Hurricane spoils Tribe's perfect season in 1981
By
Bob Patton-
Hurricane spoils Tribe’s
perfect season in 1981
By BOB PATTON
For The Highland County Press
(Continued from last week.)
With only two league games remaining in the 1980-81 regular season, Sam Snyder’s Hillsboro’s Indians stood alone atop the SCOL with a 12-0 league mark and a 16-0 overall slate.
Wilmington was in second place at 9-3 and 11-5, followed by Circleville (7-5, 7-9) and Miami Trace (6-5, 8-9). Teays Valley brought up the bottom of
the pack at 1-11 and 1-17 overall.
With their 16-0 record, Hillsboro moved up to fifth in the statewide AP poll. Only Willard, Struthers, Millersburg West Holmes and Napoleon ranked higher. All were undefeated.
With the league race decided, the remaining few games seemed something of an afterthought.
Madison Plains edged WCH, 63-60, leaving the Blue Lions with an overall record of 5-12, with a couple of games remaining.
Hillsboro entertained Miami Trace, and won their 18th straight game, 59-47, even though the Indians appeared a little shaky. Circleville
pounded McClain, 78-58, and Wilmington took the measure of Teays Valley, 70-51.
In the final round of league games, Madison Plains visited McClain where they were edged by the Tigers, 61-59. Miami Trace sneaked out of Washington C.H. with a 48-40 overtime win over the Blue Lions. Circleville murdered Teays Valley, 98-59, and Wilmington ruined Hillsboro’s gold basketball hopes by downing the Indians, 63-53, in the last game of the regular season.
The Hurricane limited Rob Jackson to eight points and guard Brian Price to two. Lars Eckstrom, Steve Cluxton and Mike Beegle tallied 19, 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Hurricane.
The loss on the road was a bitter pill to swallow for the Indians, who still won the league championship by a comfortable margin.
The final SCOL standings for the 1980-81 basketball season were:
SCOL Overall
Hillsboro 13-1 19-1
Wilmington 11-3 14-5
Circleville 9-5 9-10
Miami Trace 8-6 10-10
Mad. Plains 6-8 9-11
Washington 4-10 6-13
McClain 4-10 5-14
Teays Valley 1-13 1-19
Steve Cluxton, of Wilmington, won the individual scoring title by scoring 274 points in 14 SCOL games, for an average of 19.6 ppg. Miami Trace’s Kirk McDonald was second with 265 points in 14 league games for a ppg. average of 18.9.
Miami Trace would meet Marietta in the sectional tournament in the Convocation Center at Ohio University Feb. 25, 1981. The winner would lock
horns with the winner of the Athens vs. Logan game, which would almost certainly be 17-2 Athens.
In the AA sectional at Unioto, top seeded Hillsboro drew the bye and would meet the winner of the WCH vs. Vinton County game. McClain would go up against 9-10 Wellston, with the winner meeting Waverly.
At Grove City, Bexley eliminated the Circleville Tigers, 77-67. Madison-Plains went up against West Jefferson at Westland High School. The Golden Eagles came through with a 57-47 win and would meet London in the semifinal round.
Vinton County came back from a first half deficit and beat WCH, 59-53, ending the Blue Lions’ season. Teays Valley mercifully ended a dismal season
at Grove City with a 68-40 loss to Hamilton Township. But Wilmington pounded Centerville, 78-57, to advance in their tournament.
Miami Trace defeated Marietta, 74-64, at the Convo, but the Panthers were unable to get by Athens and lost, 55-40, bringing their season to an end.
The Hillsboro Indians breezed through the sectional without any real problem and went to Athens, where they would meet traditional rival
Portsmouth in the Convo.
A large Hillsboro crowd provided encouragement to the Indians. The crowd was boosted by a large number of fans from McClain, Fairfield, Whiteoak, and Lynchburg and a huge number of Wheelersburg supporters, whose team played the previous game, and who enjoy nothing more than seeing the Portsmouth Trojans lose, regardless of who they are playing.
The Indians blitzed the Trojans in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-1 lead which was capped off by a thunderous dunk by Rob Jackson, which shook the entire building.
Portsmouth came back, and made it interesting, but the Indians appeared to be in control, and came out on top, 64-58. Jackson and Price, who were
shut down at Wilmington in the final league game, led the Indians with 16 markers each.
