Snyder moves to HHS, Downing takes MHS job
By
Bob Patton-
Snyder moves to HHS, Downing takes MHS job
By BOB PATTON
For The Highland County Press
Sam Snyder had become head basketball coach at McClain High School in the 1969-70 school year. Now, as the 1979-80 basketball season got under way, he had been employed in the same capacity at Hillsboro.
Snyder had done a good job at McClain. His 1970 Tigers tied for the SCOL title, far surpassing most people’s expectations. His 1972 team captured an outright SCOL championship. They were one of the stronger teams in southeastern Ohio. The Tigers of 1975 lost in the regional championship game to Warsaw River Valley, the eventual state champions.
In the past three or four years, however, the Tigers had fallen on hard times. They had run completely out of material.
They were very, very small, and the skill level was questionable at best. Wins were few and far between. So, when the opportunity presented
itself, he accepted the Hillsboro job and assistant coach Ted Downing moved into the top job at McClain.
The Indians were 4-10 in the SCOL and 8-10 overall in the 1978-79 season. They showed some promise occasionally, but looked a little ragged in spots.
This year’s Indians had some formidable size in Brad Storer, Robbie Jackson and Brian Huffman. Rebounding and taking care of the ball would be keys, and solid defense had always been a characteristic of Snyder’s teams, although it is never easy to stress defense with juniors and seniors who are not accustomed to quite that much defensive emphasis.
At McClain, first-year head coach Ted Downing had three starters returning. Todd Ralph, Troy Hull and Doug Soards would be joined by three
players that were listed at 6’4.” If that was accurate, the Tigers would have a little size inside, for the first time in several years. The Tigers
opened the 1979-80 season at home against Washington. The Blue Lions led throughout the first half, but were unable to pull away to a comfortable
edge. Veteran Dennis Dahmer led the Lions with 22 points for the game. But in the second half, the Tigers pulled up almost even with the blue and
white.
Substitute guard Steve Young gave them some quality minutes after Todd Ralph went down with an ankle strain.
Finally, the Tigers grabbed the lead and held on tenaciously down the stretch, chiefly on free throws. At the final buzzer, McClain held a 51-49
edge. They were 1-0 in the SCOL.
The following Friday, the Tigers entertained Teays Valley. The Vikings jumped out on top and led all the way, taking a 63-56. Meanwhile, in
Washington C.H., the Hillsboro Indians got 26 points from senior Jon Cole as they defeated the Blue Lions, 57-56. Miami Trace exhibited unbelievable
scoring balance as they took the measure of Madison Plains, 73-64.
“Downtown” Dickie Brown tallied 34 points for the Golden Eagles, but got little help from his teammates. Circleville also had great scoring balance as they whipped the Wilmington Hurricane, 65-56.
Friday, Dec. 7 saw the big McClain vs. Hillsboro cross-county matchup on the Hillsboro court. The Tigers got off to a great start, and trailed by
only one point at the end of the first quarter. But Snyder abandoned the tight man-to-man in favor of a 1-3-1 zone, which McClain was unable to
solve, and the Indians raced to a 90-50 win. Elsewhere, at Madison Plains, Brown set a new single-game individual scoring record banging in 39 points as the Eagles got by Circleville, 67-62. Brown hit 14 of 19 from the field, mostly from long range, and added 11 of 13 from the charity stripe. No other Eagle was in double figures.
Washington finally won a close game, as they got by winless Wilmington, 49-47. Miami Trace pummeled Teays Valley, 75-52, to remain tied with Hillsboro for the league lead.
After being pounded by Hillsboro, the McClain Tigers hosted the co-leader of the SCOL, Miami Trace. Playing before a supportive home crowd,
the Tigers gave MT a very good game before dropping a tough SCOL match, 67-53. In other games, Hillsboro pasted Teays Valley, 75-58; Circleville
downed WCH, 60-49; and Madison Plains took Wilmington, 76-65.
On Dec. 14, McClain took their show on the road where they turned the ball over 23 times. Nobody in the gym was safe as Wilmington got their first SCOL win, 67-56.
Elsewhere, Hillsboro won a big game over Madison Plains, 82-75, even though Dickie Brown burned the nets up with a total of 45 points. The
Hillsboro defense kept moving out further and further but Brown kept firing, and hitting nothing but net. He hit a couple of shots that had to be at
least 35 feet out, and never hesitated a moment. In Fayette County, Miami Trace grabbed a narrow decision over Circleville, 70-64. As opposed to
Madison Plains, who had a human scoring machine, Miami Trace was getting great balance in their scoring. Also, Washington got their second win of the season, a 49-47 squeaker over the Teays Valley Vikings.
