1970 Newton County p3

From 8-14-14

This is our 3rd story on the 1970 NCHS basketball season. Our loss in the Sub-region finals to Burney Harris was only the 2nd loss we had suffered this season. We were alive & getting ready to play what, normally, is the biggest game of the season--the opportunity of getting one of the two coveted spots in the State Tournament!

My mind drifted back to several seasons past when, as a young coach, I was not happy with our 29th straight win in a "sudden-death" win over the Cairo "Syrupmakers." I now realize what a great win that was, when I look at the list of State Championships won by Coach Tommy Taylor's 13 state titles with his basketball & track teams. There was enough excitement in school and the town, that it was easy for our players to look forward to the weekend games! Our success of winning 5 of the prior 6 region championships, helped to make our team more confident, and tended to make our opponents realize they had a "mountain to climb"--& play at their peak! (It didn't take long for me to remember when strange things happened to all-state Terry Schell in the semi-finals of the region tournament.) The only things our players were required to do before departing was to tie their shoes together & place them on the floor for us to pack. When we were dressing for the game, Terry realized he had packed 2 left shoes. On another occasion, as we started onto the floor, he told me that we had "taped" the wrong ankle. A little later, on the 1st timeout of the game, he came to me & said, "My man smells!" I replied, "Schell, I didn't send you out there to smell him! I sent you out there to guard him!" In the Region Tournament we normally faced teams from the North Georgia area, & we clipped newspaper articles & box-scores, from various sources, to assist us in our preparations for any possible future opponents. If the sites for the games were a very long distance, we would stay in the area overnight. In the years when we were top-seeded we would choose to wear white (in which we rarely lost), & choose to play an early game which would allow us, hopefully, to have time for a great meal & to relax in preparation for a championship game the next night. On game days, after our pep rally, quite often the cheerleaders & students would have signs put in strategic places on our bus & along our route. After the long wait, it was time to face an outstanding Stephens Co. team! Their defense was geared to slow Bubba Hill down (13pts.), but it didn't stop the long-range "bombing" of Clay Summers, who scored 30 points! It was a game that went back & forth & finally we were able to breathe a sigh of relief with a 63-62 "heart-stopping" win! After the game we realized we had made plans to eat at a restaurant where the Stephens Co. team was also eating. The sad faces & tears of our opponents' and their parents, made our players realize how fortunate they were, to be getting ready to play a Region Championship game & to have "punched their ticket" that assured they would get to play in the Georgia Tech Coliseum! When the news of the outcome of the other semi-final game reached our team, it was no surprise that we would be facing, once again, our nemesis, the strong Burney Harris team. They had extra incentive, as they knew their school would be closing to merge with Athens High. We knew our opponent was an outstanding team as they featured the 2 best guards that a Ram team had ever faced. We felt that we had to guard Terry Green, when he stepped out of the dressing-room, but that left room for the other guard, Horace King, to use his great athletic talent! King went on to be an outstanding running-back at UGA, & played several years in the NFL with the Detroit Lions. Our big championship win of 80-70 was a total team victory! Summers led the way with 26 pts., Hill was outstanding with 19 pts. & 15 rebounds, Walter Sammons had 13 points, & sophomore Kevin Price had 13 rebounds. It was a very happy post-game steak meal & bus ride home as our thoughts turned to Atlanta & the State Tournament! -- to be continued--