Cumberlands, Jackson lead HHS inside threat
By
Bob Patton-
Cumberlands, Jackson
lead HHS inside threat
By BOB PATTON
For The Highland County Press
Coach Ron Hall, who took the Miami Trace Panthers to the state basketball tournament in 1978, retired prior to the beginning of the 1980-81 season. Hall was an outstanding coach, but, he was an extremely intense individual. It was difficult to find young men who could match his intensity.
He was replaced by Gary Kellough, who was an assistant to Hall all three years that he was at MT. The Panthers lost two All-SCOL players from last year’s team through graduation. But they had some excellent players coming back, and they figured to be in contention for the 1980-81 league title.
Most of the league coaches, though, expected a battle between the Wilmington Hurricane and the Hillsboro Indians. At Wilmington, Coach Jim Staley had All-Leaguer Mike Beegle back along with a host of good players off last year’s championship reserve team. Also, they had two transfers who would undoubtedly help them tremendously, including Steve Cluxton, who had starred at East Clinton.
Coach Sam Snyder, now in his second year at Hillsboro, had three big men underneath who could conceivably dominate the league: 6’5” Robbie Jackson,
6’3” Tony Cumberland and 6’2” Mark Cumberland would present some major problems for SCOL coaches. And Brian Price, Will Gregory, Mark Snyder and David Hilliard gave the Indians an outside threat and good ball-handling and passing skills, as well.
Coach Gary Shaffer was back for his 13th season at Washington C.H. He would have a scrappy team that played aggressive defense, but had very limited size, and their skill level was questionable. Shaffer did have steady 5’ 10” senior Brian Dodds back from last year’s team. The Blue Lions had only three men on the squad who were over 5’11.”
The first few games of the season were non-league contests. East Clinton outlasted McClain, 62-57; Hillsboro outscored Whiteoak, 77-60; Portsmouth led Miami Trace, 54-39, with seven minutes remaining, when the Panthers went into a full-court press. For the next several minutes, the Trojans threw the ball all over the gymnasium. Trace lost several key players on fouls and Portsmouth held on for a very tight, 56-54 victory.
December 2 marked the beginning of SCOL play. Wilmington visited Miami Trace. The Panthers put the clamps on Mike Beegle, holding the Hurricane star to only seven points. But they forgot about Steve Cluxton, who scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as the Hurricane took their first SCOL win, 48-42. Washington used their aggressive defense to down McClain, 50-48, on the Blue Lion hardwood.
The next Friday night saw WCH taking on the Indians at Hillsboro. The aggressive defense didn’t faze the Indians. They used their superior height and shooting ability to blow out the Blue Lions, 85-38. Leading 56-26 after three quarters, Coach Sam Snyder took all five starters out of the game. But Hillsboro had depth. The five substitutes hammered WCH, 29-12 in the fourth quarter.
In other action, Madison-Plains sprung an upset, edging Miami Trace, 46-45, when the Panthers missed the front end of the one-and-one eight different times. Teays Valley got by McClain, 56-52 when TV’s Scott Ford scored 24 points and gathered 14 rebounds. Circleville upset the Hurricane on the Richardson Place court, 72-69.
After only two league games, Hillsboro and Madison-Plains sat atop the SCOL with two wins and no losses, while Circleville, WCH, Wilmington and Teays Valley were all 1-1 and Miami Trace and McClain were both 0-2.
On Dec. 9, Miami Trace finally shook off their three-game losing streak by beating Teays Valley, 55-35. Kirk McDonald and Jeff King both played well for the Panthers. Scott Ford racked up 23 points for TV.
At Washington C.H., Wilmington managed to get away with a one-point win over the Blue Lions, 48-47. Sophomore Brent Reed came off the Hurricane bench to hit six of seven shots for a total of 15 points, while Steve Cluxton totaled 21 and Mike Beegle added 11. The trio scored all but one of Wilmington’s 48 points.
Hillsboro managed a thrilling 49-41 win over McClain, when the visiting Indians jumped out to a 15-9 lead but actually trailed the Tigers briefly in the fourth quarter. Also, Circleville ground out a 63-54 win over Madison-Plains.
McClain traveled to Miami Trace on Dec. 12, 1980, where Coach Ted Downing watched his Tigers go down to their fifth straight defeat, all by six points or less. Kirk McDonald and Jeff King hit big shots when the Panthers needed them, and Trace won, 64-58. Danny Shelton and David Ford both played well for the losers. Actually, the Tigers outscored Trace, 50-32 from the field, but were outscored at the charity stripe 32-8.
