McClain takes early lead in 1986 campaign
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(Continued from last week.)
On Dec. 5, 1986 on the Miami Trace court, McClain’s vaunted defense forced 24 Panther turnovers and stole the ball 20 times en route to a 68-33 walloping. Gillenwater’s 15 points was tops for the Tigers.
Barry Ankrom led the Panthers with 7.
At Wilmington, Washington played 30 minutes of good basketball, but the game is 32 minutes long. The Blue Lions lost their focus in the last two minutes, and Wilmington took advantage, and won, 56-54.
The difference was at the free throw line, where both teams had 17 attempts, Wilmington hitting 12 and WCH cashing in on 10.
Steve Harris canned 34 markers for the Hurricane, while Bill Ramsey and Rob Pittser racked up 14 and 12, respectively, for the Blue Lions.
At Circleville, the homestanding Tigers slipped past Hillsboro, 62-61.
Tuesday, Dec. 9 saw Lynchburg-Clay visit Hillsboro and Lebanon travel to Wilmington. The Hillsboro Indians got their first win of the season with a 72-69 overtime thriller over Lynchburg. Dale Richey led the Indians with 17 points; 6’ 5” Steve Florence led the Mustangs with 29 points.
Steve Harris’ 29 led the Wilmington Hurricane to a 74-62 victory over Lebanon.
Elsewhere, Miami Trace traveled to Chillicothe to take on the tough Cavaliers.
Chillicothe was much too big and too fast for the Panthers.
The Fayette County team put up a gallant fight, but Chillicothe came out on top, 65-44.
Then, on Friday night, McClain made the short trip up Route 41, to Washington C.H. The Blue Lions came to play, and they trailed McClain only 12-10 after one quarter. But with 6’ 6” Doug Mustard saddled with three fouls early in the first half, Coach Van Matre brought 6’ 2” forward Doug Simmons off the bench.
Simmons performed like a champion, scoring 11 points to go with several key rebounds, and the Tigers walloped Washington, 55-30.
In Hillsboro, the Indians administered the fifth straight defeat to Miami Trace, by a score of 62-52. The Panthers mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback, and cut the Hillsboro lead to 49-46 with three minutes remaining. But they couldn’t quite get over the hurdle. Dale Richey led the Indians with 14 markers.
Ryan Hopkins and Joe Crawford added 10 each.
Barry Ankrom’s 16 led the Panthers, as Troy McDonald added 11.
The Wilmington Hurricane traveled to Circleville, where high-scoring Wilmington guard Steve Harris tossed in 20 points, and Kerry Barker added 18.
The orange and black led by only two points at the third quarter mark, but outscored Circleville, 23-13, in the final stanza as they cruised to their fifth win against only one defeat. The final score was 69-57.
After only two SCOL games, the league standings were:
McClain – 2-0, 3-0
Wilmington – 2-0, 5-1
Circleville – 1-1, 2-1
Hillsboro – 1-1, 2-3
Washington – 0-2, 0-4
Miami Trace – 0-2, 0-5
On Dec. 13, 1986, Waverly visited McClain and led the undefeated Tigers, 27-22, at halftime. But, the purple and gold came roaring back in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors, 14-4.
McClain guard Jeff Campbell hit 9 of 10 free throws in the last four minutes of the game to seal a 53-45 McClain Tiger win.
Circleville met Westfall on the Mustangs’ home court, and came away with an 80-64 win. Phil England totaled 16 points to lead a balanced Tiger scoring attack, but Newsome and Simpson scored 21 and 20, respectively, for Westfall.
Meanwhile, Washington entertained Amanda Clearcreek, and downed the Aces, 65-47, behind balanced scoring, led by Rob Pittser’s 12 points and Dennis Heathcock’s 11.
At Miami Trace, former coach Gary Kellough brought his Zane Trace Pioneers in and they thumped the Panthers, 64-57. Superior rebounding was the big story in this game, as the small Panthers were just not able to rebound with ZT’s bigger inside players. Both teams shot well from the field.
At this early stage of the season, Wilmington’s hot shooting guard Steve Harris was running away with the individual scoring race, averaging 25.7 ppg. over six games.
Joey King and Dale Gillenwater (both of McClain) were tied for second place with 13.8 ppg. averages over four games, and Dale Richey, of Hillsboro, was only .2 of a point behind, with 13.6.
The league’s top rebounders were Dale Gillenwater, with an average of 10 boards per game, Rob Pittser of WCH, with an average of 7.0, followed by teammate Bill Ramsey, who averaged 5.8.
Another round of SCOL games occurred on Friday night, Dec. 19, when the Circleville Tigers rode into Washington, where they battled to a 64-52 win over the Blue Lions.
Coach Joe Stewart took his 0-6 Miami Trace Panthers to Wilmington to meet the 5-1 Hurricane. The Panthers played the taller Hurricane toe to toe, as they went to the dressing room at halftime with a ten point lead, 28-18. The visitors also managed to contain Steve Harris, holding the offensive leader of the SCOL to only 11 points. But the Hurricane came back in the third quarter to take the lead. They ultimately captured the win, 56-49.
At Greenfield, the McClain Tigers held Hillsboro’s scoring leader, Dale Richey, to only four points – his lowest total of the season, as the Tigers downed the Hillsboro Indians, 56-40.
Coach Joe Stewart got his Christmas present two days late, when his Miami Trace Panthers downed Springfield Northeastern, 60-48 on Dec. 27. Barry Ankrom, Todd Beckman and Scott Fyffe all scored in double figures, and the Panthers outscored the Jets by 15 points in the second half to take the win.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
On Dec. 5, 1986 on the Miami Trace court, McClain’s vaunted defense forced 24 Panther turnovers and stole the ball 20 times en route to a 68-33 walloping. Gillenwater’s 15 points was tops for the Tigers.
