Indians claim SCOL title under Sam Snyder
By
Bob Patton-
Indians claim SCOL title under Sam Snyder
(Continued from last week.)
Coach Gary Shaffer, of WCH, used the Christmas break to install a 1-3-1 zone in the Blue Lions’ arsenal. The defense worked well when the Lions entertained Madison-Plains Jan. 7, 1981 and the Lions came away with a 43-40 win over the Golden Eagles.
The defense did puzzle the Eagles for most of the first half. But the most important factor was that the MP team managed to hit only 4 of their 20 free throw attempts in the game.
At Miami Trace, the Hillsboro Indians were not impressive, but, still managed to get nine men in the scoring column and beat the Panthers, 53-44. Rob Jackson and Mark Cumberland ruled the boards and contributed 26 points between them. Meanwhile, Wilmington clobbered Teays Valley, 74-45, and Circleville walloped McClain, 70-59.
The Indians pretty much put a lock on the league championship Jan. 16 when they downed second place Circleville, 72-58, when they had four men in double figures and two others with 8 points each. Elsewhere, Madison-Plains traveled to Teays Valley and downed the Vikings, 55-43, as Ron Tope and Mike Kimbler scored 14 points each for the Eagles. At Greenfield, the McClain Tigers played just well enough to win. They used 16 points from David Ford and 15 from Danny Shelton to edge the Lions, 45-41. At Wilmington, Miami Trace suffered through an icy third quarter in which they were only able to put three points on the board, and the Hurricane came away with a 55-47 win.
So, with eight league games played, the Indians had a commanding three-game lead over the field. Coach Sam Snyder had instilled a level of confidence into this team that hadn’t been seen in Hillsboro for many years.
The Indians went into every game expecting to win. At this point, they were 9-0. January 23, 1981 saw the league-leading Indians get off to a slow start and trail the Washington C.H. Blue Lions throughout the first quarter and a half. But Coach Snyder pulled all but one of his starters and switched to a full-court press.
The Indians bounced back and took a 16-point win over the Lions. Doug Taylor, who came off the bench, was the leading scorer for Hillsboro.
In other games, the Hurricane outdueled Circleville, 56-51, to take over the second place position in the league, when Steve Cluxton managed to outscore Tommy Tomlinson, 21-20. Each team had 20 field goals, but Wilmington notched 16 free throws to 11 for the red and black.
Miami Trace got a narrow 58-50 win over Madison-Plains, when Panther Kirk McDonald hit 15 of 18 shots from the field and totaled 32 points.
Meanwhile, McClain got its third straight SCOL win, after six consecutive losses, when they hammered last place Teays Valley, 77-58. David Ford led the Tigers with 23 points while Mike Moss had 14 for the Vikings, who had lost 12 of their 13 games this season.
The individual scoring race in the SCOL was tightening up. Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton maintained his seven-point lead over Circleville’s Tommy Tomlinson. Kirk McDonald of Trace had vaulted up to a 17.5 average by totaling 52 points in two games last weekend. Jeff King was fourth with a 15.6 average, followed by Teays Valley’s Scott Ford, who averaged 14.8.
Rob Jackson, of Hillsboro, was the only Indian in the running, and he ranked ninth. Hillsboro’s scoring was so balanced and spread among so many players that no single player racked up enough points to be in contention for the title. In team statistics, Hillsboro led the league with an average of 67.4 points per game and also led in defense by allowing only 45 points per game.
When the Indians trampled the McClain Tigers, 85-57, in Hillsboro on Feb. 7, the Indians were just one game away from clinching the league championship. McClain hit only 12 of 29 free throw attempts in the game, many of them the front end of a 1 and 1, which would have resulted in quite a few more attempts, if they had made a better percentage. The winners connected on 23 of 38 tries. Rob Jackson reached a season high 26 points and teammate Dave Hilliard added 17 for the Indians. Danny Shelton scored 17 for
McClain, but high scoring David Ford was held to one field goal and a total of 7 points.
At Madison-Plains, the officials took center stage in the SCOL game against Circleville, calling 41 personal fouls, resulting in 51 free throw attempts. Midway through the third quarter, the Circleville bench was called for three successive technical fouls, turning a Tiger lead into a very close game which was eventually won by MP, 54-51. Circleville made only
5 of 22 free throw attempts. (You have no real complaint, when you hit only 5 of 22 free throw attempts and lose by three points.)
