Tom Bryant had left Hillsboro quickly after the Cummings twins graduated, and had been replaced by Jim Saunders. The 1962-63 Indians were expected to be in the thick of the chase for the SCOL title, as they had good size and some promising players coming up from last year’s reserve team. Their stock went up somewhat, when they thumped Circleville, 63-39, in their SCOL opener.