CHS, WHS, McClain battle for SCOL lead
By
Bob Patton-
(Continued from last week.)
Snow blanketed the area Jan. 10, 1984, forcing cancellation of both the Hillsboro game at Wilmington and the McClain game at Madison-Plains. Miami Trace at WCH and Circleville at Teays Valley were played because both were very short trips.
It was a long way home for Miami Trace, though, as the Panthers were pulling away from the Blue Lions, leading 38-31 midway through the final period.
But Jeff Shaw literally took control of the game at that point, scoring, rebounding and leading the Blue Lions offense. The blue-and-white scored eight unanswered points to take the lead. They outscored the Panthers, 12-6, the rest of the way. The final tally was WCH 51, MT 44. At Ashville, Circleville downed the T-V Vikings, 83-66.
The SCOL contenders were starting down the home stretch, now, and big Luke McConnell of Circleville still held the lead for the individual scoring crown. McConnell had racked up 226 points in 10 games for a 22.6 ppg average. Todd Brayfield of Madison-Plains claimed second place. He had scored 194 points in nine games, a 21.6 ppg mark.
Close behind was Blue Lion ace Jeff Shaw, who had scored 235 points in 11 games, including 32 against Circleville, a 21.4 ppg mark. Shaw rose to the occasion again Jan. 13 when he nailed a 22-foot jumper with four seconds remaining to down the league leading McClain Tigers on the Blue Lions’ home court. This marked two consecutive years that the Lions took a game from McClain on a last second shot. The previous season, it was Tim Redman who burned the Tigers with an outside jumper with only two seconds to go.
The SCOL would save money this year because the WCH win over McClain guaranteed that there would be no gold basketball awarded this season. Everybody had now lost at least one league game. Circleville took over first place in the league by a half game, walloping Hillsboro, 99-47, at Circleville. The Tigers bombed the Indians in the fourth quarter, 41-19. The 41 fourth-quarter points were a school record.
McClain, however, would have a chance to make up the one-half game deficit on Tuesday night when they played a make-up game with Madison-Plains.
Also, on the 13th, Wilmington rang up a 61-54 win over Miami Trace and Teays Valley clipped Madison-Plains, 66-48. This marked the eighth straight loss for the Golden Eagles.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, McClain won the make-up game at Madison-Plains, 62-50, to climb back into a tie with Circleville, both sporting 7-1 records in SCOL games. Hillsboro entertained Washington on Jan. 20. The Indians had three men in double figures, but Shaw and Dwane Evans paced the Lions with 24 and 11 points, respectively, and the Blue Lions captured the win, 65-55. In other games, both McClain and Circleville dropped important SCOL games.
Wilmington scorched Circleville, 62-52, while Teays Valley nipped the McClain Tigers, 44-42. Circleville and McClain continue to be tied for the league lead. They were likely to be joined by Wilmington on Jan. 24, when the Hurricane made up the game with Hillsboro that was postponed Jan. 10. In the only other SCOL game, Miami Trace plastered Madison-Plains, 91-74.
In the individual scoring race, Jeff Shaw, of WCH, had vaulted into the top spot. The 6’2” sharpshooter had tallied 274 points in 13 games for a 21.1 ppg average. Luke McConnell, of Circleville, was only two points behind, with 272 points, also in 13 games. His average ppg was 20.9. Madison-Plains’ Todd Brayfield was holding down third place. He had scored 281 points in 14 games, for an average of 20.1.
The Wilmington Hurricane blew into the Lions Den at WCH on Jan. 27. In a great nip-and-tuck game, the Hurricane slipped by the Blue Lions. 48-47. The visitors defensed Shaw very well, even though he ended up scoring 18 points. Twelve of his points came in the fourth quarter. Nared (14), Ward (12) and Hamilton (11) led the way for Wilmington.
In the upset of the evening, the Hillsboro Indians knocked off McClain, 59-58, in Greenfield. This was the Tigers’ third loss in the past four games, knocking them out of a three-way tie for the league lead with Circleville and Wilmington. McClain had enjoyed a two-point halftime lead, which they still held at the third quarter break. But the determined Indians outscored the home team, 20-17, in the final stanza to grab the win.
In other SCOL action, Teays Valley downed Miami Trace, 59-44, and Circleville hammered Madison-Plains, 62-45.
In the last week of January 1984, Circleville was 8-2 in the SCOL and 11-3 overall. Wilmington was 8-2 in the league and 10-4 overall. McClain was 7-3 and 11-4, while Hillsboro was 3-7 and 6-8.
