Several new coaches lead SCOL in 1969
By
Bob Patton-
Several basketball coaching changes had taken place in the SCOL, as the 1969-70 season rolled around. Sam Snyder had replaced Paul Hager, at McClain. John Lawhorn had been named head coach at Circleville, and Dave Larimer had replaced Vernon Hooper at Hillsboro.
Snyder had been an outstanding basketball and baseball player at Whiteoak High School. He graduated from Morehead State University and taught and coached at Fayetteville for half a year before taking a job at McClain as assistant basketball coach. He had served as assistant coach under Hager for three years.
Lawhorn, a former cager at Sinking Spring, had coached at East Clinton for several years. He would be the third head coach in three years at Circleville. Larimer had come from West Virginia, by way of Frankfort Adena, where he had been a coach and athletic director. He had been in the Hillsboro system for three years.
Meeting in Washington C.H. prior to the beginning of the season, the coaches picked Washington as the team to beat in the league, with Wilmington a close second. The Hurricane had several lettermen returning, plus a reserve team coming up that posted an 18-0 record the previous season.
Miami Trace was picked third, McClain fourth, Hillsboro fifth and Circleville sixth. The Hillsboro Indians would be small and inexperienced. Only one lettermen, 5’9” Doug Trout, would be in the Indian lineup. All the rest of the boys saw limited service with the varsity, or played reserve ball. Edgar “Bimbo” Rollins, a junior, started several games as a sophomore, but he was out with a football injury for the early part of the season. The prospects were not very bright for the Indians.
At McClain, Coach Snyder had Ken Curry, Steve Wisecup and Mark Trefz back from last season. All were good players, but there was no size on the team. Snyder was forced to move up two sophomores from the reserve team: 6’7” Chuck Free had some potential, and his height would give the Tigers some rebounding power, which they sorely needed; 5’9” Mike Hull, an excellent shooter and ball-handler, would give the team some stability and some scoring balance.
Hillsboro opened their season at home against Fairfield and were defeated by the Lions, 61-58. The Indians then lost to Miami Trace, also on their home court, 61-44.
McClain, playing a murderous schedule which included Newark, Chillicothe, Waverly, Bishop Hartley, Bishop Ready, Upper Arlington and Portsmouth, opened their season at Portsmouth. The tall and talented Trojans were way too much for the Tigers and won, 85-43.
The Upper Arlington contest was to be played at Greenfield, but since Upper Arlington did not want to play on the small court at McClain, the game was moved to Miami Trace. After a thrilling battle, the Golden Bears came out on top, 68-64. The Tigers had given a good account of themselves against top caliber competition. Mike Hull led the McClain scoring with 23 points, followed by Steve Wisecup’s 8.
On Dec. 5, the SCOL season opened as McClain traveled to Hillsboro. Both teams were 0-2 in non-league encounters. The game at Hillsboro was nip-and-tuck. With one second remaining, Lonnie Burns hit a pressure free throw to tie the game, 64-64, and send it into overtime. The Tigers outscored the Indians, 11-3, in overtime to win, 75-67. Ken Curry’s 19 points led the Tigers, while freshman Don Jewett had 22 for the Indians and Doug Trout added 18. McClain had more players in the scoring column, which led to the win.
In other area games, Washington beat Circleville, 74-65, and Wilmington edged Trace, 53-52.
The next night, the Indians lost to Lynchburg-Clay, 64-59. Hillsboro had now played their first four games on their home court and had lost all four. Not a great start.
McClain visited Bishop Ready in Columbus on Saturday night. The Tigers played well, but Ready won, 84-70. Mike Hull again led the way for McClain with 26 points.
The following week, McClain faced two tough challenges, as they played a very rugged Wilmington, then returned to the friendly confines of the McClain gym to take on Columbus Hartley, one of the better teams in the Columbus area.
Foul trouble hampered the Tigers in both games. At Wilmington, Ken Curry, Dave Kensinger, Chuck Free and Steve Wisecup all fouled out. Also, the Hurricane mounted a substantial rebounding edge, and turned what had been a fairly close game into something of a rout, as Wilmington won, 76-54.
Washington beat Hillsboro, 74-49, and Trace downed Circleville, 54-43.
The following night, Mike Hull, Dave Kensinger and Ken Curry all fouled out in the fourth quarter. McClain, who had led, 39-35, were outscored badly in the final stanza, and lost to the Hawks, 56-48.
