Have you ever had a project in the back of your mind that you wanted to start (and finish), but somehow it always gets blocked or you just can't turn the key and get it started?
I've wanted to do the research and writing for this for several years. Maybe it was the NCAA basketball tourney, but most likely it was looking at my own life and realizing it's been over 50 years since I saw some of these guys play.
There's many players and games that I remember (what I think is quite clearly) even before '68, but in that year there was Bill Rote, Tom Sherwood, Tut Hanks, Paul Sullivan and the rest of a 9-11 squad.
The North Tier League stayed the same during those ten plus years, no additions or deletions. '68 was only four years removed from Coudersport's run to the Pennsylvania State Finals, undefeated until losing in the state finals. The Falcons were led by the 6'8" Dan Wetzel, who eventually played at Virginia Tech
I asked former teammates, opposing players, coaches, officials, fans, etc. for their opinions regarding the top Terrors' performers and the best opposing players through the years. We stayed almost strictly with high school basketball although many of the players named were two or three sport players.
It definitely was a different era with few, if any, showcases, tryout camps and no possession arrow or three point shots.
It was also the beginning of many girls' interscholastic sports. Though it's a boys' basketball essay, all the girls who were present for the advent of basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and field, etc. should always be recognized for what they created and the tremendous gains and interest they helped create.
I attempted to enter as many names as possible throughout this writing without losing the central theme of the subject area. The opinions offered were solicited to bring basketball debates in to the diner while gathered for your morning coffee, at the barber shop, lunchtime and maybe even at some evening establishments.
This was written about the years, 1968-1978 although I did take the literary license to stretch those years both ways at times. It definitely is not to compare then with now. It would be a shame if many aspects of our lives hadn't changed during time.
Agree or disagree with the player rundowns, but enjoy. For us in the senior citizen category, Remember. And for those who are playing today and much younger adults, it's History and an opportunity to learn some facts about those who played before you did.
1968-1971
Almost every Saturday morning from winter's beginning to the first signs of spring, you could find four boys playing two on two on the outdoor basketball courts. Steve Sennett, Mike Miller, Jerome Wolcott and
The game began sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and the four youngsters played straight through until the town's noon whistle blew at noon. The game's length led to scores like 168-160 on a consistent basis.
One would have to be naive to think the same scenario was not being repeated in other North Tier League towns. Austin's Randy Cooney said they had to shovel their courts unless they could find a kind-hearted janitor who would furnish them with a key to the gymnasium. I can imagine Cooney, Gary Price, Greg Garzel and John Frank played a lot of free Saturdays in the early 70's.
Technology was not the rule of the day during those years. It didn't make it wrong or right, just different. Austin, the league's smallest town, challenged every opponent during that time frame and were especially difficult to defeat on their home court.
The 1967-68 season began the head coaching career of O-E's new mentor, Jim Kinsler. Kinsler was a 1962 graduate of Cameron County High School and from the moment he stepped on the O-E court in 1967, Emporium became a "huge" game.
The new Terrors' coach had been an outstanding player in high school (named to school's Sports Hall of Fame) and was a valuable member of the Mansfield University squad that was an NAIA championship contender nearly every year. (Mansfield team photo on Facebook page).
Coach Kinsler was eventually joined by another Cameron County ex-player, Jim Manners, as an assistant coach.
One of my contributors to this blog said, "When I was in seventh grade, Randy Nuhfer was my hero." The good news for Coach Kinsler at his first practice was Randy Nuhfer was there. The bad news was Randy was a senior so the new coach only had one year to see one of Otto-Eldred's best in action.
Since we concentrated almost solely on basketball, we didn't have a category, "best athlete in the school's history." Randy's name would certainly be on a short list of candidates if not at the very peak.
Like many of the athletes mentioned, "Nuhf" was a two-sport athlete and as in the case of several players, football may have been his best sport. He was an outstanding quarterback with the arm and scrambling/running ability to lead an offense and then flip over and play defensive back. Many will always remember his interception of a pitch out and subsequent run of 80 plus yards for a Terrors' touchdown in an early season game.
