It was bound to happen at some point. Another school besides SK from the Ninth Region finally won the boys state basketball tournament. Some will have mixed emotions since SK now has another team to share the title. Some may believe it takes away some of the uniqueness and prestige. I personally think it is a good thing as it is good for Northern Kentucky basketball and it will be good for Holmes High School and the City of Covington. Congratulations to Coach Henley and the entire program.
Fitting though that there was a nice article in today's paper about the 81 Pioneers.
From the Enquirer by Tom Groschen.
I've helped cover the Super Bowl, World Series and NCAA Final Four in nearly 30 years at The Enquirer. With all that, Simon Kenton's 1981 Kentucky boys' basketball championship remains one of my top memories.
Before Holmes won Saturday's state final in double overtime over Louisville Central, Simon Kenton's '81 title stood as the only state basketball championship for a Northern Kentucky school.
In March of '81, I was an intern at The Enquirer, not long out of high school myself. I had a keen interest in seeing the Sweet Sixteen, as a former basketball player at Bellevue. The '81 event would be the first state tourney I had seen in person.
Simon Kenton was a fellow rookie on the state scene. The school was not a traditional basketball power, but its 1980-81 club was special, ranked No. 1 in Northern Kentucky in preseason. The Pioneers survived a major scare from Walton-Verona in district play and eventually beat Covington Catholic in the regional final. Independence went nuts.
Troy McKinley, David Dixon, Billy Meier, Greg Ponzer and Alan Mullins were the starters. Dave Medley and Sean Dougherty were the key men off the bench. It was a supremely talented team. Still, few expected the Pioneers to go down to Rupp Arena and do much. There was the local history, after all, with zero state championships in 60-plus years of tourney play.
Sudden sensation
Simon Kenton barely stirred downstate notice in its tourney opener, a 64-62 win over Knott County Central. The Pioneers then were supposed to lose to a team called Virgie, led by future University of Kentucky recruit Todd May.
May was awesome, I think scoring about 38, but Simon Kenton won 84-83. McKinley, still the best pure shooter I've seen at the high school level, scored 39. People were saying: "Who is that guy? Why have we never heard of him?" One of those was Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, who reportedly was asking a UK assistant coach that very thing.
Then, the Saturday morning semis. Simon Kenton again was supposed to lose, this time to Louisville Moore and 6-foot-7 All-American Manuel Forrest. Forrest, who later played at the University of Louisville, scored 47 points. But Simon Kenton won 71-70 on a late basket by Meier. Gee, someone asked Simon Kenton coach Larry Miller, wasn't Forrest great? "He didn't have 72," Miller said, "and that's what it took to beat us."
Miller, by the way, truly kept his players focused. All that weekend, Miller did not let reporters interview the team. Save that for after we win state, Miller told the Pioneers. The media blackout irritated downstate Kentucky sportswriters and broadcasters, who suddenly wanted to know everything about McKinley especially.
"Don't talk to them!" I can still see Miller telling reporters, as his players filed out of the locker room after another win. "Don't talk to them!" Miller smiled as he said it, but the intense young coach meant it. And nobody talked to them.
Then came Saturday night, and the state final against Tenth Region champ Mason County. It was a glorious night for Northern Kentucky basketball, as a reported "world record" high school basketball crowd of 21,287 packed into Rupp.
Simon Kenton trailed by 10 at halftime, then found its legs. The Pioneers started pulling away for a 70-63 victory and were awarded the biggest trophy I still have ever seen. Thing must have been 4 feet high. And yes, the players happily did interviews after the game.
Community came together
I remember the next day, Sunday afternoon, the celebration at Simon Kenton High School. Hundreds of fans, hundreds of cars clogging all roads to the school. Finally, the yellow school bus arrived with the heroes. I can see all those "No. 1" index fingers poking out the windows. People laughing, crying. The players barely got off the bus before they were carried, on fellow students' shoulders, into the gym.
Not long after, McKinley signed with Hall's UK Wildcats and had a solid career. Several teammates also played college ball.
At least one book has been written about Simon Kenton's championship, and a documentary about the '81 season premiered last week at Newport on the Levee. The documentary includes details of the natural gas explosion that killed a student and injured many others at Simon Kenton in October 1980, and how the ensuing basketball season helped lift the community's spirits.
Much of that community poured into the Simon Kenton gym on that celebratory Sunday afternoon in March 1981. With that massive championship trophy sitting nearby on the gym floor, Miller spoke to the crowd and noted the Pioneers' perfect Sweet Sixteen winning percentage. "We don't go down there very often," Miller said. "But when we do, we do pretty well, don't we?"
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