leadership to run the team on the floor.
Forward/center Jim Johnson had matured physically since the 1959-60 season, when he had helped Sparks’ Marshall team win the County tournament.
Bob Tira, who could play either forward or guard had the basketball skills and experience to help the team considerably. The Indians downed Miami Trace in the opening game of the roundball season by a score of 70-59, with four of the Marshall transfers accounting for 58 of the 70 points. On Dec. 16, 1960, the Indians lost a one-point heartbreaker to Wilmington, on the Wilmington floor, by a score of 84-83. In this game, John Cummings scored 13 field goals and 19 of 20 field goal attempts for a total of 45 points. This may be an all-time single game individual scoring record for the Indians. Marvin Gregory scored 27 for Wilmington.
Hillsboro and Wilmington pretty much dominated the SCOL basketball race for the rest of the season. The Hillsboro coaches figured that they had a good shot at a co-championship if they could win out, which would include a victory over Wilmington at Hillsboro in January. But on Friday the 13th (of January) the Indians suffered a very costly upset at Franklin Heights, 69-66. This upset pretty much assured the Hurricane of an SCOL title.
Hillsboro lost again Jan. 27 at Miami Trace with John Cummings racking up 43 points but nobody else in double figures.
The Wilmington/Hillsboro rematch came in the second week of February in Hillsboro.
It was a monumental battle between two excellent teams. But when the smoke had cleared, the Hurricane emerged with a 63-60 win over the Indians. Wilmington’s Jim Kidd, who had contributed very little in the early season contest between these two clubs, led the way with 24 points in this one, and it broke the Indians’ back. Hillsboro had four men in double figures, but they still came up short.
The final SCOL basketball standings for 1960-61 were:
School W L
Wilmington 14 0
Hillsboro 10 4
Miami Trace 8 6
Franklin Heights 7 7
McClain 6 8
Washington 5 9
Pleasant View 4 10
Circleville 2 12
Hillsboro’s John Cummings led the SCOL in scoring with a total of 341 points in SCOL games, for an average of 24.3 point per game. He was closely followed by McClain’s Roger Grooms who totaled 335 points.
The Indians were second- seeded in the AA sectional tournament at Paint Valley. They would meet the winner of the game between 0-10 Waverly and 8-6 Miami Trace. Meanwhile, McClain would take on 4-7 Wellston, with the winner meeting top seeded Chillicothe. In a less than spectacular effort, the Indians took the measure of Miami Trace by a score of 57-52.
Meanwhile, Wellston edged the McClain Tigers by three points. When Chillicothe downed Wellston, 65-54, a Chillicothe vs. Hillsboro championship game was assured. Hillsboro led the taller Chillicothe team, 43-33, with a little over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. But Chillicothe’s All-State guard, Gary Hall, almost single-handedly brought the Cavaliers back into the game, and a couple of miscues against the full-court press in the final quarter spelled disaster for the Indians.
Chillicothe took the championship trophy with a 60-54 win over the tired Indians.
Cummings and Grover led Hillsboro with 21 and 12 points, respectively; but Hall notched 30 for Chillicothe.
The SCOL selected an All-League team for 1960-61. They chose a first team and a second team, each with six players. The teams were:
First Team
John Cummings Hil
Roger Grooms McC
Jim Kidd Wil
Sam Weller Cir
Earl Crosswhite WCH
Marvin Gregory Wil
Second Team
Roger Carper FH
Ronald Steward PV
Ron Claiborne Wil
Harold Post Hil
Bo Henry MT
Lonnie Ayres MT
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press. Send comments to the Press at: hcpress@cinci.rr.com.[[In-content Ad]]
There were still some very talented basketball players in that group, and coaches of the surrounding high schools kept the telephone wires hot.
Legendary coach Glen Sparks was without a job, as well, and many thought most of the team would go wherever he landed. But, Sparks accepted the job of principal of Fairfield High School, in Leesburg. Fairfield did not border the old Marshall district, so transportation would have been an issue there.
