McClain, Hillsboro battle for SCOL lead
By
Bob Patton-
McClain, Hillsboro
battle for SCOL lead
Rob Munyan paces Tigers’ offense
By BOB PATTON
For The Highland County Press
(Continued from last week.)
At Hillsboro, cousins Mark and Tony Cumberland combined for 32 points and dominated the boards on both ends as the Indians pummeled Madison-Plains, 66- 34, in the 1981-82 season.
Miami Trace lost another SCOL game, this time to Teays Valley, 50-46. Three nights later, on Jan. 15, 1982, Washington lost to Circleville, 48-39, hitting only one of seven free-throw attempts. After a good game, for three quarters, the Tigers outscored the Blue Lions, 18-8, in the final stanza.
At Greenfield, McClain downed Miami Trace, 42-23. Wilmington walloped Madison-Plains, 85-68, and Hillsboro scorched Teays Valley, 69-53. With less than a month of the 1981-82 season left, the league standings were:
McClain — 8-0, 10-1
Wilmington — 7-1, 8-2
Hillsboro — 6-2, 9-2
Circleville — 4-4, 5-5
Teays Valley — 3-5, 4-6
Mad.-Plains — 2-6, 5-6
Washington — 2-6, 2-7
Miami Trace — 0-8, 1-11
On Jan. 18, the AP high school poll came out. McClain High School, under new coach Rick VanMatre, had climbed to number 11 in the AA poll. A high ranking in the AP poll can be either a blessing or a curse.
January 22 saw McClain taking on the Hurricane at Wilmington, Hillsboro playing at Miami Trace, Washington visiting Madison- Plains and Circleville going to Teays Valley.
McClain took a breath-taking 64-63 double overtime win over Wilmington when Rob Munyan hit two pressure-packed free throws with four seconds remaining in the second overtime. This win put McClain two games ahead in the league race and dropped Wilmington back into a second-place tie with Hillsboro. McClain featured tremendous scoring balance, as Dusty Miller scored 18, Munyan had 14, Shelton 13 and Gary Purdin 11. Wilmington missed seven one-and-one situations in the game, which didn’t help their cause.
At Miami Trace, the Hillsboro Indians gave MT their 11th straight loss, 69-44. Washington at Madison-Plains was postponed, and Circleville downed Teays Valley, 55-38.
On Jan. 29, the Blue Lions of WCH broke a five-game losing streak by beating visiting Teays Valley, 62-52. Miami Trace traveled to Circleville and were defeated by the red and black, 57-39. This was the 13th consecutive loss for the Panthers. Meanwhile, Hillsboro downed Wilmington, 76-64 to take over second place in the SCOL. McClain, playing at Madison-Plains, had to go into overtime before edging the Golden Eagles, 72-69. Rob Munyan put up 34 markers for the victorious Tigers.
Going into February, McClain was 10-0 in the SCOL and 13-1 overall. Second-place Hillsboro was 8-2 in SCOL games and 13-2 overall.
McClain clinched at least a share of the SCOL basketball crown on Feb. 2, when they whipped WCH, 58-44, in Greenfield. The big shocker, though, was Circleville downing the Hillsboro Indians, 57- 54. The Tigers did an outstanding defensive job on Mark and Tony Cumberland inside, holding the Hillsboro big men to a total of 12 points combined. Mark Snyder and Doug
Price combined for 33 points for the Indians but got little scoring help. At Teays Valley, the Vikings beat Madison-Plains, 70-62, and Wilmington walloped Miami Trace, 68-42.
In the individual scoring race, Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton held a wide lead. Barring some kind of minor miracle, the 6’4” sharpshooter should take his second straight scoring title. Cluxton had racked up 294 points in 11 league games for a ppg. average of 26.7. McClain’s Rob Munyan was second in individual scoring, but he was far back with 209 points for an average of 19 ppg. Counting all games, Cluxton’s average was 27.1 and Munyan’s was 19.8. Seth Lucas of Madison-Plains ranked third in both SCOL competition and overall, but his average was around 15 ppg.
On Friday, Feb. 5, McClain and Hillsboro met at Hillsboro. The Indians had won 26 consecutive games on their home floor, and their game at Greenfield, back in mid-December, was won by the Tigers on a 30-foot bank-in desperation shot at the buzzer. So, the Indians were confident going in.
This was a great battle between two long-time rivals. The Indians held a slight lead after one quarter. McClain led at halftime and at the third quarter. But Coach Sam Snyder clamped a full-court press on the Tigers in the final stanza, and the Indians outscored McClain, 28-14, to take a 64-58 victory. The press, along with the excellent inside work of Mark Cumberland and Bill Hawkins (who swept the boards in the final quarter) managed to get McClain rattled.