Elsewhere, Wilmington lost their second straight home game, as Madison-Plains won, 62-59.
At WCH, the small Lions were badly out-rebounded by visiting Circleville, and the Tigers took a decisive 79-62 win.
In Hillsboro, the Indians established themselves as the clear early favorite to win the SCOL championship, as they jumped on Teays Valley for a 72-34 win. The Indians had so many weapons that nobody scored a lot of points. Rob Jackson’s 16 led the Tribe, while Tony Cumberland and Doug Price added 12 each.
In the individual scoring race, Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton and Teays Valley’s Scott Ford had each scored 76 points in four league games, for a 19 ppg. average. Miami Trace’s Kirk McDonald and Jeff King had each scored 75 points, and both averaged 18.8 ppg. Nobody else was in serious contention at this point.
Washington visited Teays Valley on Dec. 19. After a wild, hectic battle, the Blue Lions came out on top, 53-50. The Lions held a comfortable 50-38 lead midway through the final quarter. But when TV went into a full court press, the visitors turned the ball over time after time, and almost blew the game. Teays Valley, playing at home, could have easily won the game, but hit only 6 of 18 free throw attempts for the night. WCH totaled 29 turnovers.
Meanwhile, in Circleville, Miami Trace squeaked out a 56-54 win over the red and black in the old Mill Street gymnasium. At Wilmington, the McClain Tigers took it on the chin, again, when Steve Cluxton poured in 28 points, including 16 free throws (he didn’t miss one all night) and the Hurricane took a 63-52 win.
Hillsboro took a two-game lead over the rest of the SCOL when they beat Madison-Plains, 85-44. Brian Price led the way for Coach Snyder’s charges, with 24 points on 12 for 14 shooting from the field. Robbie Jackson added 20 points and Mark and Tony Cumberland totaled 23 between them, as the Indians played everybody on the bench.
In the individual scoring race, Steve Cluxton, of Wilmington, was averaging 20.8 ppg in SCOL games and 18.9 ppg in all games to lead in both categories. Kirk McDonald of Miami Trace ranked 2nd in SCOL games with an average of 18.6 ppg, followed by Tommy Tomlinson of Circleville, who averaged 18.4. Counting all games, Jeff King of MT was in second place with an average of 18.1.
Hillsboro, the league leader, had nobody in the running for the individual scoring title, but the Indians had eight players averaging six points or more.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
Coach Ron Hall, who took the Miami Trace Panthers to the state basketball tournament in 1978, retired prior to the beginning of the 1980-81 season. Hall was an outstanding coach, but, he was an extremely intense individual. It was difficult to find young men who could match his intensity.
He was replaced by Gary Kellough, who was an assistant to Hall all three years that he was at MT. The Panthers lost two All-SCOL players from last year’s team through graduation. But they had some excellent players coming back, and they figured to be in contention for the 1980-81 league title.
Most of the league coaches, though, expected a battle between the Wilmington Hurricane and the Hillsboro Indians. At Wilmington, Coach Jim Staley had All-Leaguer Mike Beegle back along with a host of good players off last year’s championship reserve team. Also, they had two transfers who would undoubtedly help them tremendously, including Steve Cluxton, who had starred at East Clinton.
Coach Sam Snyder, now in his second year at Hillsboro, had three big men underneath who could conceivably dominate the league: 6’5” Robbie Jackson,
6’3” Tony Cumberland and 6’2” Mark Cumberland would present some major problems for SCOL coaches. And Brian Price, Will Gregory, Mark Snyder and David Hilliard gave the Indians an outside threat and good ball-handling and passing skills, as well.
Coach Gary Shaffer was back for his 13th season at Washington C.H. He would have a scrappy team that played aggressive defense, but had very limited size, and their skill level was questionable. Shaffer did have steady 5’ 10” senior Brian Dodds back from last year’s team. The Blue Lions had only three men on the squad who were over 5’11.”
The first few games of the season were non-league contests. East Clinton outlasted McClain, 62-57; Hillsboro outscored Whiteoak, 77-60; Portsmouth led Miami Trace, 54-39, with seven minutes remaining, when the Panthers went into a full-court press. For the next several minutes, the Trojans threw the ball all over the gymnasium. Trace lost several key players on fouls and Portsmouth held on for a very tight, 56-54 victory.
December 2 marked the beginning of SCOL play. Wilmington visited Miami Trace. The Panthers put the clamps on Mike Beegle, holding the Hurricane star to only seven points. But they forgot about Steve Cluxton, who scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as the Hurricane took their first SCOL win, 48-42. Washington used their aggressive defense to down McClain, 50-48, on the Blue Lion hardwood.
