Ink in my veins, Part IV

By Rory Ryan
Publisher and Owner
The Highland County Press

On Dec. 11, 1992, Paul Cluxton kept longtime Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs scorekeeper Jesse Mount busy by scoring 33 points, including six 3-pointers. The All-State guard just missed on a rare quadruple-double that night.

He scored 33 points, had 11 rebounds, 10 steals and eight assists in the Mustangs' 91-58 win. (Yes, against my Whiteoak Wildcats.)

There was one particular game at Lynchburg, and I even put this in my notes, where Paul Cluxton took maybe 30 or 40 shots in pre-game warmups from all around the court. He never missed. I watched him walk on the floor, pick up a basketball and lace a 3-pointer.

Just for fun, I told myself that I'd keep an eye on him until he missed. He didn't. Not once.

I've said it before, Paul Cluxton is the best pure shooter in Highland County and Southern Hills League (it will always be the SHL to me) high school basketball I've ever seen. (Nathan Copas is the best point guard I've seen in the SHL, and Paul is the best shooting guard. Just my opinion.)

While fans were accustomed to Cluxton lighting it up from beyond the arc, Coach Wills' Mustangs had much more talent – and a lot of depth. On any night, Brian Glover, always hustling Raymond Smith, Jason McLaughlin, Mark Faust or Jason West could score in double figures. The team was made up of mostly upperclassmen, too. I don't think any freshmen or sophomores played very much on the varsity level that year.

These were intelligent young men, as well. And their subsequent successes in life bear that out.

"I've been very fortunate to have a tremendous group of kids to work with," Coach Wills told me after the 1992-93 regular season. Coach Wills was – and is – a class act, himself, and a very good coach.

Former LCHS Athletic Director Glenn Moberly also told me the Mustangs had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 in 1993. I’m not surprised.

There are many special memories of the Mustangs' championship season. I probably drove some 2,000 miles that winter just to report on Lynchburg-Clay. On one particular road trip to Athens, however, I did not drive.

In mid-March 1993, Lynchburg-Clay won two games – six days apart – at the OU Convocation Center. A late-winter snowstorm delayed the district final until the Ides of March.

After a four-day wait, the Mustangs won the district championship on March 15 over Portsmouth-Clay, 74-52, to earn a spot in Ohio's Sweet 16 in Division IV.

Between games, co-worker Jamie Burton and I spent part of an evening at the Ohio University Inn with Ernie Blankenship, Bill and Janet Butler, Jeff Gilliland and maybe a few others around the table. Ernie regaled us with stories of past teams and players as only Ernie can do. (Ernie picked up the tab, too. As always. We headed back to our cheap motel around 1 a.m.)

As I said, I didn't drive to Athens that week. Jamie Burton drove. He drove us “to” Athens. He didn't quite drive us back “from” Athens.

With temperatures in the 20s and snow falling around us, Jamie made it close to the Adams County-Pike County line on Ohio Route 32. His car simply shut down on us.

This was 1993. This was a prehistoric era when men were men. Cell phones were not attached to our hips like a maintenance man's tool belt. We had two choices: Fix the damned car with our bare hands – with no parts or tools – or start walking.

We headed west on the Appalachian Highway somewhere near Union Hill.

And then it happened. Pricetown's own Bill Bear saw us and pulled over. "Get in," he ordered. Jamie and I noticed that Bill already had five people in his car. "We can walk to Peebles," I offered (hoping that Bill wouldn't say, "OK," and drive off).

"Get in!" he hollered again in that booming voice of his.

Bill Bear drove us some 35 miles in a snowstorm right to my front door. I can never think back on the 1993 Mustangs without thinking of Bill. Thanks again, Bill.

According to my files – and I apologize if I miss a player or two – the 1993 Mustangs included: Paul Cluxton, Brian Glover, Ray Smith, Jason West, Jason McLaughlin, Mark Faust, John Etienne, Greg Koch, Chad McConnaughey, Mark Partin, Richard Warner, M.C. Rosselott and Tyler Julliard.

Led by Coach Joe Wills – who often credited former LC coach John Jones with setting a good foundation – the 1993 Mustangs were a competitive team and a team with class.

I remember driving to Ohio State with my wife, Pam, mother, Rosemary, and two very young daughters, Caitlin and Meghan, in March 1993 to watch Lynchburg-Clay take on New Riegel on a Friday afternoon at St. John Arena.

The outcome wasn't what we'd hoped, but I recall my mother – who is not a sports fan – saying, "I can see why people get excited over high school basketball."

We were all excited over the 1993 Mustangs. They were not only Lynchburg's team and Clay Township's team, but they were Highland County's team and the Southern Hills League team.

Through hard work, great talent, solid coaching and overall teamwork, the 1992-93 Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs demonstrated what a small school in a small conference could accomplish in Ohio High School Athletics.

* * *

20-year reunion at LCHS

On Jan. 11, 2013, it was a Hall of Fame night and a winning night for Lynchburg-Clay head coach Jason McLaughlin.

I was happy to be there, as the memories quickly came back.

Prior to the start of the Mustangs' game against the Fayetteville Rockets, McLaughlin joined his 1993 teammates as the latest inductees into the Lynchburg-Clay High School Athletics Hall of Fame.

Pre-game ceremonies included introductions of all players, coaches and cheerleaders from the 1992-93 Lynchburg-Clay Final Four team.

Jim Faust introduced players Paul Cluxton, John Etienne, Mark Faust, Brian Glover, Tyler Julliard, Greg Koch, Jason McLaughlin, Mark Partin, M.C. Rosselott, Raymond Smith, Richard Warner, Jason West and Chad McConnaughey; and coaches Joe Wills, Mark Pierson and Gordon Sininger. The only player unable to attend was Brian Glover.

Cheerleaders and statistician included: Tara (Davidson) Gragg, Joey (Jackson) Brewer, Stephanie (Allen) Roush, Kristy (Griffith) Warner, Sheizka Komala, Brandy (Soldano) Pitzer, Becky (Soldano) McConnaughey, and Heather (Wallace) Tarr.

The Mustangs ended their 1992-93 regular season on a 13-game winning streak, and continued that momentum with six consecutive victories in postseason play.

They were the undefeated champions of the Southern Hills League, the Southeast District Sectional Tournament champions, the Southeast District Tournament champs and the Division IV Region 15 Regional Tournament champions.

Joe Wills' Mustangs received a gold basketball – symbolic of their perfect league season – at the March 22, 1993 Southern Hills League banquet. In the (then) 22-year history of the SHL, the Mustangs earned the league's first berth in the state Final Four and they were the first team from Highland County in 57 years to reach the Final Four.

(To be continued with Jim Horne’s undefeated 1992 Hillsboro Indians.)

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.