Hurricane nets gold basketball in 1978-79
By
Bob Patton-
(Continued from last week.)
The key game of the entire season, as it turns out, was Feb. 3, 1979 when tough WCH traveled down Route 22 to take on the Wilmington Hurricane on the Richardson Place court. If the Blue Lions were to have any realistic chance to catch the Hurricane, they needed to win this game.
The Blue Lions were just not able to find any weaknesses in the Wilmington game. The Hurricane had four men in double figures as they edged the Blue Lions, 66-55 margin. This win nearly guaranteed Wilmington the league championship, as the Hurricane had only league games with Teays Valley, Circleville and McClain left – three teams with a combined 9-27 league record. If the Hurricane could win those three games, they would bring home a gold basketball.
Elsewhere, in the most exciting game of the evening, Miami Trace lost a triple-overtime decision to Madison-Plains, 71-64. Thus, the Panthers dropped below .500 for the season. At Teays Valley, the Vikings and the Circleville Tigers played stall-ball all evening, with the Tigers coming out on top, 23-22. Circleville’s high scorers of the game, Harrison and Morrison, each tallied 6 points.
Hillsboro had to play hard, but they clipped McClain, 67-57. Jon Cole scored 20 for the Indians, but McClain had four men in double figures. The next night, in a non-league contest, the Indians upset the 13-1 East Clinton Astros, 76-71, on the Hillsboro court. The Indians had rushed to a 40-30 halftime lead, and the Astros could not overcome the deficit. Duke Jackson led the Indians with 22 points while Jon Cole had 19, and Jeff Gilliland and Gary Schraw each added 12.
On Feb. 6, Teays Valley challenged Wilmington. The Vikings came to play, as coaches are fond of saying. After trailing 18-14 after one quarter, the Vikings came back. The halftime score was 38-38. It was 50-50 at the third quarter stop. But the Hurricane outscored TV, 15-12, in the final period, for a closer than expected 65-62 win.
Finally, on Feb. 9, Wilmington sewed up the league title by taking an overtime decision over Circleville, 79-70. The entire Circleville starting five fouled out and the Hurricane outscored Circleville 10-1 in the OT. The Wilmington league record was now 13-0 with only one game remaining. Washington, in second place, sported a 10-2 record with two games remaining. Teays Valley hammered McClain, 85-49, in the only other SCOL game played. The WCH vs. MT game was cancelled and rescheduled, as was the Hillsboro vs. MP. When the MP at Hillsboro game was played, the Indians blew a 13-point lead and lost a 69-66 decision to the Golden Eagles.
In the final round of league play, Miami Trace traveled to Teays Valley, where they were in command all the way, defeating the Vikings, 68-56.
At Washington, the Hillsboro Indians were ice cold, probably partly due to the Blue Lions’ sticky defense, and Washington rang up a comfortable 74-51 win. This gave WCH a league record of 11-2 with only a makeup game with Trace remaining.
Wilmington ended their league season 14- 0, when they pounded McClain, 77-52. On Tuesday night, Washington put a decisive 58-40 beating on the Panthers, in the MT gym, to wind up their regular season.
Drawings for the sectional tournament paired the 1-16 McClain Tigers against Vinton County (6-11) at Paint Valley. The 8-8 Hillsboro Indians would meet the Blue Lion (11 – 5), who had just manhandled them a few nights back. In the big school division, Miami Trace (8-8) would tangle with Lancaster (2-15). Playing in the Dayton area, league champion Wilmington was unceremoniously dumped in their first tournament outing by Dayton Stivers 56-54 on a last-second shot.
McClain shocked Vinton County, 57-55, in overtime, and would meet tough Waverly in the semi-final round. Also at Paint Valley, Hillsboro’s Jeff Gilliland scorched the nets for 23 points and led the Indians to a surprisingly easy 70-46 win over the Blue Lions. They would advance to meet Wellston in the semi-finals.
In the Ohio University sectional, 2-15 Lancaster outplayed Miami Trace and controlled the game all the way, winning, 65-56. In the Central district, Madison-Plains whipped Columbus Independence, 59-52. They would advance to meet Logan Elm. Circleville edged Westfall, 56-55, and would meet highly touted Bishop Hartley. Teays Valley lost to Grandview, 57-48.