Nuhfer scored 935 points in his basketball career in fewer games than the three O-E players who reached 1,000. He was a first team Northern Tier basketball All-Star in 1967 and 1968.
Coach Kinsler's initial season as the head man at O-E ended with a 9-11 mark overall and a 7-7 league mark. Nuhfer averaged 16.6 points a game and led the team in rebounds with 204.
Despite an overall losing record, it was a team that many remembered and had some individuals who drew attention from many of those whose opinions we garnered. A sophomore in '68, John Oszustowicz will get plenty of attention in this essay especially with his breakout years in 1969 and 1970.
As with Nuhfer, John was a multi-sport athlete, adding football and baseball to his list. Once again, basketball might not have been his best sport, although that belief might raise some arguments locally. John was a very good right handed pitcher, pitching at Mansfield University and earlier, dominating through the local youth leagues and when home for the summer, pitching in the Alle-Catt League.
From the football side, John's good hands, overall speed, 6'2"height and his overall stature made him the quintessential wide receiver. Finally, as was Nuhfer, he was a fine punter as both players seemed to be on the field the entire game.
Johnny "O" averaged 11.5 points in 1968 that would pale versus this next two seasons.
Another name that surfaced through the information gathering process was one of the starting guards, Lester Shoff.
We didn't break down our lists by position, but when a list of O-E guards was presented, Lester was one of the three players named during this 10 year period. The other two guards listed as top three performers were Mike Welch (78) and Jeff Miller (77).
The three picks had distinct games, but Shoff and Miller had the key ability to get the ball to their higher scoring teammates, both played strong defense and rebounded better than most backcourt players. Welch was a very good passer with excellent court vision and the ability to look one way and pass it another. The difference is that he was the top scorer on his squad when he was a senior.
Kinsler, year two, faced a very good Northern Tier League. At that time O-E ranked near the middle of school populations in the NTL. Cameron County won the first of their four consecutive District titles. (69-73). First team all-star, Coudersport's Dave Schaub, played at Rider University in New Jersey.
1969 seniors pictured above: Top- Paul Bishop and Tut Hanks
Below- Bill Rote and Don Kockler
O-E had lost Nuhfer, but two returning players raised their '68 PPG dramatically. Unsung Bill Rote went from nine points a game to 18 in his senior year and Oszustowicz went from 11.5 and doubled it to 22 points a game.
The Terrors actually scored 69 points more than the previous year yet ended the season with the same 9-11 mark and saw their league record fall to 5-9. Johnny "O" was voted to the first team NTL and Bill Rote was selected to the second team. Don Kockler was named the recipient of the Jody Wolcott award (student, athlete, gentleman).
It was 1970 and Coach Kinsler's third year when things began to fall in to place. A successful feeder system was starting to yield dividends as the freshman class lost only three games all season, two of the losses by one point and Johnny "O had not only taken over the league, but battled for the Big 30 scoring crown averaging 26.8 points a game. The star forward was named MVP of the North Tier League and the Terrors won the league's Class C Championship.
Kinsler also won Coach of the Year Honors, the first of three he would earn as the skipper of the O-E program.
Junior forward, Jim Slavin, averaged 12 points a game and in his dual sport role as starting quarterback led the football team
Photo- (left to right) Six key members of the football team; Jim Slavin, Neil Trask, Steve Gross (Jody Wolcott Award winner). Fred Williams, John Oszustowicz and Jeff Fowler.
The '70 basketball team finished 15-5 and 11-3 in the NTL- a superb athletic year for the Terrors.
It would have been almost impossible for the '71 team to stay at the same level as the previous year's club, especially without Oszustowicz.
Despite the lowest total points scored of any of Kinsler's teams, the Terrors finished 12-9 and their 8-6 league record awarded them a third place finish in the NTL.