McClain would face the league-leading Blue Lions on Dec. 19 in the McClain gym. WCH was 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the SCOL. They were the tallest team in the league and used a sticky man-to-man defense, occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone.
But the Blue Lions wandered into a hornets’ nest when they came to the McClain gym. With Mike Hull scorching the nets for 25 points, and Larry Trefz adding 10 points and 10 rebounds, the vastly improved Tigers thrashed the Blue Lions, 77-63. The same night Dayton Carroll whipped Wilmington, 86-45. and Teays Valley downed Circleville, 84-75.
At this early point in the season, Wilmington led the SCOL with a 3-0 mark, followed by McClain, WCH and Miami Trace, all with 2-1 records. Hillsboro and Circleville were both 0-3.
After a sorely needed break during the Christmas holidays, the Miami Trace Panthers visited Greenfield on Jan. 2. An odd set of circumstances surrounded this game. First, Miami Trace had been in the SCOL for nine seasons, at this point, and McClain had never beaten them. Since league teams play each other twice each season (in basketball), MT had clipped the Tigers 18 consecutive times. They had also met each other at least twice in tournament play with the Panthers winning.
Secondly, Coach Delmar Mowery, one of the shrewdest coaches around, had suffered a heart attack nearly two weeks prior to this game. Athletic Director Fred Jones and assistant coach Dale Creamer had taken over, temporarily, and Gordon McCarty had recently been appointed to complete the season as coach of the Panthers. McCarty had earlier coached at MT a couple of years, and was now elementary principal at Jeffersonville.
This, however, was a different year, and a different McClain team.
The Tigers were small, except for Free, but they were mentally tough. Playing superb opposition had prepared them for almost anything.
The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie after one quarter, but the Tigers had moved into a 25-16 lead at halftime, and never looked back. Three Tigers hit in double figures, and McClain turned the ball over only eight times (compared to 16 for MT), as the Tigers captured a 49-42 league victory.
Elsewhere around the league, Washington took Wilmington, 79-70, and Circleville smothered Hillsboro, 68-44.
The league race was torrid as McClain, Washington and Wilmington were all 3-1 and Miami Trace was 2-2.
Circleville and Hillsboro were both capable of knocking one of the front-runners off on any given night. It was too early to start engraving the championship trophy.
(This column will be continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Snyder had been an outstanding basketball and baseball player at Whiteoak High School. He graduated from Morehead State University and taught and coached at Fayetteville for half a year before taking a job at McClain as assistant basketball coach. He had served as assistant coach under Hager for three years.
Lawhorn, a former cager at Sinking Spring, had coached at East Clinton for several years. He would be the third head coach in three years at Circleville. Larimer had come from West Virginia, by way of Frankfort Adena, where he had been a coach and athletic director. He had been in the Hillsboro system for three years.
Meeting in Washington C.H. prior to the beginning of the season, the coaches picked Washington as the team to beat in the league, with Wilmington a close second. The Hurricane had several lettermen returning, plus a reserve team coming up that posted an 18-0 record the previous season.
Miami Trace was picked third, McClain fourth, Hillsboro fifth and Circleville sixth. The Hillsboro Indians would be small and inexperienced. Only one lettermen, 5’9” Doug Trout, would be in the Indian lineup. All the rest of the boys saw limited service with the varsity, or played reserve ball. Edgar “Bimbo” Rollins, a junior, started several games as a sophomore, but he was out with a football injury for the early part of the season. The prospects were not very bright for the Indians.
At McClain, Coach Snyder had Ken Curry, Steve Wisecup and Mark Trefz back from last season. All were good players, but there was no size on the team. Snyder was forced to move up two sophomores from the reserve team: 6’7” Chuck Free had some potential, and his height would give the Tigers some rebounding power, which they sorely needed; 5’9” Mike Hull, an excellent shooter and ball-handler, would give the team some stability and some scoring balance.
Hillsboro opened their season at home against Fairfield and were defeated by the Lions, 61-58. The Indians then lost to Miami Trace, also on their home court, 61-44.
McClain, playing a murderous schedule which included Newark, Chillicothe, Waverly, Bishop Hartley, Bishop Ready, Upper Arlington and Portsmouth, opened their season at Portsmouth. The tall and talented Trojans were way too much for the Tigers and won, 85-43.
