We have seen many great high school boys basketball teams in West Virginia, most which flashed across our landscape at the state tournament while winning a state championship.
However, there have also been many outstanding teams in our state that did not win a state title. While there is no way that I can know them all or list them all, here is a short list of some great basketball teams that did not claim the top prize:
n 1964 Weir: Weir High featured one of the all-time great players in state history in Ron "Fritz" Williams, who went on to be one of the all-time great players in WVU history and helped integrate the Mountaineer program. He also played eight seasons in the NBA. Weir won the AAA state title in 1963, but in 1964 lost to Logan in the state championship game. Logan was coached by a very young Willie Akers, whose star player was Jim Davidson. Davidson went on to play at Marshall and is in the school's athletic Hall of Fame.
n 1965 Williamson: Led by Bill Craig and coached by George Ritchie, the 1965 Williamson team was legendary in the coalfields. The Wolfpack, which had won the Class AA state title in 1964, moved up to AAA in 1965 and rolled through the regular season undefeated before a 69-67 loss to Woodrow Wilson in the state championship game. It was a loss that stunned Mingo County.
n 1967 Charleston: This was a team of very young players that was a year away from winning a state title. The 1967 Mountain Lions lost to Woodrow Wilson in the state championship at the old WVU Fieldhouse in Morgantown. Curt Price and Sonny Burls were juniors, Skip Mason and Larry "Deacon" Harris were sophomores. The Mountain Lions would roll through the state and the state championship in 1968.
n 1967 Huntington East: This Highlanders team almost upset favored Charleston in the 1967 regional finals at Memorial Fieldhouse in Huntington. The smallest player on the floor, Sonny Burls, tipped in a shot at the buzzer for the game winner. Two Huntington East players went on to play Division I basketball: Mark Dawson went on to play at WVU and Bill McNeer went on to play at Virginia Tech.
n 1969 Charleston: The Mountain Lions won 48 straight games under coach Lou Romano in the late 1960s, but the 1969 team lost to Greg Hawkins and the Pony Express version of Huntington High in the regional finals at the old Charleston Civic Center. High school basketball meant more in the area back then and the city of Charleston was stunned by the loss. From the Mountain Lions, Harris and Levi Phillips both went on to play for WVU. From Huntington, Hawkins went on to win an NCAA championship at North Carolina State in 1974. Many fans in the state don't remember that Phillips originally signed with Charleston native George King and Purdue before transferring to WVU. Hawkins originally signed with Ray Mears and Stu Aberdeen at Tennessee before transferring to N.C. State.
n 1977 St. Albans and Wheeling Park: Both teams were undefeated and expected to meet in the AAA state finals. A Tex Williams-coached St. Albans team beat Bluefield in the state quarterfinals but lost to Vic Herbert, Willie Akers and Logan in the semifinals. It was the first year of Wheeling Park after the consolidation of Wheeling High, Warwood and Triadelphia. The Patriots seemed unbeatable but ran into a buzzsaw in a Clarksburg Washington Irving team led by Jeff Schneider, who went on to play at Virginia Tech.
n 1981 Williamson: The Wolfpack was a Class AAA power in 1981 and featured Mark Cline, who was a McDonald's All-American and went to Wake Forest. Williamson also had Kenny Schwarz, who went to James Madison, and Curtis Townes who went to West Virginia State. In the first AAA state title game played in the then-new Charleston Civic Center, Williamson lost to Jimmy Miller and Princeton. Miller went on to play on a Final Four team at Virginia. Also on that Princeton team was Mike Eades, now one of the top college basketball officials in the country. Williamson was undefeated going into that championship game.
n 1982 and 1983 South Charleston: Coached by Bill Walton, the Black Eagles played in back-to-back classic AAA state championship games, losing both by one point. In 1982 they lost to Stonewall Jackson 62-61 on a layup at the buzzer, and in 1983 they lost to Logan 55-54. The 1982 team was led by Gay Elmorem who went on to be a great player at VMI. The 1983 team was led by Gary Thompson, Bobby Gardner and David Bradley.
n 1994 DuPont: This was an incredible team with two pro stars and a future Notre Dame linebacker. The Panthers had a basketball state Player of the Year in Randy Moss and a future NBA star in Jason Williams. Many longtime state tournament fans think the Thursday morning quarterfinal game with Woodrow Wilson was the best game in tournament history. The Panthers then had a late game with Huntington in the semifinals on Friday night. Their legs were gone by the time they played a fresher and athletic Martinsburg team in the title game on Saturday. Williams, of course, won an NBA championship with the Miami Heat and Moss played in two Super Bowls and will someday be a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Contact Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.