The 1970-71 Gallatin Varsity Basketball team, front row from left: Larry Wilson, Phil Gooding, John Bennett, Greg Graham, Sam Curtis, Jack Daniels, Stan Ray (manager); back row: Ray Cason, Rick McCloud, Kenny Youtsey, Dennis Morrissey, Howard Weldon, Keith Morrissey, Richard Reynolds and Coach Ed Weissenbach.
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Final votes have been tallied and in the closest voting of the GHS men’s bracket, the 1970-71 team, coached by Ed Weissenbach, prevailed over the 1991-92 squad coached by Kevin Nichols.
Voting was tight through the week for the two state qualifying teams and the 1970-71 club edged out a victory by just two votes over the 1991-92 team. Members of the winning team were Howard Weldon, Dennis Morrissey, Phil Gooding, Richard Reynolds, Rick McCloud, Jack Daniels, John Bennett, Ray Cason, Sam Curtis, Greg Graham, Larry Wilson, Keith Morrissey and Kenny Youtsey.
The 70-71 team finished with a 26-5 record and state quarterfinal appearance. The 1991-92 team of Will Salmon, Daniel Madison, Scott Shipers, Kelly Vanatta, Clint Pitzenberger, Jesse Bird, Chris Feiden, Bobby Wigglesworth, Jamee Hunt, Aaron Steigerwalt, David Woodruff, Eric Critten, Eric Hamilton, Cody Bird, Sonny Painter, Roger Harris, Mike Beck, Jason Burns, Matt Strasser, Nathan Taylor and Brett Steward finished 27-2, losing to Bishop Hogan in the playoffs.
Now that the men’s bracket is finished, here’s a little bit about a team that didn’t make the tournament. Playing in a slower-paced, small-gym era, the “old school” 1947-48 team, coached by C.C. “Twister” Smith, won a GHS record 29 games while losing six over the course of a long season. In an era when few high school teams scored more than 30 points per game, the 47-48 Bulldog squad reached the 50s and 60s on more than one occasion.
The team’s starting five included two-time All-GRC first teamer Johnny Brown (he of a 45 point scoring night a season earlier), Dan Collier, Bob Blythe, Bob Seabough and Larry Potts. Other team members were Bob Smith, Amos Mason, Jack Payne, Billy Mead and David Knauer.
The 47-48 team went undefeated in Gallatin’s first season in the Grand River Conference after taking a Big Six Conference title a year before. The team lost by 3 points to Chillicothe in the regional tournament.
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Picking an 8-team women’s bracket presented a special challenge. Over a 9-year period in the 1990s, teams averaged over 20 wins per season. For this reason, not all of those teams will be included in the bracket in order to allow other good teams of the past 40 years to be included.
So, here we go. The first matchup in the GHS Women’s Hoops Madness Challenge pits the #4 team from 1994-95, coached by Rick Lin, against the #5 team from 1989-90, coached by Kevin Nichols.
The 1994-95 team finished 26-3, 7-1 in the GRC behind Bethany, with district and sectional victories before a regional game loss to Wellington-Napoleon. Team members were Ashley Wilson (unanimous All-GRC), Kim Ruse, Cindy Critten, Natalie Bird, Sara Strasser (Honorable Mention GRC), Kim Sweatman, Joanna Hemry, Amanda Dixon, Jacque Ruse, Andi Wilkinson, Amy Woodruff, Devin Hamilton, Shanda Lollar, Shelly Taul, Abbey Howard, Natasha McLey, Kristy Youtsey and Miranda Eaton.
The 1989-90 team, 6-2 and second in the GRC behind Princeton, won a district tournament from the #3 seeded spot and advanced to the Class 2 sectional, where it lost to Smithville by 6 points to finish with a 20-8 record. Team members were Shelley Fales (unanimous All-GRC), Heather Reynolds (1st team GRC), Michelle Williams, Tara Lockridge (Honorable Mention GRC), Alisa Hamilton, Brandi Dixon, Rhonda Frost, Paige Helton, Christy Wilson, Trisha Vyrostek and Erin Burns.
To vote for your team, go to the Gallatin North Missourian website and click on the GHS Hoops Madness Guessing Game box. Votes will be tabulated at 5 p.m. each Tuesday. The results of our first matchup will be posted Wednesday, online and in the North Missourian newspaper.