The Upper Arlington contest was to be played at Greenfield, but since Upper Arlington did not want to play on the small court at McClain, the game was moved to Miami Trace. After a thrilling battle, the Golden Bears came out on top, 68-64. The Tigers had given a good account of themselves against top caliber competition. Mike Hull led the McClain scoring with 23 points, followed by Steve Wisecup’s 8.
On Dec. 5, the SCOL season opened as McClain traveled to Hillsboro. Both teams were 0-2 in non-league encounters. The game at Hillsboro was nip-and-tuck. With one second remaining, Lonnie Burns hit a pressure free throw to tie the game, 64-64, and send it into overtime. The Tigers outscored the Indians, 11-3, in overtime to win, 75-67. Ken Curry’s 19 points led the Tigers, while freshman Don Jewett had 22 for the Indians and Doug Trout added 18. McClain had more players in the scoring column, which led to the win.
In other area games, Washington beat Circleville, 74-65, and Wilmington edged Trace, 53-52.
The next night, the Indians lost to Lynchburg-Clay, 64-59. Hillsboro had now played their first four games on their home court and had lost all four. Not a great start.
McClain visited Bishop Ready in Columbus on Saturday night. The Tigers played well, but Ready won, 84-70. Mike Hull again led the way for McClain with 26 points.
The following week, McClain faced two tough challenges, as they played a very rugged Wilmington, then returned to the friendly confines of the McClain gym to take on Columbus Hartley, one of the better teams in the Columbus area.
Foul trouble hampered the Tigers in both games. At Wilmington, Ken Curry, Dave Kensinger, Chuck Free and Steve Wisecup all fouled out. Also, the Hurricane mounted a substantial rebounding edge, and turned what had been a fairly close game into something of a rout, as Wilmington won, 76-54.
Washington beat Hillsboro, 74-49, and Trace downed Circleville, 54-43.
The following night, Mike Hull, Dave Kensinger and Ken Curry all fouled out in the fourth quarter. McClain, who had led, 39-35, were outscored badly in the final stanza, and lost to the Hawks, 56-48.
McClain would face the league-leading Blue Lions on Dec. 19 in the McClain gym. WCH was 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the SCOL. They were the tallest team in the league and used a sticky man-to-man defense, occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone.
But the Blue Lions wandered into a hornets’ nest when they came to the McClain gym. With Mike Hull scorching the nets for 25 points, and Larry Trefz adding 10 points and 10 rebounds, the vastly improved Tigers thrashed the Blue Lions, 77-63. The same night Dayton Carroll whipped Wilmington, 86-45. and Teays Valley downed Circleville, 84-75.
At this early point in the season, Wilmington led the SCOL with a 3-0 mark, followed by McClain, WCH and Miami Trace, all with 2-1 records. Hillsboro and Circleville were both 0-3.
After a sorely needed break during the Christmas holidays, the Miami Trace Panthers visited Greenfield on Jan. 2. An odd set of circumstances surrounded this game. First, Miami Trace had been in the SCOL for nine seasons, at this point, and McClain had never beaten them. Since league teams play each other twice each season (in basketball), MT had clipped the Tigers 18 consecutive times. They had also met each other at least twice in tournament play with the Panthers winning.
Secondly, Coach Delmar Mowery, one of the shrewdest coaches around, had suffered a heart attack nearly two weeks prior to this game. Athletic Director Fred Jones and assistant coach Dale Creamer had taken over, temporarily, and Gordon McCarty had recently been appointed to complete the season as coach of the Panthers. McCarty had earlier coached at MT a couple of years, and was now elementary principal at Jeffersonville.
This, however, was a different year, and a different McClain team.
The Tigers were small, except for Free, but they were mentally tough. Playing superb opposition had prepared them for almost anything.
The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie after one quarter, but the Tigers had moved into a 25-16 lead at halftime, and never looked back. Three Tigers hit in double figures, and McClain turned the ball over only eight times (compared to 16 for MT), as the Tigers captured a 49-42 league victory.
Elsewhere around the league, Washington took Wilmington, 79-70, and Circleville smothered Hillsboro, 68-44.
The league race was torrid as McClain, Washington and Wilmington were all 3-1 and Miami Trace was 2-2.
Circleville and Hillsboro were both capable of knocking one of the front-runners off on any given night. It was too early to start engraving the championship trophy.
(This column will be continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]