Halfway through the year, O-E was starting two sophomores. 6'6 Jerome Wolcott was one of the tenth graders and he finished third in rebounding and fourth in scoring as a young player, one who definitely be a top performer in the future. Dick Windsor, Slavin and Joe Kahle (Jody Wolcott Award winner) averaged only 36 points as a threesome, but rebounded very well and played solid defense, especially Windsor who played several inches above his sub-6'0 height. Slavin and Windsor were second team Northern Tier League All Star Team.
1971 senior Terrors- Top, left to right: Steve Boyle, Mike Fitzsimmons, Dale Goodell, Joe Kahle
Bottom: Dan Plummer, Jim Slavin and Dick Windsor
Cameron County had another great year led by Bill Leonard and Jeff Lloyd or was it Lloyd and Leonard. Just hearing those two names, in whatever order, meant the opposition was in trouble. Combined with high flyer, Rich Bisso, the Red Raiders were nearly impossible to stop.
Leonard played at Canisius and the man-mountain Lloyd reached the pinnacle, the NFL. Both players joined '62 graduate, Jim Kinsler as the first group of players to be inducted in to the Cameron County Sports Hall of Fame. Also inducted that year were basketball players; Dick Peterson (67), Rich Bisso (71), Bill Leonard (72) and Matt Grimone (75)
"That was weird," Lloyd said. 'He came up to see a basketball game. We were in the playoffs at Clarion and I scored 33 points, one of the best games of my career. After the game, he offered me a scholarship to West Texas for football."
At West Texas State (the school's former name) he played offensive tackle, tight end, center and linebacker. He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference first team all-stars at both offensive tackle and tight end.
He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1976 (third round) and played for several teams in the NFL.
Port Allegany also had a strong shooting club during the 1971 season with Tony Flint, Duane Moshier and Jeff Dann.
1972- This Terrors' team consisted of 8 juniors, 3 seniors and 1 sophomore. As expected, "the big man," Jerome Wolcott led the way averaging over 17 points a game and gathering in almost 10 rebounds a contest. Wolcott made the NTL All Star First Team along with Kerry Snow, another multi-athlete quarterback and the number one pitcher on the Eldred American Legion, a team that won a league title with Snow's arm leading the way.
The top senior player was the Jody Wolcott Award recipient, Bill Kaluza who averaged almost eight points a game and was second on the team in rebounds.
Despite going 10-12 overall, O-E was 9-5 in the league and was the Class C league runner up and participated in the District 9 playoffs.
The '72 squad also set a school record for most points in a game, 96.
1973- There were some high expectations for the '73 team and they did not disappoint, winning the Class C Northern Tier League Championship, finishing 17-5 and 11-3 in the conference. The biggest disappointment was dropping two end-of-the year playoff games.
O-E came back in game one versus A-C Valley after trailing by double figures early in the game. Senior guard, Ned Van Epps, hit four long jump shots to help eventually tie the score, but A.C. Valley won in the final minute. There were 13 jump balls in that game (no possession arrow) and A.C. Valley retrieved 12 of them.
The Terrors lost another tight playoff game to Brockway, a disappointing way to end a season that had great promise and just came up a little short.
The biggest win of the year may have been a one point win over Emporium. That game ball remains in the O-E sports trophy case at the high school.
Wolcott was a first team NTL All Star again with a 19.5 scoring average and over 457 seasonal rebounds, a school record. Junior forward Steve Barrett won second team NTL honors. Wolcott was also named first team center on the District Nine All Star team. Snow won the Jody Wolcott Award.
Jim Kinsler had put together an overall winning record during his first 6 years as head coach, taken three teams to the playoffs and produce NTL All Stars every year.
1974- There was a big step backward this year in terms of wins and losses, (7-15 and 3-11 in the league), but a storm was brewing with some key underclassmen. Denny Glenn, Barry Houben and Steve Bell were preparing themselves for what might be the best run of games in the school's history.
