Owensboro High School - Owensboroan Yearbook (Owensboro, KY)

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We -.1 . My -, ,, t p at at Ly ' f1: i I V, Q: Surrounded by Apollo players, Ross Cotton at the 5P0ff9C9nf9f- APOHO PlaYef9 are Darin goes up for a basket in the afternoon matchup Cissell l20l, Bob Humble and leff 101195- R I Keith Anderson scores two in the district mat- chup against Apollo Anderson sparkled in the first half of the district game but fouled out late in the fourth period H'--.4 it Q Rod Drake 1101 came on strong late in the year in relief at the guard spot, Mark Rickard started the season opener in bas- ketball to become the first three-sport starter - basketball, football and baseball - in recent years. Varsity Basketballf89

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amass saileswivrsmsllf Eagles Claw District Title From Devils Owensboro High and county foe Apollo met four times during the 1977- 78 basketball season. Apollo won all four of the encounters, but the last meeting was A Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind. The most important game of the year for both OHS and Apollo was set for March 3 in the semi-finals of the Ninth District Regional Tournament. Owensboro High came out ready and led 12-6 after one period. The shoot-and- stall play was working well against Apollo. Owensboro dragged its halftime lead to 18-13. The biggest lead of the game for OHS was 20-13 with an early second half bas- ket, but Apollo again doomed OHS in the third period. Apollo outscored OHS 16-8 in the third period to grab a 29-26 lead. The Red Devils had a two point lead and the basketball with less than two minutes left in the final quarter. A dou- ble dribble and a bad pass enabled Apol- lo to tie the game at 35-35, with 11 sec- onds left in the game. Jeff Jones of Apol- lo lost the ball and Mark Rickard let a desperation shot fly at the buzzer that bounced off the board. Apollo got the best of the overtime period as the Eagles hit six points while OHS scored only four. Danny Griffith laid in the final basket of the year for OHS with one second remaining, but Apollo had their fourth straight win over the Devils, 41-39 in overtime. Clarence James and Keith Anderson tallied 16 and 14 points respectively for the game and were named on the All- Tournament team in the 9th District. OHS and Apollo had their first head- to-head meeting on Dec. 13. Apollo held off a late charging OHS to win 61-57. The second duel between the Eagles and the Red Devils took place on Dec. 30 in the final game of the Owensboro Invi- tational Tournament at the Sportscenter. Apollo outscored OHS 26-12 in the third period enroute to a 82-67 Red Devil defeat. Owensboro got together with Apollo for their third meeting of the year on Feb. 11, at the Sportscenter, in an after- noon make-up game. Apollo again clinched the third period to give them a decisive lead. OHS led 29- 28 at the half, but Apollo outscored OHS 23-12 in the third period and went on to win the game 67-55. - By Steve Mclntyre 88fVarsity Basketball Leaping high above his opponent, Clarence james is all by himself on a tip in t'lE'OHS circle in district tournament play against Apol- ,s , ' . 'ii-111: , BW 'E '- ' - A F 'Q-A Ms, f :- lo. Keith Anderson 1301 positions himself be twe efenders before a jam packed crowd at the Sportscenter. Tony james looks to pass off to teammate Keith Anderson 1301 against arch-rival Apollo in an gf .. K, . 4 i .N K. afternoon game at the Sportscenter. Apollo won the game 67-55.

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N flilllllfi W G Owensboro High finished the 1977-78 basketball season with a 15-9 record and failed to emerge from district tourna- ment play for only the third time in Bob- by Watson's 21 years as coach of the Red Devils. OHS lost five of their nine games by a total of 16 points, but the Red Devils also won some close ones over Union County 155-541, Ohio County 159-581, Louisville Durrett 164-62 in overtimej and Hop- kinsville 162-591. The close defeats came to Apollo twice 161-57 and 41-39 in overtimel, Madison- ville 164-611, Paducah Tilghman 164-61 in overtirnel and McLean County 179-741. The Red Devils also had some lopsid- ed victories during the year. OHS beat Grayson County 191-461, Owensboro Catholic 166-341 and Central City 171-425. The 1977-78 team was led in scoring by Clarence James with 17 points per game. Other top scorers were: Keith An- derson 14.1, Ross Cotton 9.6, Danny Griffith 8.5, Mark Rickard 4.5, Tony James 3.1, Chuck Riley 2.5 and Rod Drake 2.2. Another team member, Cully Nelson, was injured in the opening game of the season against Louisville Doss. Nelson sustained a knee injury that put him out for the season. OHS averaged 64.5 on offense and only allowed 60.6 on the defense. James finished his four years at OHS with 1,305 points. He is second to Kenny Higgs in the overall point production at OHS. The most memorable games of 1977- 78 will be remembered by the OHS- Apollo shoot-outs, but there were other top notch games. . OHS was 2-O against Louisville teams with wins over Doss 170-661 and Louis- ville Durrett in overtime 164-625. OHS also beat a good Bowling Green team 181- 761. The Red Devils faced highly touted Drakesboro on Feb. 4 and had the Cardi- nals on the ropes with two minutes left with an eight point advantage. Drakes- boro rallied to win 177-762. - By Steve McIntyre 90x Varsity Basketball A WE fbi, : Z , f 4, A trip to the hospital was the way the season started for Senior Cully Nelson. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a knee injury in Despite a 15-9 record, one of the worst seasons in Bobby Watson's 21 years as OHS coach, he remained calm and collected on the bench. ',, the first game of the season against Louisville Doss. Nelson had to have an operation and missed the entire season. Are they doing what l told them seems to be the expression on Coach Bobby Watson's face during a regular season game.