West Union upsets state-ranked Indians
By
Bob Patton-
(Continued from last week.)
In late February 1990, Jay Hazelbaker, a 6’2” forward from West Union, scorched the nets for 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Dragons to a second straight tournament upset win over state-ranked Hillsboro.
Most of Hazelbaker’s points came on deadly jump shots from the perimeter, often closely guarded.
Hillsboro’s Kevin Gale totaled 16 points and 16 rebounds, a monster game. But he didn’t get a lot of help.
West Union shot 43 percent from the field compared to Hillsboro’s 31.6 percent. This was the Indians’ lowest shooting percentage of the season.
The Indians had gone 39-1 in regular-season games the past two years but had lost their first tournament game both years. Their season ended 19-2.
The next night, 16-4 Washington met McClain. The Tigers were gunning for their fifth sectional title in nine years under Coach Van Matre.
The purple-and-gold knocked off the second-seeded Blue Lions, 57-51, to earn the Division II Sectional Championship at Hatten Memorial Gymnasium and a berth in the District Tournament at Athens.
Steady Kile Cameron paced the Tigers with 22 points, but Rannells contributed 15 and Coleman 12. Kidney’s 17 and Davis’ 12 led the way for WCH, who closed their season with a 16-5 mark.
So, the upstart Dragons of West Union (17-4), who seemed to have Hillsboro’s number, would face McClain (17-5) in the Convo.
Since the Tigers didn’t really have anyone tall enough to prevent Jay Hazelbaker from shooting over them, Coach Rick Van Matre’s strategy was to assign the task of guarding the Dragons’ scoring sensation to 5’9” Kile Cameron, who would try to deny him the ball. The strategy worked to perfection.
Hazelbaker and T.J. Zimmerman, who had been averaging over 40 points per game (combined) were held to a grand total of 12 points, eight by Hazelbaker and four by Zimmerman. They combined for only six field goals out of 25 attempts.
West Union’s season was over at 18 wins and five losses. McClain, now also 18-5, would advance to the district finals, where they would meet tough South Point, possibly the most talented team in the district.
In Columbus, surprising Circleville was eliminated from the district tourney when they were defeated by Columbus Briggs, 68-54.
South Point was led by 6’5” Randall Pennington, who averaged about 25 points per game. He was joined in the front court by 6’5” Mark Purkey, who averaged about 12 ppg.
Both Pennington and Purkey were very physical kids who weighed in at about 220 pounds.
The South Point coach was Rick Huckabay, who had coached at Marshall University, in Huntington, W.Va., for six years.
Huckabay had left Marshall when the Thundering Herd was hit with several NCAA penalties for various recruiting and other violations. But he was, unquestionably, an excellent coach.
McClain jumped out to a very quick 16-2 lead with a little over two minutes remaining in the first stanza. It was 21-6 Tigers at the end of the first quarter. But the Tigers had trouble containing South Point’s two big players, Pennington and Purkey.
Pennington, the Division II Southeast District “Player of the Year” utilized his size advantage to rack up 32 points and pull down 21 rebounds to lead the Pointers to a 67-57 come-from-behind win over the Tigers.
Due primarily to the two big front-court players, the Pointers enjoyed a huge 44-18 advantage in rebounds.
The Tigers never quit. They fought back and got the lead shaved down to 59-55 with about 1:15 remaining in the game. But the Pointers held the ball, McClain was forced to foul and South Point was deadly from the line.
A super MHS season had come to an end.
When the South Central League held its annual Winter Sports Banquet at Miami Trace High School in March, 10 outstanding young men were honored by being selected All-SCOL. They were: Kile Cameron, McClain; Brian Cellio, Circleville; Dwaine Cumberland, Hillsboro; Ben Davis,* Washington; Todd Henry, Miami Trace; Aaron Kidney, Washington; Mike Nartker, Hillsboro; Chris Patton, Wilmington; Ashley Rannells, McClain; Rhett Snyder,* Hillsboro; *Honorary Co-Captains.