The win over Portsmouth put Coach Snyder’s crew in the regional tournament at Athens, where they would tangle with 14-10 Ironton. While
Ironton’s overall record was not impressive, the Tigers had lost 8 of their first 10 games.
They put it together after the Christmas break, and had been nearly unstoppable since. They had played a very, very tough schedule, including
several rugged Kentucky schools. Their point guard, Chris Barnes, was a strong candidate for All-State honors.
The Indians and the Ironton Tigers put on a clinic in the Convo. Hillsboro maintained a slight lead and held a 39-34 third quarter edge when
Ironton went on a 12-2 run which wrestled the lead away from the Indians, and they were never able to regain the advantage.
Senior Tiger guard Jeff Jackson, who was not highly touted, hit everything he shot and from anywhere on the court. He totaled 30 points, and
Ironton advanced to the regional finals. The final score was Ironton 60, Hillsboro 51.
The 1980-81 season was a remarkable one and this had to be one of Hillsboro’s all-time great teams. Some would say that it is the greatest
team in HHS history. But the 1948-49 team was a tremendous team as well, and they played a stronger schedule. You can flip a coin and choose
your own all-time greatest Indian team.
Rob Jackson was the only Indian named to the All-SCOL first team. Miami Trace, Wilmington and Circleville had two each on the first team. Jackson averaged 14.3 ppg in the league, placing ninth in scoring. But his rebounding, defense and leadership gave him the highest number of votes from the eight SCOL coaches. He was the honorary captain of the team.
Kirk McDonald and Jeff King both made the first team from Miami Trace, Mike Beegle and Steve Cluxton from Wilmington, Tommy Tomlinson and
Sean McConnell of Circleville, Leonard Isaacs of Madison-Plains, David Ford of McClain and Scott Ford of Teays Valley filled out the team.
Rob Jackson was named the AP Southeastern District AA Player of the Year, and Brian Price was named to the second team. Coach Sam Snyder narrowly missed being the AA Coach of the Year, when he was nosed out by the coach at Wheelersburg.
When the All-State selections came out, Jackson was named first team All-Ohio and Price was given honorable mention.
And, as an aside, head coach Gerry Faust of Archbishop Moeller High School was named head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
(Continued from last week.)
With only two league games remaining in the 1980-81 regular season, Sam Snyder’s Hillsboro’s Indians stood alone atop the SCOL with a 12-0 league mark and a 16-0 overall slate.
Wilmington was in second place at 9-3 and 11-5, followed by Circleville (7-5, 7-9) and Miami Trace (6-5, 8-9). Teays Valley brought up the bottom of the pack at 1-11 and 1-17 overall.
With their 16-0 record, Hillsboro moved up to fifth in the statewide AP poll. Only Willard, Struthers, Millersburg West Holmes and Napoleon ranked higher. All were undefeated.
With the league race decided, the remaining few games seemed something of an afterthought.
Madison Plains edged WCH, 63-60, leaving the Blue Lions with an overall record of 5-12, with a couple of games remaining.
Hillsboro entertained Miami Trace, and won their 18th straight game, 59-47, even though the Indians appeared a little shaky. Circleville pounded McClain, 78-58, and Wilmington took the measure of Teays Valley, 70-51.
In the final round of league games, Madison Plains visited McClain where they were edged by the Tigers, 61-59. Miami Trace sneaked out of Washington C.H. with a 48-40 overtime win over the Blue Lions. Circleville murdered Teays Valley, 98-59, and Wilmington ruined Hillsboro’s gold basketball hopes by downing the Indians, 63-53, in the last game of the regular season.
The Hurricane limited Rob Jackson to eight points and guard Brian Price to two. Lars Eckstrom, Steve Cluxton and Mike Beegle tallied 19, 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Hurricane.
The loss on the road was a bitter pill to swallow for the Indians, who still won the league championship by a comfortable margin.
The final SCOL standings for the 1980-81 basketball season were:
SCOL Overall
Hillsboro 13-1 19-1
Wilmington 11-3 14-5
Circleville 9-5 9-10
Miami Trace 8-6 10-10
Mad. Plains 6-8 9-11
Washington 4-10 6-13
McClain 4-10 5-14
Teays Valley 1-13 1-19
Steve Cluxton, of Wilmington, won the individual scoring title by scoring 274 points in 14 SCOL games, for an average of 19.6 ppg. Miami Trace’s Kirk McDonald was second with 265 points in 14 league games for a ppg. average of 18.9.
