McClain claims 1991 sectional championship

(Continued from last week.)

On Saturday night, Feb. 23, 1991 the Washington Blue Lions squared off against the McClain Tigers, in Chillicothe. The Tigers were only 7-7 in mid-January, but had won their last six consecutive games to finish the season 13-7.

Coaches seek to have their teams reach their peak at tournament time, and McClain had apparently accomplished that.

Washington led, 17-13, after the first quarter and 25-23 at halftime. But the McClain Tigers came to life in the third stanza and led, 37-36, going into the final eight minutes of play. Each team scored 11 points in the final quarter, and McClain went home with a 48-47 win and the sectional championship.

Meanwhile, Miami Trace, after taking the SCOL championship, their first in 12 years, met 14-6 Waverly in the sectional tournament at Chillicothe.

The Waverly Tigers loved to shoot 3-pointers, and they had some great shooters, so the Panthers had to be prepared for that. But Trace defensed the Tigers well, and captured a 53-41 win, and a trip to the Convo for the district tourney, where they would battle 16-5 Vinton County.

The Panthers jumped out to a 13-6 lead over Vinton County’s Vikings. The Vikings came back and made a game of it, but Trace took the game by a comfortable 65-48 behind Todd Henry’s 18 points. They would advance to meet 20-2 Proctorville Fairland on March 9. In the earlier game, that evening, 15-7 McClain, who had defeated Ironton, would battle 20-2 Portsmouth. If McClain and Miami Trace could both win, they would both advance to the regional tournament at Athens. But that was a tall order.

Fairland was a very tall team. Trace played them very tough. With just over three minutes remaining, the score was tied at 55. In the end, Fairland took a 64-61 win over the Panthers, and the season was over for Miami Trace, despite a great effort (21 points) from Todd Henry and Terrell Baker (18 points).

In the earlier game, McClain put up a good fight, but Marcus Coleman drew his third foul in the first quarter. This forced the Tigers to go to a zone defense to protect Coleman and Portsmouth scored some easy baskets.

The Trojans led by about 14 points through most of the third quarter. Then, the Tiger center fouled out with nearly 7 minutes remaining in the game. After that, Portsmouth just had way too much size and quickness and they went on to a 73-53 win, ending McClain’s season. Coleman’s 15 markers and Ritchie Bunner’s 12 set the pace for the Tigers in a losing effort.

All the SCOL teams were now out of the tournament, but they had all given a good account of themselves.

When the All-Southeast District Team was announced, Marcus Coleman, of McClain was named to the Div. II first team. Todd Henry, of Miami Trace and Jason Pittser, of Washington were named to the second team. Coach Kirk Hardman was named Co-Coach of the Year in Div. II, along with Joe Suboticki of Portsmouth.

Coleman, Henry and Pittser were all mentioned on the All-State team, but none of them were listed on the first or second teams.

Marcus Coleman was named honorary captain of the All-SCOL team. He was joined on the team by Todd Henry and Terrell Baker of MT, Jason Pittser and Terry Rose of WCH, Howard Johns, Michael Campbell and Mike Mertz, all of Wilmington, teammate Doug Moon, of McClain and Aaron Boone of Hillsboro.

To put a damper on a great season, Washington C.H. announced that they were considering a move to a new league. A three-year search to find new SCOL members had come up empty. The Blue Lions were pondering a move – possibly to the Central Buckeye League.

WCH Athletic Director Dale Lynch said, “A five- team league is just not a good situation. You could win a gold football with a 4-6 record, or a gold basketball with a record of 8-12.”

If Washington left, they would join West Jefferson, London, Jonathan Alder, Johnstown Monroe and Licking Heights along with, possibly, Utica and Licking Valley from the Eastern Division of the CBL. Any move could doom the future of the SCOL, one of the oldest leagues in Ohio.

Hillsboro High School Principal Sam Snyder told the school board that “Washington C.H. will probably be leaving the league. It looks like a sure thing.” Snyder added that the four schools that would be left would comprise a league that is “not functional.”

Hillsboro was said to be looking for a league which competed in both basketball and football.

Within weeks, representatives from Hillsboro, McClain and Blanchester met with the executive council of the Southern Buckeye League, which already included Western Brown, Clermont Northeastern, New Richmond, Bethel-Tate, North College Hill, Felicity and Williamsburg. All three schools expected a decision within two weeks.

By the middle of June, Hillsboro and Blanchester were accepted into the SBL, but McClain was rejected. All of the schools in the SBL were toward Cincinnati. Even Hillsboro was a fairly substantial trip for some of them. Greenfield was another 17 miles further east. This was one possible reason for the rejection. Another possibility was the concern that McClain might dominate the league in basketball, although they would deny that.

Wilmington was said to have applied to the Fort Ancient Valley Conference and was waiting for a decision.

SBL officials promised greater coverage from the Cincinnati area media. But some fans in the Hillsboro and Blanchester areas questioned the number of fans that would follow Clermont County teams.

(Continued next week.)

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