Best basketball programs from schools that no longer exist

Zezzo! said:
So technically, Thurgood Marshall is Colonel White (follow), the decision had been made to close CW so the building was demolished in 08'. Roth, had also closed as a Junior High a few summers before. The building was vacant for a few years and finally demolished. DPS built a new high school building on the old Roth site that is now Thurgood Marshall. They moved the students from CW to the westside of Dayton into Thurgood. The school colors are purple for Roth and gold for Colonel White, they kept Cougars from CW as the nickname. I thought it should of been Pioneers in tribute to the honorable judge Thurgood Marshall whom was a pioneer being the first black supreme court justice.
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John Ralph, old Colonel White head basketball coach who had a couple of state runs has been an assistant for Coulter at Alter the last few years.
 
edgefan60 said:
My Father played for Hanover (Twp,Butler Co.) he spoke highly of Lockland Wayne played them in the latter 40s I'd suppose in the tournament,became part of Princeton in 59 didn't they? And I thought I was old.
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Lockland Wayne High School closed in 1958 after being open only 20 years. There is a gap at that time I can't explain. Either Lockland High School became fully inegrated and/or Lincoln Heights High School opened. (When Lockland Wayne was open there was a legendary story about Joe Martin, the principal and basketball coach for the entire lifetime of the school. At that time time there were just two classes for high school sports in Ohio, Class A and Class B. The dividing line was 151 or more boys enrolled, the school was Class A; 150 or fewer boys enrolled, the school was Class B. Being the principal as well as the basketball coach, Martin knew exactly how many boys were enrolled. When the 151st boy tried to enroll, legend has it Martin took him to the back door of the school, pointed across the way to Lockland High School, and told him that's where he should enroll).
Lincoln Heights High School won the small school state championship in basketball in 1970 and followed that up with the state baseball championship a few months later. The state Board of Education closed the school that summer and it then became part of the Princeton school district.
The Princeton school district was formed in the mid-1950s, a merger of Glendale High Scbool and Sharonville High School. It didn't have a graduating class until the 1958-59 school year. I think that was the first year it fielded a varsity basketball team and what a team it had. There was enough talent and depth from the two high schools that Princeton was regional tournament good that first season. It lost in the regional semis at the Cincinnati Gardens to Middletown the season after the Jerry Lucas years. Middletown had a player, Glenn Barker, who was being called the next Jerry Lucas. He didn't live up to that billing but he was good enough to go on to play at Miami (Ohio).
Years later I coached my sons' 5th and 6th grade basketball teams and we played in an in-season tournament both years at Lockland Wayne. Though the school had been long closed, at least for formal educational purposes, individual pictures of the various graduating classes were still on the walls in the hallway, like ghosts from the past. Moreover, what struck me was how small and narrow the basketball court was. There was a stage on one side and just several rows of cement bleachers across from that. No seats, just walls at the ends. The benches were at floor level on either side of the stage. Long after the school had closed and when the 3-point shot came into being, 3-point lines were painted on the floor. The floor was so narrow that the 3-point lines ended at the sidelines, almost where the team benches were. It was difficult for me to fathom that 10 high school players, even by 1950s size standards, could fit on that floor at the same time.
 
America said:
John Ralph, old Colonel White head basketball coach who had a couple of state runs has been an assistant for Coulter at Alter the last few years.
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Unfortunately, that's not true John Ralph never had a state run at Colonel White the closest he got was a sectional final loss to Beavercreek. After that his teams at CW were mediocre at best. He was credited as head coach with a state run when Colonel White transitioned to Thurgood in 08'-09' however that team was filled with tumult. Ralph was suspended a few games late that year and the players never respected him at Thurgood or Colonel White.

When Colonel White made their runs in the early 2000's and late 90's the coach was Carlos Roberts.
 
strange connection in this thread that John Ralph was coach at Lorain Admiral King in the early 90s. made a fluke regional run in 91-92 with a team that went 7-13 in the regular season, but got hot at tourney time. following year went 17-6. was then forced out for some improprieties which led to the return of Mitch Gillam.
 