Madison-Plains won its first-ever sectional championship when they clipped Logan Elm, 80-70 at Grove City, as Dickie Brown hit 11 of 13 from the field and totaled 26 points. Circleville pulled a major upset ending Bishop Hartley’s season by edging the Hawks, 68-67, behind 24 points from center Pete Harrison. The Tigers and the Golden Eagles would meet for the second time this season in the Fairgrounds Coliseum in district play. The only SCOL game remaining to be played was – you guessed it – Circleville at MP. Athletic administrators at MP and Circleville decided to let the tournament game count as an SCOL game. The game was won by the Golden Eagles, who outdistanced Circleville in the fourth quarter to win, 61-55. The Eagles lost to 19-2 Warsaw Indian Valley in the district championship game to end a great tournament run.
At Paint Valley, Hillsboro had all five starters in double figures and walloped Wellston, 81-64. They would meet Waverly in the tourney finals, with the winner qualifying for the district tournament at Athens.
The SCOL season was now officially over, and Barry Turner, of Wilmington, had taken over the individual scoring lead with an average of 18.92 ppg. Jon Cole of Hillsboro was right behind with an average of 18.36. But “Downtown” Dickie Brown, of Madison-Plains, who had been hotter than a $2 pistol in recent outings, was averaging 18.23 ppg. Brown rarely shot from behind the center line, but anything under 40 feet was a great shot for him.
The annual Winter Sports Banquet of the SCOL was held at Miami Trace on Friday, March 9. Wilmington was awarded the gold basketball for their 14-0 championship season.
The All-SCOL basketball team included: Barry Turner, Wilmington; Bob Williams, Wilmington; Dickie Brown, Madison-Plains; Scott Joslin, Madison-Plains; Mike Wilson, Madison-Plains; Steve Pritchet, Washington; Clark Lee, Washington; Scott Grooms, Miami Trace; John Persinger, Miami Trace; Jon Cole, Hillsboro; and Pete Harrison, Circleville.
Jon Cole of Hillsboro, John Persinger of Miami Trace and Steve Pritchet of Washington were all selected to the Southeast District All-Star second team.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
The key game of the entire season, as it turns out, was Feb. 3, 1979 when tough WCH traveled down Route 22 to take on the Wilmington Hurricane on the Richardson Place court. If the Blue Lions were to have any realistic chance to catch the Hurricane, they needed to win this game.
The Blue Lions were just not able to find any weaknesses in the Wilmington game. The Hurricane had four men in double figures as they edged the Blue Lions, 66-55 margin. This win nearly guaranteed Wilmington the league championship, as the Hurricane had only league games with Teays Valley, Circleville and McClain left – three teams with a combined 9-27 league record. If the Hurricane could win those three games, they would bring home a gold basketball.
Elsewhere, in the most exciting game of the evening, Miami Trace lost a triple-overtime decision to Madison-Plains, 71-64. Thus, the Panthers dropped below .500 for the season. At Teays Valley, the Vikings and the Circleville Tigers played stall-ball all evening, with the Tigers coming out on top, 23-22. Circleville’s high scorers of the game, Harrison and Morrison, each tallied 6 points.
Hillsboro had to play hard, but they clipped McClain, 67-57. Jon Cole scored 20 for the Indians, but McClain had four men in double figures. The next night, in a non-league contest, the Indians upset the 13-1 East Clinton Astros, 76-71, on the Hillsboro court. The Indians had rushed to a 40-30 halftime lead, and the Astros could not overcome the deficit. Duke Jackson led the Indians with 22 points while Jon Cole had 19, and Jeff Gilliland and Gary Schraw each added 12.
On Feb. 6, Teays Valley challenged Wilmington. The Vikings came to play, as coaches are fond of saying. After trailing 18-14 after one quarter, the Vikings came back. The halftime score was 38-38. It was 50-50 at the third quarter stop. But the Hurricane outscored TV, 15-12, in the final period, for a closer than expected 65-62 win.