The league’s top three teams all played Feb. 1. Circleville scored seven unanswered points in the final two minutes of the game and edged WCH, 57-47. McClain, after trailing at halftime, rallied to beat Miami Trace, 63-60, behind a 32-point contribution from Eric Coleman, and Wilmington downed Madison-Plains, 62-50.
Hillsboro and Teays Valley were not scheduled. They would square off on Saturday night in the Hillsboro gymnasium. Hillsboro edged the Vikings in two overtime periods, 57-56. On the next SCOL playing date in February, Hillsboro had to go overtime to beat Madison-Plains, who had yet to win their first SCOL game. The final score was Hillsboro 67, MP 64.
Wilmington, who was all but out of the race three weeks earlier, moved back into the top spot by defeating McClain, 65-44. The Hurricane burst out to a 31-8 lead in the second quarter, and it got worse after that. Coach Norm Persin had brought the Hurricane back from the dead by getting tremendous scoring balance. In this game, Cam Storer and Cortez Hamilton had 14 points each, while Greg Nared added 12 and Billy Ward 11. Dave Mischal was the only Tiger in double figures. He had 11. Noteworthy was the fact that McClain center Eric Coleman was scoreless against Wilmington just three days after he totaled 32 points against Miami Trace. This loss effectively took McClain out of the race for the SCOL title after they led the league with a perfect 5-0 league record at the end of the first round. Since then, they had lost four of five league games.
Miami Trace, who had been up and down all season, burned the Circleville Tigers, 61-57, in overtime, on the Circleville home court. Finally, in Ashville, Teays Valley got ahead of Washington early, and just never let up. The Blue Lions fought a game battle, but were edged, 56-54, in regulation. Shaw led all scorers with 23 points but still dropped to second in the individual scoring race, as McConnell of Circleville tallied 26 in a losing effort against MT.
Miami Trace smothered the Hillsboro Indians, 81-65, Feb. 10 at Trace. The Indians broke on top and were up 13-9 at one point. But it was mostly all Trace from that point. Also, Washington trounced Madison-Plains, 66-41, and Wilmington thumped Teays Valley, 64-41. In the big one, at Circleville, McClain had all kinds of trouble combating Circleville’s 2-3 zone, and dropped another SCOL game, 67-55.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Snow blanketed the area Jan. 10, 1984, forcing cancellation of both the Hillsboro game at Wilmington and the McClain game at Madison-Plains. Miami Trace at WCH and Circleville at Teays Valley were played because both were very short trips.
It was a long way home for Miami Trace, though, as the Panthers were pulling away from the Blue Lions, leading 38-31 midway through the final period.
But Jeff Shaw literally took control of the game at that point, scoring, rebounding and leading the Blue Lions offense. The blue-and-white scored eight unanswered points to take the lead. They outscored the Panthers, 12-6, the rest of the way. The final tally was WCH 51, MT 44. At Ashville, Circleville downed the T-V Vikings, 83-66.
The SCOL contenders were starting down the home stretch, now, and big Luke McConnell of Circleville still held the lead for the individual scoring crown. McConnell had racked up 226 points in 10 games for a 22.6 ppg average. Todd Brayfield of Madison-Plains claimed second place. He had scored 194 points in nine games, a 21.6 ppg mark.
Close behind was Blue Lion ace Jeff Shaw, who had scored 235 points in 11 games, including 32 against Circleville, a 21.4 ppg mark. Shaw rose to the occasion again Jan. 13 when he nailed a 22-foot jumper with four seconds remaining to down the league leading McClain Tigers on the Blue Lions’ home court. This marked two consecutive years that the Lions took a game from McClain on a last second shot. The previous season, it was Tim Redman who burned the Tigers with an outside jumper with only two seconds to go.
The SCOL would save money this year because the WCH win over McClain guaranteed that there would be no gold basketball awarded this season. Everybody had now lost at least one league game. Circleville took over first place in the league by a half game, walloping Hillsboro, 99-47, at Circleville. The Tigers bombed the Indians in the fourth quarter, 41-19. The 41 fourth-quarter points were a school record.
McClain, however, would have a chance to make up the one-half game deficit on Tuesday night when they played a make-up game with Madison-Plains.