Steve Barrett was a first team NTL All-Star with a 16 points a game average. He also was the recipient of the Jody Wolcott Award. Sophomore Houben hit for 11 a contest.
The year may have seemed like a one step ahead, two steps back process, but Kinsler knew what he had in store down the line. Among our observers; Houben, Glenn and Bell received a lot of accolades during their three year varsity careers.
1975- Led by their frontcourt (Bell, Houben and Glenn), who as a trio averaged 42 points a game, the Terrors won the Northern Tier Class C Championship with a 11-3 league mark which also included a ten game winning streak. Junior Barry Houben averaged 20 points per game and was named as a first team NTL All-Star. Glenn was voted to the second team. The '75 club was 13-7 overall.
The Terrors' margin of victory in '75 was a superb 15.7, which was beaten only by the '76 team with a winning margin of over 16 a game.
Denny Glenn (top) and Barry Houben.
Note # 1- Sometimes, I think that you squint at so many numbers that you need to step away for a minute and maybe browse for something else. I said we might stretch our 10-11 year coverage a bit. I didn't anticipate going back to 1956, but when I saw the NTL All-Star Team I had to get those names down.
First team Second team
Fred Howell, Eldred Snow, Otto Twp.
Melvin Rote, Smethport Phillips, Oswayo Valley
Jim Drabant, Eldred Shields, Eldred
Van Campbell, Coudersport Simms, Smethport
Tom Irons, Otto Twp. Maynard, Coudersport
Mike Gamble, Port Allegany
NOTE #2-
The first note is clearly factual. Note #2 is strictly my opinion. We have written about many players, occasionally dividing them in to a specific position on the court and we will continue to do that as we reach our final three years. Almost all the names that have reached this essay were initiated by ex-players and coaches, some current coaches, officials and others who have been a part of the game in some manner for many years. The following name in this circumstance was brought up by me and is just my opinion.
We talked about some of the top O-E and opposing guards from 1968-1978. All definitely deserved to be identified and discussed in detail.
Coach Kinsler, on occasion, would play some 3 on 3 after practice against some of the guys. During those half court games, it was soon very obvious that he was a complete player. I guess, somewhere inside each player, you wanted to perform well in front of the coach and if possible even get the edge on him; make a steal, block a shot, challenge and score on him, etc. Most of those thoughts were just dreams.
Some guys are called good rebounders, or solid defensive players or excellent shooters, but their talents are not comprehensive- there's some weak spots. Kinsler had no weak spots. He certainly wasn't a physical player, but he could do just about anything he wanted to against bigger players, double teams, etc. It didn't matter.
Simply said, he was a player. Ballhandler extraordinaire, quick hands on defense, always moving when he didn't have the ball, penetrate and take it all the way or find the open man. Even in 3 on 3 or 2 on 2 games, he wasn't going to lose.
Once a year the faculty would play the varsity club or some sort of pickup team and you could sit back and watch Coach K dominate. The best memory is when members of the Penn State football team came down to O-E and played our faculty. It was probably in '68- well before the NCAA put an end to the practice that everyone enjoyed, especially fans in Pennsylvania.
First round draft pick, Ted Kwalick was playing for the Nittany Lions and although they were full time football players now, you knew they had outstanding multi-sport backgrounds and obviously were top rated athletes.
Part of our faculty team consisted (and this is a deep memory search) of Mr. Kinsler, Mr. Manners, former assistant, Frank Sobota, Mr. Fazio with his two hand set shot and possibly Mr. Burton and several other staff members.
Playing against much larger and noticeably younger high profile players, my recall may have faded some, but I seem to remember our teachers keeping pace primarily because Mr. Kinsler was the best player on the floor. He even got in to a very brief and light shoving match with Kwalick, who was 6'4 and 230.
Sincerely, I can't remember the final score, but I'm quite certain it was closer than any person, especially the area fans ever would have thought.