Wilmington downed WCH, 63-45, sending the Blue Lions down to their 10th defeat in 13 games. Miami Trace gave Teays Valley their 14th consecutive loss on the MT court. The following Tuesday night saw Washington visit Circleville, where the Panthers pinned another loss on the Blue Lions, 76-65. Tommy Tomlinson and Sean McConnell scored 26 and 23 points, respectively for the Tigers. One of the few highlights for the Blue Lions was seeing freshman Jeff Shaw score his first varsity points. Shaw went on to enjoy a memorable
career for WCH in virtually all sports and played Major League baseball for several teams, including the Reds.
At Madison-Plains, Wilmington walloped the Eagles, 86-65, to remain 2 1⁄2 games behind Hillsboro. The Indians would entertain the Golden Eagles at home Friday, with an opportunity to guarantee themselves at least a share of the league basketball title.
The Associated Press poll had the 14-0 Indians ranked sixth in the state among AA schools. Hillsboro did sew up at least a share of the title when they extended their winning streak to 15 games by downing Madison-Plains, 74-64. Rob Jackson poured in 25 points for the Indians, giving him 51 points in his last two SCOL games. Leonard Isaacs totaled 23 for MP, but no other Eagle was in double figures.
At Miami Trace, the Circleville Tigers threw a wet blanket on the Panthers’ Parents’ Night when they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and went on to capture a 58-48 win. Trace clamped down on Tomlinson, but forward Sean McConnell had easy shots inside all night, and racked up 28 points for the Roundtowners. King and McDonald scored 21 and 18 for the Panthers, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Wilmington beat McClain, 73-66, as Mike Beegle hit a career-high 30 points against McClain. Shelton and Hawkins totaled 18 each for the Tigers.
At Washington, the Blue Lions trailed last-place Teays Valley, 41-37, going into the fourth quarter, but outscored the Vikings, 29-9, in the final stanza to win, 66-50. Scott Ford of the Vikings scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but got no help, as WCH had four men in double figures.
In an unusual Saturday night SCOL game, the Hillsboro Indians locked down their first undisputed league title in 32 years when they trampled Teays Valley, 75-54, on the Hillsboro court. Everybody played and all 12 men scored for Coach Snyder’s charges. Rob Jackson’s 17, Mark Cumberland’s 15 and Tony Cumberland’s 13 led the way.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
(Continued from last week.)
Coach Gary Shaffer, of WCH, used the Christmas break to install a 1-3-1 zone in the Blue Lions’ arsenal. The defense worked well when the Lions entertained Madison-Plains Jan. 7, 1981 and the Lions came away with a 43-40 win over the Golden Eagles.
The defense did puzzle the Eagles for most of the first half. But the most important factor was that the MP team managed to hit only 4 of their 20 free throw attempts in the game.
At Miami Trace, the Hillsboro Indians were not impressive, but, still managed to get nine men in the scoring column and beat the Panthers, 53-44. Rob Jackson and Mark Cumberland ruled the boards and contributed 26 points between them. Meanwhile, Wilmington clobbered Teays Valley, 74-45, and Circleville walloped McClain, 70-59.
The Indians pretty much put a lock on the league championship Jan. 16 when they downed second place Circleville, 72-58, when they had four men in double figures and two others with 8 points each. Elsewhere, Madison-Plains traveled to Teays Valley and downed the Vikings, 55-43, as Ron Tope and Mike Kimbler scored 14 points each for the Eagles. At Greenfield, the McClain Tigers played just well enough to win. They used 16 points from David Ford and 15 from Danny Shelton to edge the Lions, 45-41. At Wilmington, Miami Trace suffered through an icy third quarter in which they were only able to put three points on the board, and the Hurricane came away with a 55-47 win.
So, with eight league games played, the Indians had a commanding three-game lead over the field. Coach Sam Snyder had instilled a level of confidence into this team that hadn’t been seen in Hillsboro for many years.
The Indians went into every game expecting to win. At this point, they were 9-0. January 23, 1981 saw the league-leading Indians get off to a slow start and trail the Washington C.H. Blue Lions throughout the first quarter and a half. But Coach Snyder pulled all but one of his starters and switched to a full-court press.
The Indians bounced back and took a 16-point win over the Lions. Doug Taylor, who came off the bench, was the leading scorer for Hillsboro.
In other games, the Hurricane outdueled Circleville, 56-51, to take over the second place position in the league, when Steve Cluxton managed to outscore Tommy Tomlinson, 21-20. Each team had 20 field goals, but Wilmington notched 16 free throws to 11 for the red and black.