Also, on the 13th, Wilmington rang up a 61-54 win over Miami Trace and Teays Valley clipped Madison-Plains, 66-48. This marked the eighth straight loss for the Golden Eagles.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, McClain won the make-up game at Madison-Plains, 62-50, to climb back into a tie with Circleville, both sporting 7-1 records in SCOL games. Hillsboro entertained Washington on Jan. 20. The Indians had three men in double figures, but Shaw and Dwane Evans paced the Lions with 24 and 11 points, respectively, and the Blue Lions captured the win, 65-55. In other games, both McClain and Circleville dropped important SCOL games.
Wilmington scorched Circleville, 62-52, while Teays Valley nipped the McClain Tigers, 44-42. Circleville and McClain continue to be tied for the league lead. They were likely to be joined by Wilmington on Jan. 24, when the Hurricane made up the game with Hillsboro that was postponed Jan. 10. In the only other SCOL game, Miami Trace plastered Madison-Plains, 91-74.
In the individual scoring race, Jeff Shaw, of WCH, had vaulted into the top spot. The 6’2” sharpshooter had tallied 274 points in 13 games for a 21.1 ppg average. Luke McConnell, of Circleville, was only two points behind, with 272 points, also in 13 games. His average ppg was 20.9. Madison-Plains’ Todd Brayfield was holding down third place. He had scored 281 points in 14 games, for an average of 20.1.
The Wilmington Hurricane blew into the Lions Den at WCH on Jan. 27. In a great nip-and-tuck game, the Hurricane slipped by the Blue Lions. 48-47. The visitors defensed Shaw very well, even though he ended up scoring 18 points. Twelve of his points came in the fourth quarter. Nared (14), Ward (12) and Hamilton (11) led the way for Wilmington.
In the upset of the evening, the Hillsboro Indians knocked off McClain, 59-58, in Greenfield. This was the Tigers’ third loss in the past four games, knocking them out of a three-way tie for the league lead with Circleville and Wilmington. McClain had enjoyed a two-point halftime lead, which they still held at the third quarter break. But the determined Indians outscored the home team, 20-17, in the final stanza to grab the win.
In other SCOL action, Teays Valley downed Miami Trace, 59-44, and Circleville hammered Madison-Plains, 62-45.
In the last week of January 1984, Circleville was 8-2 in the SCOL and 11-3 overall. Wilmington was 8-2 in the league and 10-4 overall. McClain was 7-3 and 11-4, while Hillsboro was 3-7 and 6-8.
The league’s top three teams all played Feb. 1. Circleville scored seven unanswered points in the final two minutes of the game and edged WCH, 57-47. McClain, after trailing at halftime, rallied to beat Miami Trace, 63-60, behind a 32-point contribution from Eric Coleman, and Wilmington downed Madison-Plains, 62-50.
Hillsboro and Teays Valley were not scheduled. They would square off on Saturday night in the Hillsboro gymnasium. Hillsboro edged the Vikings in two overtime periods, 57-56. On the next SCOL playing date in February, Hillsboro had to go overtime to beat Madison-Plains, who had yet to win their first SCOL game. The final score was Hillsboro 67, MP 64.
Wilmington, who was all but out of the race three weeks earlier, moved back into the top spot by defeating McClain, 65-44. The Hurricane burst out to a 31-8 lead in the second quarter, and it got worse after that. Coach Norm Persin had brought the Hurricane back from the dead by getting tremendous scoring balance. In this game, Cam Storer and Cortez Hamilton had 14 points each, while Greg Nared added 12 and Billy Ward 11. Dave Mischal was the only Tiger in double figures. He had 11. Noteworthy was the fact that McClain center Eric Coleman was scoreless against Wilmington just three days after he totaled 32 points against Miami Trace. This loss effectively took McClain out of the race for the SCOL title after they led the league with a perfect 5-0 league record at the end of the first round. Since then, they had lost four of five league games.
Miami Trace, who had been up and down all season, burned the Circleville Tigers, 61-57, in overtime, on the Circleville home court. Finally, in Ashville, Teays Valley got ahead of Washington early, and just never let up. The Blue Lions fought a game battle, but were edged, 56-54, in regulation. Shaw led all scorers with 23 points but still dropped to second in the individual scoring race, as McConnell of Circleville tallied 26 in a losing effort against MT.
Miami Trace smothered the Hillsboro Indians, 81-65, Feb. 10 at Trace. The Indians broke on top and were up 13-9 at one point. But it was mostly all Trace from that point. Also, Washington trounced Madison-Plains, 66-41, and Wilmington thumped Teays Valley, 64-41. In the big one, at Circleville, McClain had all kinds of trouble combating Circleville’s 2-3 zone, and dropped another SCOL game, 67-55.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]