As guard play has been discussed in this essay and will be even more detailed as we conclude our final years of coverage, it is not a wild accusation to think and/or say that Jim Kinsler was the best pure guard to ever play on the O-E home court during his tenure.
He was a complete player.
1976-
There would be no argument to declare the 1975-76 Terrors' basketball team as the best ever unless it was to counter with the '76-77 team. These two teams put together individual and team records that have and will continue to last a long time.
The '76 team won the most games in a season (19). They had the fewest losses in regular season play (3). Combined the two teams had a two year won- loss record of 36-7. The '76 unit set a seasonal scoring record of 1600 points while averaging 66 points per game and 71 a game in league play. They had 14 consecutive wins and were part of the most consecutive home court wins, 20
There are more school records, but let's make a quick flip to some individual games and performances by some of the '76 players. Once again, it's the multi-sport trio that led the way. Barry Houben was an end on the football team and a lefty pitcher with a wicked curve ball. Steve Bell was the other end on the gridiron and Denny Glenn was the quarterback and like Houben, a very good high school, 6'5" right-handed pitcher.
The '76 Terrors opened the season with a 79-48 rout of Cuba with "The Big Three" totaling 59 points. The first loss was to Dubois Central Christian and Division 1 player, Pat Felix. A week later, O-E turned the tables with a 59-54 win
The opening league game at Emporium went to the Red Raiders, 60-57. The Terrors ripped off nine wins in a row. Houben's 36 points helped take care of Port Allegany, 72-48 and put him over the 1,000 point mark. He became the third O-E player to accomplish the feat along with John Oszustowicz and Jerome Wolcott. Those three, in 2019, still remain the only boys' basketball player to reach a 1,000 or more.
Novelty defenses didn't have much effect as Coudersport's box and one held Houben to eight, but Glenn scored 29 in a 62-54 win for the school from Duke Center.
Above- O-E's Steve Bell playing defense.
The Terrors won their first playoff game, getting a strong defensive showing from Denny Glenn (five blocked shots) and Jeff Miller, beating Bradford Central Christian, 60-49.
The 14 game winning streak was eventually broken with a 61-54 loss to Johnsonburg(20-4) in the playoffs.
The Rams ended the winning streak and Clarion-Limestone ended the O-E season, 63-62, scoring the winning basket with 26 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough way to finish. It was a great season though.....we won the North Tier title and the record is the best since I've been here." Including the three playoff games, the '77 team finished 19-5.
Houben and Glenn were named as first team league all-stars with Houben winning the MVP award. Guard Steve Farr was the recipient of the Jody Wolcott award. Farr attended Lock Haven University where he played three years of football.
Miller, Farr. Brian Rose and Gary Cauvel were responsible for getting the ball to the trio of big men and certainly did their job as Houben, Bell and Glenn averaged 47 points a game.
1977- Coach Kinsler stated that this team was the best defensive team he had ever coached and despite losing the second and fifth highest scoring players in school history (at that time), the Terrors won 18 games and the NTL championship again.
O-E opened the season with an overtime win versus Portville, 51-44 and then dropped a 44-43 contest to Cuba.
The blue and gold had an excellent rebounding squad as Steve Bell collected 246 rebounds for the year and Gary Cauvel, Al Kennedy, Brian Rose, Jeff Miller were well over 100 a piece.
For the first time in five seasons, the Terrors won their own Christmas tournament with Mike "Doc" Welch named MVP. Bell and Rose were named to the All-tournament team. The championship game win over Bolivar gave O-E a 5-1 mark.
Emporium snapped O-E's winning streak as Kinsler lost to his ex-high school coach, Jim Thompson.
A showdown game versus Northern Potter brought the Terrors back to a 6-1 league record as they recorded a 69-46 win.
Regarding Welch, Kinsler said, "he had a super floor game....six assists and six steals off the press."