Miami Trace got a narrow 58-50 win over Madison-Plains, when Panther Kirk McDonald hit 15 of 18 shots from the field and totaled 32 points.
Meanwhile, McClain got its third straight SCOL win, after six consecutive losses, when they hammered last place Teays Valley, 77-58. David Ford led the Tigers with 23 points while Mike Moss had 14 for the Vikings, who had lost 12 of their 13 games this season.
The individual scoring race in the SCOL was tightening up. Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton maintained his seven-point lead over Circleville’s Tommy Tomlinson. Kirk McDonald of Trace had vaulted up to a 17.5 average by totaling 52 points in two games last weekend. Jeff King was fourth with a 15.6 average, followed by Teays Valley’s Scott Ford, who averaged 14.8.
Rob Jackson, of Hillsboro, was the only Indian in the running, and he ranked ninth. Hillsboro’s scoring was so balanced and spread among so many players that no single player racked up enough points to be in contention for the title. In team statistics, Hillsboro led the league with an average of 67.4 points per game and also led in defense by allowing only 45 points per game.
When the Indians trampled the McClain Tigers, 85-57, in Hillsboro on Feb. 7, the Indians were just one game away from clinching the league championship. McClain hit only 12 of 29 free throw attempts in the game, many of them the front end of a 1 and 1, which would have resulted in quite a few more attempts, if they had made a better percentage. The winners connected on 23 of 38 tries. Rob Jackson reached a season high 26 points and teammate Dave Hilliard added 17 for the Indians. Danny Shelton scored 17 for
McClain, but high scoring David Ford was held to one field goal and a total of 7 points.
At Madison-Plains, the officials took center stage in the SCOL game against Circleville, calling 41 personal fouls, resulting in 51 free throw attempts. Midway through the third quarter, the Circleville bench was called for three successive technical fouls, turning a Tiger lead into a very close game which was eventually won by MP, 54-51. Circleville made only
5 of 22 free throw attempts. (You have no real complaint, when you hit only 5 of 22 free throw attempts and lose by three points.)
Wilmington downed WCH, 63-45, sending the Blue Lions down to their 10th defeat in 13 games. Miami Trace gave Teays Valley their 14th consecutive loss on the MT court. The following Tuesday night saw Washington visit Circleville, where the Panthers pinned another loss on the Blue Lions, 76-65. Tommy Tomlinson and Sean McConnell scored 26 and 23 points, respectively for the Tigers. One of the few highlights for the Blue Lions was seeing freshman Jeff Shaw score his first varsity points. Shaw went on to enjoy a memorable
career for WCH in virtually all sports and played Major League baseball for several teams, including the Reds.
At Madison-Plains, Wilmington walloped the Eagles, 86-65, to remain 2 1⁄2 games behind Hillsboro. The Indians would entertain the Golden Eagles at home Friday, with an opportunity to guarantee themselves at least a share of the league basketball title.
The Associated Press poll had the 14-0 Indians ranked sixth in the state among AA schools. Hillsboro did sew up at least a share of the title when they extended their winning streak to 15 games by downing Madison-Plains, 74-64. Rob Jackson poured in 25 points for the Indians, giving him 51 points in his last two SCOL games. Leonard Isaacs totaled 23 for MP, but no other Eagle was in double figures.
At Miami Trace, the Circleville Tigers threw a wet blanket on the Panthers’ Parents’ Night when they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and went on to capture a 58-48 win. Trace clamped down on Tomlinson, but forward Sean McConnell had easy shots inside all night, and racked up 28 points for the Roundtowners. King and McDonald scored 21 and 18 for the Panthers, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Wilmington beat McClain, 73-66, as Mike Beegle hit a career-high 30 points against McClain. Shelton and Hawkins totaled 18 each for the Tigers.
At Washington, the Blue Lions trailed last-place Teays Valley, 41-37, going into the fourth quarter, but outscored the Vikings, 29-9, in the final stanza to win, 66-50. Scott Ford of the Vikings scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but got no help, as WCH had four men in double figures.
In an unusual Saturday night SCOL game, the Hillsboro Indians locked down their first undisputed league title in 32 years when they trampled Teays Valley, 75-54, on the Hillsboro court. Everybody played and all 12 men scored for Coach Snyder’s charges. Rob Jackson’s 17, Mark Cumberland’s 15 and Tony Cumberland’s 13 led the way.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
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