Several of the Marshall students enrolled at Belfast High School in the fall of 1960. Most of the remainder went to Hillsboro, where it soon became evident that the Marshall transfers were going to dominate the basketball program.
John and Ferris Cummings were experienced and capable basketball players. To this day, John Cummings is the fifth all-time leading scorer in Hillsboro High School history and he only played two varsity seasons there. Sharp shooting guard Bob Grover had the skills, and the leadership to run the team on the floor.
Forward/center Jim Johnson had matured physically since the 1959-60 season, when he had helped Sparks’ Marshall team win the County tournament.
Bob Tira, who could play either forward or guard had the basketball skills and experience to help the team considerably. The Indians downed Miami Trace in the opening game of the roundball season by a score of 70-59, with four of the Marshall transfers accounting for 58 of the 70 points. On Dec. 16, 1960, the Indians lost a one-point heartbreaker to Wilmington, on the Wilmington floor, by a score of 84-83. In this game, John Cummings scored 13 field goals and 19 of 20 field goal attempts for a total of 45 points. This may be an all-time single game individual scoring record for the Indians. Marvin Gregory scored 27 for Wilmington.
Hillsboro and Wilmington pretty much dominated the SCOL basketball race for the rest of the season. The Hillsboro coaches figured that they had a good shot at a co-championship if they could win out, which would include a victory over Wilmington at Hillsboro in January. But on Friday the 13th (of January) the Indians suffered a very costly upset at Franklin Heights, 69-66. This upset pretty much assured the Hurricane of an SCOL title.
Hillsboro lost again Jan. 27 at Miami Trace with John Cummings racking up 43 points but nobody else in double figures.
The Wilmington/Hillsboro rematch came in the second week of February in Hillsboro.
It was a monumental battle between two excellent teams. But when the smoke had cleared, the Hurricane emerged with a 63-60 win over the Indians. Wilmington’s Jim Kidd, who had contributed very little in the early season contest between these two clubs, led the way with 24 points in this one, and it broke the Indians’ back. Hillsboro had four men in double figures, but they still came up short.
The final SCOL basketball standings for 1960-61 were:
School W L
Wilmington 14 0
Hillsboro 10 4
Miami Trace 8 6
Franklin Heights 7 7
McClain 6 8
Washington 5 9
Pleasant View 4 10
Circleville 2 12
Hillsboro’s John Cummings led the SCOL in scoring with a total of 341 points in SCOL games, for an average of 24.3 point per game. He was closely followed by McClain’s Roger Grooms who totaled 335 points.
The Indians were second- seeded in the AA sectional tournament at Paint Valley. They would meet the winner of the game between 0-10 Waverly and 8-6 Miami Trace. Meanwhile, McClain would take on 4-7 Wellston, with the winner meeting top seeded Chillicothe. In a less than spectacular effort, the Indians took the measure of Miami Trace by a score of 57-52.
Meanwhile, Wellston edged the McClain Tigers by three points. When Chillicothe downed Wellston, 65-54, a Chillicothe vs. Hillsboro championship game was assured. Hillsboro led the taller Chillicothe team, 43-33, with a little over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. But Chillicothe’s All-State guard, Gary Hall, almost single-handedly brought the Cavaliers back into the game, and a couple of miscues against the full-court press in the final quarter spelled disaster for the Indians.
Chillicothe took the championship trophy with a 60-54 win over the tired Indians.
Cummings and Grover led Hillsboro with 21 and 12 points, respectively; but Hall notched 30 for Chillicothe.
The SCOL selected an All-League team for 1960-61. They chose a first team and a second team, each with six players. The teams were:
First Team
John Cummings Hil
Roger Grooms McC
Jim Kidd Wil
Sam Weller Cir
Earl Crosswhite WCH
Marvin Gregory Wil
Second Team
Roger Carper FH
Ronald Steward PV
Ron Claiborne Wil
Harold Post Hil
Bo Henry MT
Lonnie Ayres MT
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press. Send comments to the Press at: hcpress@cinci.rr.com.[[In-content Ad]]