Welch grew up a block from the Eldred Park and was rarely seen without a basketball in his hand. He was constantly playing against guys who were three to four years older than him and was pushed, pulled and stuffed, but always picked himself up, usually with a smile on his face. He made himself in to a top-notch guard.
His hair and his shorts were a little bit longer than most, but his overall game was better also. He was extremely quick with the ability to see the whole floor, He could look the other way and pass accurately and as Kinsler said, he had "street smarts."
1977 was his junior year and he was more than willing to sacrifice his growing ability to shoot, especially from what would be behind the three point line now. He distributed the ball to Bell (14.3 points per game), Rose (9.8), Cauvel (9.4) and Kennedy (8.4)
After a 56-41 win over Coudersport, the Terrors league mark was 7-1 and they were 13-2 overall with the top defense in the Big 30.
Smethport ended the Terrors nine-game winning streak with a 62-35 demolishing of O-E, dropping them back to 10-2 and tied with Emporium for the NTL lead.Northern Potter bounced back from their first league loss to O-E and defeated the Terrors to force a playoff for both teams, tied at 11-3 in the league. The game would determine seeding in the District 9 tournament .
The teams played at Austin and Northern Potter coach, Doug Hensel, summed up the third game between the two clubs. "Steve Bell has been fantastic in all three games we have played," adding, "Cauvel and Welch are just standout players....they're not a three man team, but those three just play super."
Cauvel scored 18 in the tie-breaking game with Bell hitting for 16.
Johnsonburg, for the second year in a row handed O-E their first playoff loss, 58-49 in a game that had Coach Kinsler upset about the officiating.
"We didn't shoot a foul shot until the fourth quarter. There were two physical teams out there and I just don't believe it. In my opinion, the refs put it to us."
"I want to make it clear that I have nothing against Johnsonburg. We wish them luck, but I feel everything just went one way."
The Terrors were 3-5 from the foul line and Johnsonburg was 14-21.
O-E's 1977 season ended at 18-6 overall when they dropped their second playoff game, a 53-51 loss to East Brady. East Brady's Jim Kelly (the future Pro Bowl quarterback for the Bills) led East Brady with 16 points.
Steve Bell was named MVP of the NTL while Jeff Miller was selected to the second team. Miller also received the Jody Wolcott Award.
Kinsler was named the Northern Tier League Coach of the Year for the second year in a row and third time in his career. He also won the District 9 Coach of the Year Award in '77. His ten year mark with the Terrors was now 128-83 with six championships and six playoff teams. The Terrors won 36 games combined in 1976 and 1977, basically with two completely distinct clubs. '76 was an offensive juggernaut and the '77 squad led the Big 30 in defense.
1978- You can describe the 1978 season a lot of different ways; ranging from surprising to unbelievable. And the highest level of frustration began during the pre-season practices.
Jim Kinsler and assistant coach Jim Manners resigned from their athletic positions following a School Board decision to rotate the use of the school gymnasium between the boys' basketball team and the gymnastics squad.
Kinsler said he and Manners had spoken to the board and explained that they could not operate a program under this system.
"We told them that we just couldn't coach that way. When they decided on rotating the practices, we felt it left us no alternative, but to give our resignations like we said we would do, and we did.
Kinsler pointed out that 'it's been an honor to coach at Otto-Eldred and I'm not at all bitter. It was a matter of principles and a decision had to be made. I guess I just graduated with my class last year."
You can imagine that local citizens came down on both sides of the issue and used their voices and pens to get their individual points made.
One letter to a local newspaper read; "My regret is that future athletes at O-E will not have the experience of playing under such fine men as these. For being a basketball player at O-E wasn't only playing the game; more important than that, it was a great lesson in life.The positive attitudes and self confidence that coaches Kinsler and Manners instilled in their players prepared them for almost anything that might come along in later life."
Not only did fans of the basketball program and supporters of the gymnastic team write letters to the papers, but so did some of the athletes.