In a non-league game on Dec. 21, Leesburg Fairfield got a free throw from David Greer with seven seconds remaining in the game, to edge McClain, 55-54. McClain’s Doug Soards racked up 20 points against the Fairfield Lions, giving Coach Downing a ray of hope for the second half of the season.
Meanwhile, Miami Trace took over the SCOL lead by beating Hillsboro, 61-50. The tough MT defense held Hillsboro’s Jon Cole below 20 points for the first time in the 1979-80 season as Brad Storer’s 19 markers led the Indians.
Ohio State head coach Eldon Miller was in the stands at Madison Plains, to see the remarkable “Downtown” Dickie Brown do his magic act. Brown didn’t disappoint the Buckeye coach. He totaled 32 points, but got little help from his teammates, and the Eagles were beaten by Washington, 63-61. Teays Valley hosted Wilmington, and downed the Hurricane, 77-63, behind 36 points from reliable Viking John Sanders. So, as the SCOL teams took a break from the action for the holidays, the league standings were:
Miami Trace – 7-0, 9-1
Hillsboro – 6-1, 8-1
Mad. Plains – 4-3, 7-3
Washington – 4-3, 5-6
Teays Valley – 3-4, 4-6
Circleville – 2-4, 4-5
McClain – 1-5, 1-7
Wilmington – 1-6, 2-7.
After the holiday break, Miami Trace remained on top in the SCOL race as they beat Wilmington, 39-26 when the Hurricane slowed the game to a gentle breeze. Hillsboro had to go all out to avoid being upset at Circleville, but outscored the Tigers 18-8 in the fourth quarter to win a tough game 58-52.
At Teays Valley, the Vikings grabbed a 17-8 first-quarter lead over Madison Plains, but the Eagles battled back and edged the Vikings 59-58, as Dickie Brown totaled 32 points for the Eagles and steady John Sanders collected 28 for TV. At Washington C.H., Dennis Dahmer racked up 28 points for the Blue Lions as they avenged a two-point defeat by McClain in the first league game of the season, 54-39 win.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
Sam Snyder had become head basketball coach at McClain High School in the 1969-70 school year. Now, as the 1979-80 basketball season got under way, he had been employed in the same capacity at Hillsboro.
Snyder had done a good job at McClain. His 1970 Tigers tied for the SCOL title, far surpassing most people’s expectations. His 1972 team captured an outright SCOL championship. They were one of the stronger teams in southeastern Ohio. The Tigers of 1975 lost in the regional championship game to Warsaw River Valley, the eventual state champions.
In the past three or four years, however, the Tigers had fallen on hard times. They had run completely out of material.
They were very, very small, and the skill level was questionable at best. Wins were few and far between. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he accepted the Hillsboro job and assistant coach Ted Downing moved into the top job at McClain.
The Indians were 4-10 in the SCOL and 8-10 overall in the 1978-79 season. They showed some promise occasionally, but looked a little ragged in spots.
This year’s Indians had some formidable size in Brad Storer, Robbie Jackson and Brian Huffman. Rebounding and taking care of the ball would be keys, and solid defense had always been a characteristic of Snyder’s teams, although it is never easy to stress defense with juniors and seniors who are not accustomed to quite that much defensive emphasis.
At McClain, first-year head coach Ted Downing had three starters returning. Todd Ralph, Troy Hull and Doug Soards would be joined by three players that were listed at 6’4.” If that was accurate, the Tigers would have a little size inside, for the first time in several years. The Tigers opened the 1979-80 season at home against Washington. The Blue Lions led throughout the first half, but were unable to pull away to a comfortable edge. Veteran Dennis Dahmer led the Lions with 22 points for the game. But in the second half, the Tigers pulled up almost even with the blue and
white.
Substitute guard Steve Young gave them some quality minutes after Todd Ralph went down with an ankle strain.
Finally, the Tigers grabbed the lead and held on tenaciously down the stretch, chiefly on free throws. At the final buzzer, McClain held a 51-49 edge. They were 1-0 in the SCOL.
