1970 Newton County p2
From 8-13-14
1970 season-2nd part:
Tournament time is the most exciting part of the year for a team! Most of our seniors had about 2,000 hours invested in their career, & they'd "paid a price" (time & effort) to have the opportunity to try to prove they are "the best"! (The players think they're playing the game for fun, but the coach knows that the memories will linger on for years!)
We could always tell when the big games were approaching, as we would have visitors come by & watch us practice. Sheriff Odum, Mayor Harris, & even the great Don Drysdale, of the world champions LA Dodgers, as he was on the way to Florida for his spring training. You could always count on many students showing up, such as Lassiter, Sam, Roger, Marshall, Tommy, "Foots", & Jerry (all these guys had written poems or stories about the Rams). Many thoughts & memories (positive & negative) would be swirling through our heads--especially for the seniors. Mickey Dickerson would probably remember his dad putting up their first basketball goal for him & Neal to improve their skills. No doubt, Bubba Hill could probably remember tagging along with his older sister JoAnn (a Ram cheerleader), to big games. And Walter would always remember playing basketball in the yard with his dad, E.R., & brother, "Bubba" Sammons. I had to deal with my own emotions as I could easily remember my first varsity team, with only one loss during the season, failing to reach the State Tournament, or the hurt on the faces of our 1966 seniors when we lost in the state finals, or the pain on Jan's & my faces, as we were honored after our 129 straight home court winning streak was stopped. I would never forget how Billy Shaw brought us back from "the brink of defeat" earning us a trip to the state tournament. This triggered one of the all-time great pictures of Michael Rutledge (#21) hugging his dad, Dean, no doubt remembering his brother, Billy Dean. Never would we forget being the State Champion in 1964! We reached the "do or die" time of the year, our practices were light--we wanted fresh legs. Our side goals were soft (& forgiving), so we would practice there to help build confidence. (With the excitement, we had to discourage the 2nd unit from being too aggressive--as they were "fired up", too!). Finally, the "big day" arrived--the Sub-region tournament! After our pre-game meal & the short trip, it was "showtime"! Now we were back to our regular routine--midway through the 3rd qtr. of the game prior to ours, led by our seniors, our players dressed alike in sharp-looking outfits, would walk together to the dressing room, with our fans standing and applauding them! We could always count on our team manager, Darrell Huckaby, to have our uniforms laid out numerically with a package of chewing gum, their shoes on the floor in front of their uniforms, & a pat on the back for each player! This 1970 team opened sub-region play with a 57-44 win over Gainesville, as Clay Summers scored 23 points. Stuart Clive & Kevin Price chipped in 10 pts. each. In the sub-region finals our string of 6 consecutive region titles ended in a 69-63 loss to the talent-laden Burney Harris team of Athens. But--we were still alive--& went home to prepare for the Region Tournament!! (To be continued--)