No SCOL players were selected on the All-Ohio team, but Kevin Gale and Kile Cameron were both Honorable Mention.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
In late February 1990, Jay Hazelbaker, a 6’2” forward from West Union, scorched the nets for 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Dragons to a second straight tournament upset win over state-ranked Hillsboro.
Most of Hazelbaker’s points came on deadly jump shots from the perimeter, often closely guarded.
Hillsboro’s Kevin Gale totaled 16 points and 16 rebounds, a monster game. But he didn’t get a lot of help.
West Union shot 43 percent from the field compared to Hillsboro’s 31.6 percent. This was the Indians’ lowest shooting percentage of the season.
The Indians had gone 39-1 in regular-season games the past two years but had lost their first tournament game both years. Their season ended 19-2.
The next night, 16-4 Washington met McClain. The Tigers were gunning for their fifth sectional title in nine years under Coach Van Matre.
The purple-and-gold knocked off the second-seeded Blue Lions, 57-51, to earn the Division II Sectional Championship at Hatten Memorial Gymnasium and a berth in the District Tournament at Athens.
Steady Kile Cameron paced the Tigers with 22 points, but Rannells contributed 15 and Coleman 12. Kidney’s 17 and Davis’ 12 led the way for WCH, who closed their season with a 16-5 mark.
So, the upstart Dragons of West Union (17-4), who seemed to have Hillsboro’s number, would face McClain (17-5) in the Convo.
Since the Tigers didn’t really have anyone tall enough to prevent Jay Hazelbaker from shooting over them, Coach Rick Van Matre’s strategy was to assign the task of guarding the Dragons’ scoring sensation to 5’9” Kile Cameron, who would try to deny him the ball. The strategy worked to perfection.
Hazelbaker and T.J. Zimmerman, who had been averaging over 40 points per game (combined) were held to a grand total of 12 points, eight by Hazelbaker and four by Zimmerman. They combined for only six field goals out of 25 attempts.
West Union’s season was over at 18 wins and five losses. McClain, now also 18-5, would advance to the district finals, where they would meet tough South Point, possibly the most talented team in the district.
In Columbus, surprising Circleville was eliminated from the district tourney when they were defeated by Columbus Briggs, 68-54.
South Point was led by 6’5” Randall Pennington, who averaged about 25 points per game. He was joined in the front court by 6’5” Mark Purkey, who averaged about 12 ppg.
Both Pennington and Purkey were very physical kids who weighed in at about 220 pounds.
The South Point coach was Rick Huckabay, who had coached at Marshall University, in Huntington, W.Va., for six years.
Huckabay had left Marshall when the Thundering Herd was hit with several NCAA penalties for various recruiting and other violations. But he was, unquestionably, an excellent coach.
McClain jumped out to a very quick 16-2 lead with a little over two minutes remaining in the first stanza. It was 21-6 Tigers at the end of the first quarter. But the Tigers had trouble containing South Point’s two big players, Pennington and Purkey.
Pennington, the Division II Southeast District “Player of the Year” utilized his size advantage to rack up 32 points and pull down 21 rebounds to lead the Pointers to a 67-57 come-from-behind win over the Tigers.
Due primarily to the two big front-court players, the Pointers enjoyed a huge 44-18 advantage in rebounds.
The Tigers never quit. They fought back and got the lead shaved down to 59-55 with about 1:15 remaining in the game. But the Pointers held the ball, McClain was forced to foul and South Point was deadly from the line.
A super MHS season had come to an end.
When the South Central League held its annual Winter Sports Banquet at Miami Trace High School in March, 10 outstanding young men were honored by being selected All-SCOL. They were: Kile Cameron, McClain; Brian Cellio, Circleville; Dwaine Cumberland, Hillsboro; Ben Davis,* Washington; Todd Henry, Miami Trace; Aaron Kidney, Washington; Mike Nartker, Hillsboro; Chris Patton, Wilmington; Ashley Rannells, McClain; Rhett Snyder,* Hillsboro; *Honorary Co-Captains.
No SCOL players were selected on the All-Ohio team, but Kevin Gale and Kile Cameron were both Honorable Mention.
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]