Have to go with Cincinnati Cape from the 80s and 90s. D3 I think and maybe not many state basketball titles but won some in football and always had great basketball teams. Also Forest Park which now is Winton Woods.

Cape, not sure what happened to the school but they always had great teams in football basketball and baseball.
 
Bedford St. Peter Chanel - always was tough and gritty. I'm pretty sure they also won a state title in the late 90s.
 
The tiny town of Waterloo in Lawrence County in SE Ohio produced the Waterloo Wonders, who won back to back Class B state titles in 1934 and 1935. The school was so small that it barely had enough students to field a basketball team, let alone one of state championship caliber. I believe the school closed in the 1960's and am not sure if the building is still up.

Waterloo also made the state tournament in 1941, but was eliminated before the Final 4 because the state tournament was formatted as a Sweet 16. The legend of this school and its state championship teams continues today in Southeastern Ohio.
 
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trojandave said:
The tiny town of Waterloo in Lawrence County in SE Ohio produced the Waterloo Wonders, who won back to back Class B state titles in 1934 and 1935. The school was so small that it barely had enough students to field a basketball team, let alone one of state championship caliber. I believe the school closed in the 1960's and am not sure if the building is still up.

Waterloo also made the state tournament in 1941, but was eliminated before the Final 4 because the state tournament was formatted as a Sweet 16. The legend of this school and its state championship teams continues today in Southeastern Ohio.
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The best part of threads like this is to learn about teams like the Waterloo Wonders. This sounds like a great story. And their story should continue to be retold. PBS apparently did a documentary on the team called "The 8th Wonder- The Waterloo Wonders". I couldn't access the documentary, but here is the trailer for it. And some other information about the team.


https://www.herald-dispatch.com/new...cle_d121ffc7-df8c-54e0-a514-5c782b0161c7.html
 
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trojandave said:
Thanks, Irish60 for the video and newspaper reference.......good stuff!!
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I started a thread a couple years back on which team would be Ohio's version of "Hoosiers". I can't recall if Waterloo was brought up, but they certainly would be worthy of consideration!
 
SteelValley said:
Youngstown Rayen had a really good program in the 80’s and 90’s.
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No disrespect to their 85 state championship I believe the 78 team that lost to the aforementioned Cathedral Latin was the most talented. Joe James ( Michigan) Greg Jones (West Virginia- drafted by the Pacers) led that team. I believe Terry Taylor ( started CB in the NFL for multip years) was on that squad
 
trojandave said:
The tiny town of Waterloo in Lawrence County in SE Ohio produced the Waterloo Wonders, who won back to back Class B state titles in 1934 and 1935. The school was so small that it barely had enough students to field a basketball team, let alone one of state championship caliber. I believe the school closed in the 1960's and am not sure if the building is still up.

Waterloo also made the state tournament in 1941, but was eliminated before the Final 4 because the state tournament was formatted as a Sweet 16. The legend of this school and its state championship teams continues today in Southeastern Ohio.
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As a kid, I remember hearing about those "Waterloo Wonders".
My mom's brother played center for Lowellville one of those years. Think it was in the state final they met Waterloo., perhaps in 34.
Back then, people used to ride trains to games. The whole family would go to those games, regardless where there we played. They could talk of nothing else.
Definitely different times.
Always nice to revisit the past, especially on Yappi.
 
Vet Observer said:
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The Princeton school district was formed in the mid-1950s, a merger of Glendale High Scbool and Sharonville High School. ....................................
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FYI
It actually was a merger of 8 school districts:
Crescentville, Evendale, Glendale, Sharonville, Springdale, Stewart, Runyan, and
Woodlawn .
Glendale and Sharonville were the only ones with high schools, the rest had their students attend various high schools, which included Sharonville and Glendale
 
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