1966 Season p2
From 7-19-14
When the 1966 basketball season began, there was a lot of excitement as the fans & the team knew there would be an opportunity to break the national high school home court winning streak record. The present record was 99 straight wins, held by Pennsylvania's Farrell High School (1949-1956).
The record was not much of a topic of conversation by our teams, as they were more concerned about having a great year. That attitude, along with fundamentals & discipline, had helped them to only lose 10 regular-season games in the previous 7 years (the actual total record of those 7 years was 199 wins & 17 losses, with 10 of those losses coming in post-season tournament play)! With this outstanding record, it was hard to get many teams who were willing to play us. But, as "the streak" gained statewide (& even national) attention, stronger (& even out-of-state) teams wanted to take a shot at breaking the record.
The many rumors circulating about the Rams' home court tended to hurt the visiting teams' attitude more than it helped them. (These rumors only strengthened the Rams' position, as they were obviously strong enough not only to win at home, but on the road, also.) Some of the "tall tales" blamed Coach Bradley for keeping the gym extremely hot, when it was actually the overflow crowds that created the heat in the gym. When the fans got hot, they wanted the windows opened (I didn't). There were those that claimed that the visiting dressing room was too hot--but we didn't want them to get cold. Some said their was only one lightbulb in the visitors dressing room, (but that wasn't true--there were 2)! There was a tale that one night when the Rams were trailing, the sheriff who always stood against the wall near the front door, turned off the lights. (That was ridiculous, as they went off that time by themselves!). The Henry Co. basketball coach, Chuck Miller, who often attended Newton's basketball games, was standing by Sheriff Odum, & claims he heard the following conversation during a timeout when he called the referees out & pointed to the steps leading to an outside door & said: "Thanks to your incompetence, there is a chance that we might lose--& if we do, you run toward those stairs, & I'll try to get you out alive!" Chuck claims that the Rams had everything go their way from then on---& they won the game! (Probably no one wanted to beat the Rams more than the Griffin High coach.). One year, the Griffin coach wanted to play his home game @ NCHS (after we beat them earlier in the year), but his principal wouldn't let him. As we were approaching the high school record we beat Griffin again, and after the game, I went to check on the visitors' dressing room steps, & the coach was sitting on the steps crying, & no doubt, his strong will to win fueled his desire--and he had a very successful college coaching career. During this time I received many letters wanting & planning to beat us, (especially by Griffin's Bill Haisten). The game that tied the National H.S. record was a 56-55 win over a Athens High. Gary Wilkerson scored 15 pts., & had 10 rebounds; Wayne Hall had 12 pts. & we needed every one of Steve Smith's 7 points! We actually gave Athens High 4 points, but still, the game was quite controversial. In the 3rd qtr. one of our players became confused & shot at the wrong goal! He missed, but got a nice rebound--& was successful on his next try. Near the end of the game, clinging to a 3-pt. lead, we gave Athens the last basket on the buzzer. The game that led to the National High School Home Court Winning Streak record was never close, as we defeated Rockdale County 68-40. Wayne Hall led the way with 24 pts. & Bob Richardson scored 16 pts. & had 7 steals. And now on the Rams fans' minds was the national college home court winning streak of 129 straight which was held by the Kentucky Wildcats.