The next Friday night saw WCH taking on the Indians at Hillsboro. The aggressive defense didn’t faze the Indians. They used their superior height and shooting ability to blow out the Blue Lions, 85-38. Leading 56-26 after three quarters, Coach Sam Snyder took all five starters out of the game. But Hillsboro had depth. The five substitutes hammered WCH, 29-12 in the fourth quarter.
In other action, Madison-Plains sprung an upset, edging Miami Trace, 46-45, when the Panthers missed the front end of the one-and-one eight different times. Teays Valley got by McClain, 56-52 when TV’s Scott Ford scored 24 points and gathered 14 rebounds. Circleville upset the Hurricane on the Richardson Place court, 72-69.
After only two league games, Hillsboro and Madison-Plains sat atop the SCOL with two wins and no losses, while Circleville, WCH, Wilmington and Teays Valley were all 1-1 and Miami Trace and McClain were both 0-2.
On Dec. 9, Miami Trace finally shook off their three-game losing streak by beating Teays Valley, 55-35. Kirk McDonald and Jeff King both played well for the Panthers. Scott Ford racked up 23 points for TV.
At Washington C.H., Wilmington managed to get away with a one-point win over the Blue Lions, 48-47. Sophomore Brent Reed came off the Hurricane bench to hit six of seven shots for a total of 15 points, while Steve Cluxton totaled 21 and Mike Beegle added 11. The trio scored all but one of Wilmington’s 48 points.
Hillsboro managed a thrilling 49-41 win over McClain, when the visiting Indians jumped out to a 15-9 lead but actually trailed the Tigers briefly in the fourth quarter. Also, Circleville ground out a 63-54 win over Madison-Plains.
McClain traveled to Miami Trace on Dec. 12, 1980, where Coach Ted Downing watched his Tigers go down to their fifth straight defeat, all by six points or less. Kirk McDonald and Jeff King hit big shots when the Panthers needed them, and Trace won, 64-58. Danny Shelton and David Ford both played well for the losers. Actually, the Tigers outscored Trace, 50-32 from the field, but were outscored at the charity stripe 32-8.
Elsewhere, Wilmington lost their second straight home game, as Madison-Plains won, 62-59.
At WCH, the small Lions were badly out-rebounded by visiting Circleville, and the Tigers took a decisive 79-62 win.
In Hillsboro, the Indians established themselves as the clear early favorite to win the SCOL championship, as they jumped on Teays Valley for a 72-34 win. The Indians had so many weapons that nobody scored a lot of points. Rob Jackson’s 16 led the Tribe, while Tony Cumberland and Doug Price added 12 each.
In the individual scoring race, Wilmington’s Steve Cluxton and Teays Valley’s Scott Ford had each scored 76 points in four league games, for a 19 ppg. average. Miami Trace’s Kirk McDonald and Jeff King had each scored 75 points, and both averaged 18.8 ppg. Nobody else was in serious contention at this point.
Washington visited Teays Valley on Dec. 19. After a wild, hectic battle, the Blue Lions came out on top, 53-50. The Lions held a comfortable 50-38 lead midway through the final quarter. But when TV went into a full court press, the visitors turned the ball over time after time, and almost blew the game. Teays Valley, playing at home, could have easily won the game, but hit only 6 of 18 free throw attempts for the night. WCH totaled 29 turnovers.
Meanwhile, in Circleville, Miami Trace squeaked out a 56-54 win over the red and black in the old Mill Street gymnasium. At Wilmington, the McClain Tigers took it on the chin, again, when Steve Cluxton poured in 28 points, including 16 free throws (he didn’t miss one all night) and the Hurricane took a 63-52 win.
Hillsboro took a two-game lead over the rest of the SCOL when they beat Madison-Plains, 85-44. Brian Price led the way for Coach Snyder’s charges, with 24 points on 12 for 14 shooting from the field. Robbie Jackson added 20 points and Mark and Tony Cumberland totaled 23 between them, as the Indians played everybody on the bench.
In the individual scoring race, Steve Cluxton, of Wilmington, was averaging 20.8 ppg in SCOL games and 18.9 ppg in all games to lead in both categories. Kirk McDonald of Miami Trace ranked 2nd in SCOL games with an average of 18.6 ppg, followed by Tommy Tomlinson of Circleville, who averaged 18.4. Counting all games, Jeff King of MT was in second place with an average of 18.1.
Hillsboro, the league leader, had nobody in the running for the individual scoring title, but the Indians had eight players averaging six points or more.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.
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