While the Tigers were still in a good position to win the league title, primarily due to Hillsboro’s defeat at Circleville, the loss to Hillsboro cost them the coveted gold basketball and also kept them out of the AP top 10 for at least another week. Additionally, the win was a great morale-booster for the Indians, going into tournament play.
Another great intra-county rivalry was played out in Fayette County, as Washington extended Miami Trace’s losing streak to 15 games by defeating the Panthers, 46-40. Circleville visited Madison-Plains and jumped out to an early 13-8 lead and hung on to down the Eagles, 63-55, behind a 19-point game by talented sophomore Luke McConnell. Seth Lucas led M-P with a 22-point effort. This was Lucas’ 15th straight double figure game.
In Wilmington, Steve Cluxton totaled 33 points against Teays Valley and the Hurricane took an 89-67 win over the Vikings. This was the eighth game this season in which Cluxton had racked up 30 points or more.
February 12 saw the Blue Lions of Washington C.H. travel to Hillsboro. Also, Madison-Plains visited Miami Trace, Teays Valley met McClain, and Circleville tangled with Wilmington.
Rob Munyan scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to set the pace for McClain, as they scorched the Vikings, 77-45. Hillsboro thumped WCH, 75-55, tough Circleville downed Wilmington, 61-52, and Madison- Plains edged Miami Trace, 62-55, as the Panthers, playing on their own court, outscored the Golden Eagles, 50-36, from the field but hit only 5 of 17 free throws (29 percent) and managed to lose the game.
On Saturday night, WCH played at Madison-Plains in a make-up game and got excellent scoring balance as the Blue Lions took a narrow 59-56 decision from the Golden Eagles. The Blue Lions were 5-8 in SCOL games and M-P was 3-10 after this game.
Friday, Feb. 19 was the final playing date for the SCOL in the 1981-82 season. Wilmington made the short trip up Route 22 to Washington C.H. The Blue Lions got off to a great start. They were shooting from the perimeter exceptionally well and were hitting the boards with authority. They led the visiting Hurricane at halftime, 31-24. But the Hurricane came roaring back in the second half. Steve Cluxton racked up 34 points in the game. In addition, he grabbed 10 rebounds. The visiting Hurricane outscored the Lions by 18 points in the second half, and took a 59-51 SCOL win back to Wilmington.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
(Continued from last week.)
At Hillsboro, cousins Mark and Tony Cumberland combined for 32 points and dominated the boards on both ends as the Indians pummeled Madison-Plains, 66- 34, in the 1981-82 season.
Miami Trace lost another SCOL game, this time to Teays Valley, 50-46. Three nights later, on Jan. 15, 1982, Washington lost to Circleville, 48-39, hitting only one of seven free-throw attempts. After a good game, for three quarters, the Tigers outscored the Blue Lions, 18-8, in the final stanza.
At Greenfield, McClain downed Miami Trace, 42-23. Wilmington walloped Madison-Plains, 85-68, and Hillsboro scorched Teays Valley, 69-53. With less than a month of the 1981-82 season left, the league standings were:
McClain — 8-0, 10-1
Wilmington — 7-1, 8-2
Hillsboro — 6-2, 9-2
Circleville — 4-4, 5-5
Teays Valley — 3-5, 4-6
Mad.-Plains — 2-6, 5-6
Washington — 2-6, 2-7
Miami Trace — 0-8, 1-11
On Jan. 18, the AP high school poll came out. McClain High School, under new coach Rick VanMatre, had climbed to number 11 in the AA poll. A high ranking in the AP poll can be either a blessing or a curse.
January 22 saw McClain taking on the Hurricane at Wilmington, Hillsboro playing at Miami Trace, Washington visiting Madison- Plains and Circleville going to Teays Valley.
McClain took a breath-taking 64-63 double overtime win over Wilmington when Rob Munyan hit two pressure-packed free throws with four seconds remaining in the second overtime. This win put McClain two games ahead in the league race and dropped Wilmington back into a second-place tie with Hillsboro. McClain featured tremendous scoring balance, as Dusty Miller scored 18, Munyan had 14, Shelton 13 and Gary Purdin 11. Wilmington missed seven one-and-one situations in the game, which didn’t help their cause.
At Miami Trace, the Hillsboro Indians gave MT their 11th straight loss, 69-44. Washington at Madison-Plains was postponed, and Circleville downed Teays Valley, 55-38.
