It was a wonderful night of reunion for the Burg community, and everyone really enjoyed the community fellowship at the reception in the library. Wheelersburg can be very proud of its graduates, basketball tradition and how well the former players have done in life. The fact that they think enough of their alma mater to travel distances to be there for one another and their hometown says what the program has meant to them.
As for the game, after a rough first minute, the Pirate defense was excellent, especially on the ball. The Burg's guards (Lang, Jenkins and Spradlin) jumped in the passing lane, tied up the ball and caused a lot of confusion, not allowing anything to get going. Spradlin opened up with a strong, mature and focused first half. Jenkins played well, but then got in foul trouble early and Spradlin had to run with the point along with Lang and Cook. That adjustment could have been trouble, but wasn't. That's a good sign given the speed of Portsmouth's guards. Cook also played excellent minutes of ball on both ends of the court during that opening, and Portsmouth never really got into the game at all because of the Pirates smothering D. Cook's shot is looking good and he is penetrating the lane well, getting all the way to the hole, and starting to look to pass when defense comes in on him when he gets in the lane, which they will have to because he can score there given his athleticism. After half time, the Trojans went to a box and one, and Burg made them pay inside, with Andy Stegman getting his points from quick dump offs. Wheelersburg had a big size advantage overall. It was good team play. Cadogan was good down low when he got the ball on the block, but he suffered from foul trouble, so was very limited on defense most of the second half. The Trojans looked a little tired and down by the second half because the Burg had as much as a 25+ lead at times. Spradlin, Stegman and the other starters didn't play the fourth quarter and a lot of the Pirate hard-working second team played then, getting valuable minutes, and they did well, too. So, it was a good night for the Burg. On to Valley on Tuesday, where hopefully, the Pirate team can continue to work and improve. There is still a lot to work on.
Congratulations to the Pirates on the win......they did EVERYTHING MUCH BETTER than we did.............and it was a very nice ceremony honoring the state teams from the 80's...........
The game that I saw made me VERY UPSET......there is no reason for Wheelersburg beating us that badly...........and before my emotions get the best of me........I'll conclude with this.........
But I will be there Friday to support my Trojans at Logan.
I have found another game to add to the list of the Wheelersburg-Portsmouth series and it should make Trojandave a little happier since they won.
January 4, 1946 Portsmouth defeated Wheelersburg 27-26.
And that was one of Wheelersburg's better teams. At one point during that season the Pirates had won 92 of their last 98 games. Small wonder that they won back-to-back Class B District titles. In 1946, it took EIGHT tournament wins to take that district title. These days, that many would win the state.
I still suspect that there are more games in the series and would not rule them out until all the seasons were researched.
Not that I am going to research it any time soon. I intend to get distracted researching Wheelersburg and Oak Hill playing in the same football league. It kind of gets hard to pick out the right headlines with the Portsmouth Pirates (baseball) playing well into the football season and the basketball season starting about two weeks before the football is done.
That and the fact that the Lady Waterloo Wonders were outstanding in basketball before the famous boys team came to prominence. At least the two-time champions seem to beat the Wheelersburg Pirate Ladies handily in their game to open the 1935-36 season. In those days the ladies were restricted to 1/2 court--either offense or defense.
drrabbit wrote:I have found another game to add to the list of the Wheelersburg-Portsmouth series and it should make Trojandave a little happier since they won.
January 4, 1946 Portsmouth defeated Wheelersburg 27-26.
And that was one of Wheelersburg's better teams. At one point during that season the Pirates had won 92 of their last 98 games. Small wonder that they won back-to-back Class B District titles. In 1946, it took EIGHT tournament wins to take that district title. These days, that many would win the state.
I told you that you may be surprised when checking out the pre-1958 Pirates.
There were some very good years during the Gene Bennett, Russell Colegrove, Allard (Hap) Lawson, Bombsight Lawson, Hibbets, etc. days back when....
As I had never commented on the pre-1958 Pirates other than to argue that they could have played the Trojans, I am not sure where that is coming from but I have known about the 1944-46 Pirates all my life. Considering that my entire point, that you originally commented on, was that Wheelersburg and Portsmouth may well have met before 1978, I think I have proven myself right.
drrabbit wrote:As I had never commented on the pre-1958 Pirates
" Many times in the 50's the Pirates would have played Portsmouth in the tournament if they just could have won one more game--or just one game... LOL. "
I'm sorry Doc but that certainly sounds like a "comment" on the pre-58 Pirates to me.
I think you will find that the Pirates won their 1st game of the tourneys way more often than they lost it.