Finally, on Feb. 9, Wilmington sewed up the league title by taking an overtime decision over Circleville, 79-70. The entire Circleville starting five fouled out and the Hurricane outscored Circleville 10-1 in the OT. The Wilmington league record was now 13-0 with only one game remaining. Washington, in second place, sported a 10-2 record with two games remaining. Teays Valley hammered McClain, 85-49, in the only other SCOL game played. The WCH vs. MT game was cancelled and rescheduled, as was the Hillsboro vs. MP. When the MP at Hillsboro game was played, the Indians blew a 13-point lead and lost a 69-66 decision to the Golden Eagles.
In the final round of league play, Miami Trace traveled to Teays Valley, where they were in command all the way, defeating the Vikings, 68-56.
At Washington, the Hillsboro Indians were ice cold, probably partly due to the Blue Lions’ sticky defense, and Washington rang up a comfortable 74-51 win. This gave WCH a league record of 11-2 with only a makeup game with Trace remaining.
Wilmington ended their league season 14- 0, when they pounded McClain, 77-52. On Tuesday night, Washington put a decisive 58-40 beating on the Panthers, in the MT gym, to wind up their regular season.
Drawings for the sectional tournament paired the 1-16 McClain Tigers against Vinton County (6-11) at Paint Valley. The 8-8 Hillsboro Indians would meet the Blue Lion (11 – 5), who had just manhandled them a few nights back. In the big school division, Miami Trace (8-8) would tangle with Lancaster (2-15). Playing in the Dayton area, league champion Wilmington was unceremoniously dumped in their first tournament outing by Dayton Stivers 56-54 on a last-second shot.
McClain shocked Vinton County, 57-55, in overtime, and would meet tough Waverly in the semi-final round. Also at Paint Valley, Hillsboro’s Jeff Gilliland scorched the nets for 23 points and led the Indians to a surprisingly easy 70-46 win over the Blue Lions. They would advance to meet Wellston in the semi-finals.
In the Ohio University sectional, 2-15 Lancaster outplayed Miami Trace and controlled the game all the way, winning, 65-56. In the Central district, Madison-Plains whipped Columbus Independence, 59-52. They would advance to meet Logan Elm. Circleville edged Westfall, 56-55, and would meet highly touted Bishop Hartley. Teays Valley lost to Grandview, 57-48.
Madison-Plains won its first-ever sectional championship when they clipped Logan Elm, 80-70 at Grove City, as Dickie Brown hit 11 of 13 from the field and totaled 26 points. Circleville pulled a major upset ending Bishop Hartley’s season by edging the Hawks, 68-67, behind 24 points from center Pete Harrison. The Tigers and the Golden Eagles would meet for the second time this season in the Fairgrounds Coliseum in district play. The only SCOL game remaining to be played was – you guessed it – Circleville at MP. Athletic administrators at MP and Circleville decided to let the tournament game count as an SCOL game. The game was won by the Golden Eagles, who outdistanced Circleville in the fourth quarter to win, 61-55. The Eagles lost to 19-2 Warsaw Indian Valley in the district championship game to end a great tournament run.
At Paint Valley, Hillsboro had all five starters in double figures and walloped Wellston, 81-64. They would meet Waverly in the tourney finals, with the winner qualifying for the district tournament at Athens.
The SCOL season was now officially over, and Barry Turner, of Wilmington, had taken over the individual scoring lead with an average of 18.92 ppg. Jon Cole of Hillsboro was right behind with an average of 18.36. But “Downtown” Dickie Brown, of Madison-Plains, who had been hotter than a $2 pistol in recent outings, was averaging 18.23 ppg. Brown rarely shot from behind the center line, but anything under 40 feet was a great shot for him.
The annual Winter Sports Banquet of the SCOL was held at Miami Trace on Friday, March 9. Wilmington was awarded the gold basketball for their 14-0 championship season.
The All-SCOL basketball team included: Barry Turner, Wilmington; Bob Williams, Wilmington; Dickie Brown, Madison-Plains; Scott Joslin, Madison-Plains; Mike Wilson, Madison-Plains; Steve Pritchet, Washington; Clark Lee, Washington; Scott Grooms, Miami Trace; John Persinger, Miami Trace; Jon Cole, Hillsboro; and Pete Harrison, Circleville.
Jon Cole of Hillsboro, John Persinger of Miami Trace and Steve Pritchet of Washington were all selected to the Southeast District All-Star second team.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]