On Jan. 29, the Blue Lions of WCH broke a five-game losing streak by beating visiting Teays Valley, 62-52. Miami Trace traveled to Circleville and were defeated by the red and black, 57-39. This was the 13th consecutive loss for the Panthers. Meanwhile, Hillsboro downed Wilmington, 76-64 to take over second place in the SCOL. McClain, playing at Madison-Plains, had to go into overtime before edging the Golden Eagles, 72-69. Rob Munyan put up 34 markers for the victorious Tigers.
Going into February, McClain was 10-0 in the SCOL and 13-1 overall. Second-place Hillsboro was 8-2 in SCOL games and 13-2 overall.
McClain clinched at least a share of the SCOL basketball crown on Feb. 2, when they whipped WCH, 58-44, in Greenfield. The big shocker, though, was Circleville downing the Hillsboro Indians, 57- 54. The Tigers did an outstanding defensive job on Mark and Tony Cumberland inside, holding the Hillsboro big men to a total of 12 points combined. Mark Snyder and Doug Price combined for 33 points for the Indians but got little scoring help. At Teays Valley, the Vikings beat Madison-Plains, 70-62, and Wilmington walloped Miami Trace, 68-42.
In the individual scoring race, Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton held a wide lead. Barring some kind of minor miracle, the 6’4” sharpshooter should take his second straight scoring title. Cluxton had racked up 294 points in 11 league games for a ppg. average of 26.7. McClain’s Rob Munyan was second in individual scoring, but he was far back with 209 points for an average of 19 ppg. Counting all games, Cluxton’s average was 27.1 and Munyan’s was 19.8. Seth Lucas of Madison-Plains ranked third in both SCOL competition and overall, but his average was around 15 ppg.
On Friday, Feb. 5, McClain and Hillsboro met at Hillsboro. The Indians had won 26 consecutive games on their home floor, and their game at Greenfield, back in mid-December, was won by the Tigers on a 30-foot bank-in desperation shot at the buzzer. So, the Indians were confident going in.
This was a great battle between two long-time rivals. The Indians held a slight lead after one quarter. McClain led at halftime and at the third quarter. But Coach Sam Snyder clamped a full-court press on the Tigers in the final stanza, and the Indians outscored McClain, 28-14, to take a 64-58 victory. The press, along with the excellent inside work of Mark Cumberland and Bill Hawkins (who swept the boards in the final quarter) managed to get McClain rattled.
While the Tigers were still in a good position to win the league title, primarily due to Hillsboro’s defeat at Circleville, the loss to Hillsboro cost them the coveted gold basketball and also kept them out of the AP top 10 for at least another week. Additionally, the win was a great morale-booster for the Indians, going into tournament play.
Another great intra-county rivalry was played out in Fayette County, as Washington extended Miami Trace’s losing streak to 15 games by defeating the Panthers, 46-40. Circleville visited Madison-Plains and jumped out to an early 13-8 lead and hung on to down the Eagles, 63-55, behind a 19-point game by talented sophomore Luke McConnell. Seth Lucas led M-P with a 22-point effort. This was Lucas’ 15th straight double figure game.
In Wilmington, Steve Cluxton totaled 33 points against Teays Valley and the Hurricane took an 89-67 win over the Vikings. This was the eighth game this season in which Cluxton had racked up 30 points or more.
February 12 saw the Blue Lions of Washington C.H. travel to Hillsboro. Also, Madison-Plains visited Miami Trace, Teays Valley met McClain, and Circleville tangled with Wilmington.
Rob Munyan scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to set the pace for McClain, as they scorched the Vikings, 77-45. Hillsboro thumped WCH, 75-55, tough Circleville downed Wilmington, 61-52, and Madison- Plains edged Miami Trace, 62-55, as the Panthers, playing on their own court, outscored the Golden Eagles, 50-36, from the field but hit only 5 of 17 free throws (29 percent) and managed to lose the game.
On Saturday night, WCH played at Madison-Plains in a make-up game and got excellent scoring balance as the Blue Lions took a narrow 59-56 decision from the Golden Eagles. The Blue Lions were 5-8 in SCOL games and M-P was 3-10 after this game.
Friday, Feb. 19 was the final playing date for the SCOL in the 1981-82 season. Wilmington made the short trip up Route 22 to Washington C.H. The Blue Lions got off to a great start. They were shooting from the perimeter exceptionally well and were hitting the boards with authority. They led the visiting Hurricane at halftime, 31-24. But the Hurricane came roaring back in the second half. Steve Cluxton racked up 34 points in the game. In addition, he grabbed 10 rebounds. The visiting Hurricane outscored the Lions by 18 points in the second half, and took a 59-51 SCOL win back to Wilmington.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
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