Miami Trace would meet Marietta in the sectional tournament in the Convocation Center at Ohio University Feb. 25, 1981. The winner would lock
horns with the winner of the Athens vs. Logan game, which would almost certainly be 17-2 Athens.
In the AA sectional at Unioto, top seeded Hillsboro drew the bye and would meet the winner of the WCH vs. Vinton County game. McClain would go up against 9-10 Wellston, with the winner meeting Waverly.
At Grove City, Bexley eliminated the Circleville Tigers, 77-67. Madison-Plains went up against West Jefferson at Westland High School. The Golden Eagles came through with a 57-47 win and would meet London in the semifinal round.
Vinton County came back from a first half deficit and beat WCH, 59-53, ending the Blue Lions’ season. Teays Valley mercifully ended a dismal season
at Grove City with a 68-40 loss to Hamilton Township. But Wilmington pounded Centerville, 78-57, to advance in their tournament.
Miami Trace defeated Marietta, 74-64, at the Convo, but the Panthers were unable to get by Athens and lost, 55-40, bringing their season to an end.
The Hillsboro Indians breezed through the sectional without any real problem and went to Athens, where they would meet traditional rival Portsmouth in the Convo.
A large Hillsboro crowd provided encouragement to the Indians. The crowd was boosted by a large number of fans from McClain, Fairfield, Whiteoak, and Lynchburg and a huge number of Wheelersburg supporters, whose team played the previous game, and who enjoy nothing more than seeing the Portsmouth Trojans lose, regardless of who they are playing.
The Indians blitzed the Trojans in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-1 lead which was capped off by a thunderous dunk by Rob Jackson, which shook the entire building.
Portsmouth came back, and made it interesting, but the Indians appeared to be in control, and came out on top, 64-58. Jackson and Price, who were shut down at Wilmington in the final league game, led the Indians with 16 markers each.
The win over Portsmouth put Coach Snyder’s crew in the regional tournament at Athens, where they would tangle with 14-10 Ironton. While Ironton’s overall record was not impressive, the Tigers had lost 8 of their first 10 games.
They put it together after the Christmas break, and had been nearly unstoppable since. They had played a very, very tough schedule, including
several rugged Kentucky schools. Their point guard, Chris Barnes, was a strong candidate for All-State honors.
The Indians and the Ironton Tigers put on a clinic in the Convo. Hillsboro maintained a slight lead and held a 39-34 third quarter edge when Ironton went on a 12-2 run which wrestled the lead away from the Indians, and they were never able to regain the advantage.
Senior Tiger guard Jeff Jackson, who was not highly touted, hit everything he shot and from anywhere on the court. He totaled 30 points, and Ironton advanced to the regional finals. The final score was Ironton 60, Hillsboro 51.
The 1980-81 season was a remarkable one and this had to be one of Hillsboro’s all-time great teams. Some would say that it is the greatest team in HHS history. But the 1948-49 team was a tremendous team as well, and they played a stronger schedule. You can flip a coin and choose your own all-time greatest Indian team.
Rob Jackson was the only Indian named to the All-SCOL first team. Miami Trace, Wilmington and Circleville had two each on the first team. Jackson averaged 14.3 ppg in the league, placing ninth in scoring. But his rebounding, defense and leadership gave him the highest number of votes from the eight SCOL coaches. He was the honorary captain of the team.
Kirk McDonald and Jeff King both made the first team from Miami Trace, Mike Beegle and Steve Cluxton from Wilmington, Tommy Tomlinson and Sean McConnell of Circleville, Leonard Isaacs of Madison-Plains, David Ford of McClain and Scott Ford of Teays Valley filled out the team.
Rob Jackson was named the AP Southeastern District AA Player of the Year, and Brian Price was named to the second team. Coach Sam Snyder narrowly missed being the AA Coach of the Year, when he was nosed out by the coach at Wheelersburg.
When the All-State selections came out, Jackson was named first team All-Ohio and Price was given honorable mention.
And, as an aside, head coach Gerry Faust of Archbishop Moeller High School was named head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
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