1972 Newton County p5
From 8-31-14
This article finishes our story on the 1972 NCHS boys basketball season. (As we began this one, we realized it has been 90 straight days we have posted on our 50-yr. HS coaching career!)
As we headed to Atlanta for the state tournament, I knew that this team had already proven that it was one of our great ones, regardless of the outcome in Atlanta. Our team was composed of outstanding players & had experienced state tournament play in each season of their high school career. We opened state play with Druid Hills, which had a proud tradition of basketball excellence.
The Red Devils were no match for the Rams, as they fell 63-46. Kevin Price, Donnie Freeman & Scott Price all scored 18 pts. each, with Scott dominating the boards with 18 rebounds. Once again at the state tournament, our hotel rooms overlooked the Tech coliseum, & we all realized that this game vs. a powerful Decatur team was likely to have a turn-away crowd. The Decatur HS athletic tradition was strong, but it was basketball which had come into prominence in the more-recent years. Both teams had been highly-ranked in the polls all season, (with Decatur currently having the #1 spot, & Newton holding #3). Decatur was led by 6'5" Mike Dickerson, who was rated as one of the best players in the country & had already signed a basketball scholarship to FSU, & he had plenty of help with a 6'10" center & a talented guard who had already signed to play QB at Georgia Tech. The capacity crowd witnessed an exciting game between two great teams! The game came down to a close finish between the evenly-matched teams. Donnie Freeman was having a sensational night as he made 9/12 fg attempts (& scored 28 pts.) and was involved in the "key" play of the game. Two Decatur players collided & Donnie, not even involved in the play, was called for his 5th foul in the final seconds, & the end result was a 68-65 loss. (It was another very controversial loss in the state tournament for the Rams.) Donnie was selected All-state again, as he averaged 21.1 ppg & 14.4 rebounds. Kevin had a 19.3 ppg avg. (& his 1,202 career pts. was the 5th highest total ever at NCHS). Scott avgd. 14.6 ppg. & 10.6 reb., & Neal Dickerson finished with a 12.2 scoring avg. The Rams finished the season with a 25-2 record, and was rewarded by the fans with a 5-day trip to see the Kentucky State High School basketball tournament! (It was a real treat, as most of the guys had never flown before!). The Rams' 14-yr. record now stood at 379 wins & 46 losses, (which averages out to 27 wins & 3 losses per year). The 33 titles, 10 Region Championships & 3 State Finalists, was even more impressive when one considers that NCHS had never won a region title in any major sport prior to this time! (With one of the "winningest" 14 yr. periods in Georgia high school basketball history, not many would have believed that this was the end of a great basketball era at NCHS.) In the spring, a new county administrator came to me and said that basketball in Newton Co. was being over-emphasized & they were disbanding our "midget basketball" program (which I had operated without any pay & now numbered almost 500 young girls & boys). I thought it strange that a county administrator (who didn't even live in Newton County but was in charge), would be bringing me a negative directive that we were over-emphasizing basketball. I then realized we had a crack forming in the foundation of our basketball program--(one which would only continue to widen)! I was shocked when I was informed that our large basketball savings account (which had never been touched), was closed--and the funds were used for purposes other than basketball!
1972 Newton County vs Decatur Game