Finally, Gene Fazio, the head football coach for the Terrors was hired to replace Kinsler for the '77-'78 season.
O-E lost their opening four games of the season before picking up an opening game win in their Christmas tournament. They defeated Fillmore, 64-35 with Mike Welch scoring 18 points and Scott Cavagnaro adding 14.
O-E lost in the finals of the tourney to Bolivar, 39-34 despite 19 points from Welch. Welch and Cavagnaro were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Terrors would drop their first two league games to go to 1-7 overall and the outlook could not have looked gloomier for a basketball program that had already faced major issues before the season had even started. Now it had to feel that a cement block had fallen on them.
Coach Fazio and his players hung on and all those cliches about facing and eventually overcoming adversity began to surface. It truly was a wonderful example of young men digging out of a large hole and slowly, but clearly playing winning basketball.
One contributor added this comment about Mike Welch. "He played ahead of his time." "Doc" did not show off or flaunt his abilities, but in 1978 you did not see a lot of high school players go between his legs or around his back for the purpose of setting up his shot or creating one for a teammate.
There's little doubt if the three point line had been established he would have averaged three-five points more a game. It seemed well over half his points came on 20 foot jumpers or break-a- way layups after a steal.
There were games when the jumpers weren't falling and he'd land in single digits in the points total. He still could contribute with the ability to make a big steal or assist.
Otto-Eldred had plenty of solid to good guards during our researched years and several before 1967-68, but none of those players had the bag of tricks that Welch possessed.
O-E came up with a huge win over undefeated Emporium, 60-52. The Red Raiders had been 9-0 in the NTL. The victory was O-E's sixth straight. The blue and gold were again led by Welch with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. Combined with Cavagnaro's 14 points and a strong game by Andy Burgoon, the Terrors had come up with a giant upset.
Unbelievably, the Terrors found themselves in a playoff race going 7-5 in the league after a 62-57 win over Coudersport. Welch had 27 points, seven assists and Andy Burgoon chipped in with 13. Two games remained in the regular season.
The regular season ended a week later with Port Allegany and O-E tied with 8-6 records and a playoff game was set up for the two teams to play at Oswayo Valley to determine seeding in the District 9 playoffs.
Demonstrating that this O-E team could win without a big scoring night from Welch, the Terrors beat Port Allegany, 43-41 after trailing by as many as 13 in the third quarter. 6'3"Andy Burgoon led all O-E scorers with 16 (eight in the last quarter) and sophomore Mike Reed had his best game of the season scoring ten points and contributing six rebounds, three assists and two steals in only two quarters of play.
The game and the entire season was a tribute to Coach Fazio and his entire roster of players. They had finished the regular season 10-12 and despite the turmoil of the pre-season, this team had accomplished something special. Players like Marty Sennett, Clair Robbins, Kevin Weimer, Gary Rankin and Bert Reed were all part of negotiating this amazing comeback in the second half of the '78 campaign.
The final game of the year was a 78-47 loss to East Brady, the second year in a row they lost to East Brady and the second year they faced the soon-to-be Miami Hurricane quarterback, Jim Kelly. Kelly averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds a game and hit for 22 against the Terrors. Welch's 15 and Burgoon's 12 led O-E.
Welch won the NTL MVP award and Cavagnaro was awarded the Jody Wolcott trophy.
The Terrors finished at 10-13 overall, but it might have been the most satisfying losing record in school history.
This concludes our 11 year look at O-E basketball, seasons '68-78. Most of the thoughts, ideas, comments, opinions, lists, etc. were contributed by many basketball observers. There is still a small part of this project remaining, a list or two of some information and most importantly, a thank you to all the individuals not mentioned in the essay, but who played a giant role in enabling the process to even get underway. I will follow up as soon as possible.
Right now, I'm hoping some folks will find some enjoyment in this and if you do please share it with others. Thanks for the opportunity.
