Indians down WB to claim 1993 title

(Continued from last week.)

On Jan. 23, 1993, McClain took the long trek to McArthur, where the Vinton County Vikings pressed full-court and tried to force the Tigers to run up and down the floor with them. But the Tigers tightened the reins and slowed the game down.

The Vikings were not good at the deliberate game. They shot only 37 percent from the floor and committed 16 turnovers.

The Tigers took a 3-2 lead on a Pat Coleman field goal early in the first quarter and led all the way. The final score was 60-45.

Sharpshooter Richie Highley canned 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead McClain. The purple-and-gold now sported a 7-6 record for the season.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, McClain hosted the Panthers of Ross Southeastern and veteran coach Larry Jordan.

This was an ugly win, with wild passes, missed layups, all kinds of violations and errors. But McClain came out on top, 57-43, when the Panthers turned the ball over 27 times. Highley and Coleman rolled up 21 and 15 points, respectively, to lead the home team.

McClain traveled to Miami Trace on Jan. 29. The Tigers played an outstanding game defensively, holding Trace to 33-percent shooting and holding Terrell Baker to 12 points (probably, his low for the entire season). But the Panthers’ Jason King racked up 25 points, including 11-for-11 at the free-throw line.

The lead changed hands no less than eight times in the torrid fourth quarter.  

McClain played host to Whiteoak on Feb. 2, defeating the southern Highland County team, 56-37.

Whiteoak made a run at the Tigers in the late part of the third quarter and closed the gap to six points when Rick Van Matre was assessed a technical foul for disputing an official’s call. The technical didn’t help Whiteoak much, but it lit a fire under the McClain team.

Over the next five minutes, the Tigers outscored the visitors 19-0 to take a 49-26 advantage over the Wildcats with five minutes remaining in the game.

Highley racked up 19 and Coleman, 15 for the Tigers as eight players dented the scoring column. Daniel Knoblauch’s 12 and Burns’ 10 led Whiteoak’s scoring.

Also on the 29th, Hillsboro pounded Clermont Northeastern, 68-50, on the Hillsboro floor, as Jamie Thompson wore out the nets, scoring 31 points.

McClain was scheduled at Washington C.H. Feb. 5, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather. It would be played Wednesday, Feb. 10.

Fairfield (1-16) played at McClain Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the final home appearance of the season for the Tigers.

The purple-and-gold surprised everybody in the gym with an up-tempo offense, which led to an 18-4 McClain advantage after one quarter. The Tigers won the lopsided affair, 72-40.

Teeters scored 15 for Fairfield, but he was their only player in double figures.

The same evening, at Hillsboro, the Indians whipped Western Brown, 59-43, to claim the SBAC basketball title. The Indians had almost perfect scoring balance, with four men in double figures between 10 and 15 points.

McClain traveled to Washington C.H. Wednesday, to take on the tough (14-2) Blue Lions. McClain jumped out to a commanding lead in the early going, but WCH took charge late in the third stanza and went on to down the Tigers, 67-55.

The Tigers hit only one field goal in the final five minutes of the game and missed the front end of five bonus free throw opportunities. They were outscored 23-8 in the final quarter.

The two teams would meet, again, in the Chillicothe Sectional Tournament, Feb. 26. The next night, Feb. 27, the Hillsboro Indians would take on the winner of the Waverly vs. Miami Trace game, which would be played Tuesday, Feb. 23.

February 13 saw McClain traveling to Frankfort to challenge the Adena Warriors.

The Tigers were a little flat at the outset, leading to a 10-9 Adena lead after one quarter. But once they got warmed up, the complexion of the game changed dramatically.

The purple-and-gold outscored their hosts, 23-8, in the second quarter and 27-8 in the third, giving them a 59-26 lead going into the final stanza. Adena scored 24 points in the final quarter against substitutes, making the final score McClain 76, Adena 50.

McClain sophomore Andy Smith came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points.

The win gave the Tigers an 11-8 record with one game remaining, at East Clinton, Feb. 16. Adena slipped to 2-17 for the season.

McClain and East Clinton staged a real barnburner on the EC floor. Pat Coleman hit a ten-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Tigers a come-from-behind, 66-64, win in double overtime, after the visitors held the ball the last 1:35 until only 11 seconds remained, with the score tied at 64. After a timeout, McClain ran a play which ended with Coleman getting the final shot.

McClain ended their season 12-8 and headed for the Chillicothe Sectional Tournament and a return match with the Washington Blue Lions.

(Continued next week.)

Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.