Barry Ankrom led the Panthers with 7.
At Wilmington, Washington played 30 minutes of good basketball, but the game is 32 minutes long. The Blue Lions lost their focus in the last two minutes, and Wilmington took advantage, and won, 56-54.
The difference was at the free throw line, where both teams had 17 attempts, Wilmington hitting 12 and WCH cashing in on 10.
Steve Harris canned 34 markers for the Hurricane, while Bill Ramsey and Rob Pittser racked up 14 and 12, respectively, for the Blue Lions.
At Circleville, the homestanding Tigers slipped past Hillsboro, 62-61.
Tuesday, Dec. 9 saw Lynchburg-Clay visit Hillsboro and Lebanon travel to Wilmington. The Hillsboro Indians got their first win of the season with a 72-69 overtime thriller over Lynchburg. Dale Richey led the Indians with 17 points; 6’ 5” Steve Florence led the Mustangs with 29 points.
Steve Harris’ 29 led the Wilmington Hurricane to a 74-62 victory over Lebanon.
Elsewhere, Miami Trace traveled to Chillicothe to take on the tough Cavaliers.
Chillicothe was much too big and too fast for the Panthers.
The Fayette County team put up a gallant fight, but Chillicothe came out on top, 65-44.
Then, on Friday night, McClain made the short trip up Route 41, to Washington C.H. The Blue Lions came to play, and they trailed McClain only 12-10 after one quarter. But with 6’ 6” Doug Mustard saddled with three fouls early in the first half, Coach Van Matre brought 6’ 2” forward Doug Simmons off the bench.
Simmons performed like a champion, scoring 11 points to go with several key rebounds, and the Tigers walloped Washington, 55-30.
In Hillsboro, the Indians administered the fifth straight defeat to Miami Trace, by a score of 62-52. The Panthers mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback, and cut the Hillsboro lead to 49-46 with three minutes remaining. But they couldn’t quite get over the hurdle. Dale Richey led the Indians with 14 markers.
Ryan Hopkins and Joe Crawford added 10 each.
Barry Ankrom’s 16 led the Panthers, as Troy McDonald added 11.
The Wilmington Hurricane traveled to Circleville, where high-scoring Wilmington guard Steve Harris tossed in 20 points, and Kerry Barker added 18.
The orange and black led by only two points at the third quarter mark, but outscored Circleville, 23-13, in the final stanza as they cruised to their fifth win against only one defeat. The final score was 69-57.
After only two SCOL games, the league standings were:
McClain – 2-0, 3-0
Wilmington – 2-0, 5-1
Circleville – 1-1, 2-1
Hillsboro – 1-1, 2-3
Washington – 0-2, 0-4
Miami Trace – 0-2, 0-5
On Dec. 13, 1986, Waverly visited McClain and led the undefeated Tigers, 27-22, at halftime. But, the purple and gold came roaring back in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors, 14-4.
McClain guard Jeff Campbell hit 9 of 10 free throws in the last four minutes of the game to seal a 53-45 McClain Tiger win.
Circleville met Westfall on the Mustangs’ home court, and came away with an 80-64 win. Phil England totaled 16 points to lead a balanced Tiger scoring attack, but Newsome and Simpson scored 21 and 20, respectively, for Westfall.
Meanwhile, Washington entertained Amanda Clearcreek, and downed the Aces, 65-47, behind balanced scoring, led by Rob Pittser’s 12 points and Dennis Heathcock’s 11.
At Miami Trace, former coach Gary Kellough brought his Zane Trace Pioneers in and they thumped the Panthers, 64-57. Superior rebounding was the big story in this game, as the small Panthers were just not able to rebound with ZT’s bigger inside players. Both teams shot well from the field.
At this early stage of the season, Wilmington’s hot shooting guard Steve Harris was running away with the individual scoring race, averaging 25.7 ppg. over six games.
Joey King and Dale Gillenwater (both of McClain) were tied for second place with 13.8 ppg. averages over four games, and Dale Richey, of Hillsboro, was only .2 of a point behind, with 13.6.
The league’s top rebounders were Dale Gillenwater, with an average of 10 boards per game, Rob Pittser of WCH, with an average of 7.0, followed by teammate Bill Ramsey, who averaged 5.8.
Another round of SCOL games occurred on Friday night, Dec. 19, when the Circleville Tigers rode into Washington, where they battled to a 64-52 win over the Blue Lions.
Coach Joe Stewart took his 0-6 Miami Trace Panthers to Wilmington to meet the 5-1 Hurricane. The Panthers played the taller Hurricane toe to toe, as they went to the dressing room at halftime with a ten point lead, 28-18. The visitors also managed to contain Steve Harris, holding the offensive leader of the SCOL to only 11 points. But the Hurricane came back in the third quarter to take the lead. They ultimately captured the win, 56-49.
At Greenfield, the McClain Tigers held Hillsboro’s scoring leader, Dale Richey, to only four points – his lowest total of the season, as the Tigers downed the Hillsboro Indians, 56-40.
Coach Joe Stewart got his Christmas present two days late, when his Miami Trace Panthers downed Springfield Northeastern, 60-48 on Dec. 27. Barry Ankrom, Todd Beckman and Scott Fyffe all scored in double figures, and the Panthers outscored the Jets by 15 points in the second half to take the win.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]