The following Friday, the Tigers entertained Teays Valley. The Vikings jumped out on top and led all the way, taking a 63-56. Meanwhile, in Washington C.H., the Hillsboro Indians got 26 points from senior Jon Cole as they defeated the Blue Lions, 57-56. Miami Trace exhibited unbelievable scoring balance as they took the measure of Madison Plains, 73-64.
“Downtown” Dickie Brown tallied 34 points for the Golden Eagles, but got little help from his teammates. Circleville also had great scoring balance as they whipped the Wilmington Hurricane, 65-56.
Friday, Dec. 7 saw the big McClain vs. Hillsboro cross-county matchup on the Hillsboro court. The Tigers got off to a great start, and trailed by only one point at the end of the first quarter. But Snyder abandoned the tight man-to-man in favor of a 1-3-1 zone, which McClain was unable to solve, and the Indians raced to a 90-50 win. Elsewhere, at Madison Plains, Brown set a new single-game individual scoring record banging in 39 points as the Eagles got by Circleville, 67-62. Brown hit 14 of 19 from the field, mostly from long range, and added 11 of 13 from the charity stripe. No other Eagle was in double figures.
Washington finally won a close game, as they got by winless Wilmington, 49-47. Miami Trace pummeled Teays Valley, 75-52, to remain tied with Hillsboro for the league lead.
After being pounded by Hillsboro, the McClain Tigers hosted the co-leader of the SCOL, Miami Trace. Playing before a supportive home crowd, the Tigers gave MT a very good game before dropping a tough SCOL match, 67-53. In other games, Hillsboro pasted Teays Valley, 75-58; Circleville downed WCH, 60-49; and Madison Plains took Wilmington, 76-65.
On Dec. 14, McClain took their show on the road where they turned the ball over 23 times. Nobody in the gym was safe as Wilmington got their first SCOL win, 67-56.
Elsewhere, Hillsboro won a big game over Madison Plains, 82-75, even though Dickie Brown burned the nets up with a total of 45 points. The Hillsboro defense kept moving out further and further but Brown kept firing, and hitting nothing but net. He hit a couple of shots that had to be at least 35 feet out, and never hesitated a moment. In Fayette County, Miami Trace grabbed a narrow decision over Circleville, 70-64. As opposed to Madison Plains, who had a human scoring machine, Miami Trace was getting great balance in their scoring. Also, Washington got their second win of the season, a 49-47 squeaker over the Teays Valley Vikings.
In a non-league game on Dec. 21, Leesburg Fairfield got a free throw from David Greer with seven seconds remaining in the game, to edge McClain, 55-54. McClain’s Doug Soards racked up 20 points against the Fairfield Lions, giving Coach Downing a ray of hope for the second half of the season.
Meanwhile, Miami Trace took over the SCOL lead by beating Hillsboro, 61-50. The tough MT defense held Hillsboro’s Jon Cole below 20 points for the first time in the 1979-80 season as Brad Storer’s 19 markers led the Indians.
Ohio State head coach Eldon Miller was in the stands at Madison Plains, to see the remarkable “Downtown” Dickie Brown do his magic act. Brown didn’t disappoint the Buckeye coach. He totaled 32 points, but got little help from his teammates, and the Eagles were beaten by Washington, 63-61. Teays Valley hosted Wilmington, and downed the Hurricane, 77-63, behind 36 points from reliable Viking John Sanders. So, as the SCOL teams took a break from the action for the holidays, the league standings were:
Miami Trace – 7-0, 9-1
Hillsboro – 6-1, 8-1
Mad. Plains – 4-3, 7-3
Washington – 4-3, 5-6
Teays Valley – 3-4, 4-6
Circleville – 2-4, 4-5
McClain – 1-5, 1-7
Wilmington – 1-6, 2-7.
After the holiday break, Miami Trace remained on top in the SCOL race as they beat Wilmington, 39-26 when the Hurricane slowed the game to a gentle breeze. Hillsboro had to go all out to avoid being upset at Circleville, but outscored the Tigers 18-8 in the fourth quarter to win a tough game 58-52.
At Teays Valley, the Vikings grabbed a 17-8 first-quarter lead over Madison Plains, but the Eagles battled back and edged the Vikings 59-58, as Dickie Brown totaled 32 points for the Eagles and steady John Sanders collected 28 for TV. At Washington C.H., Dennis Dahmer racked up 28 points for the Blue Lions as they avenged a two-point defeat by McClain in the first league game of the season, 54-39 win.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
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