The Streak Ends
From 7-28-14
In the last story, we told about Newton County's loss to Wills, which ended the national record for home-court wins @ 129 consecutive wins. When one considers that there are approximately 30,000 different H.S. teams playing in the U.S., it is amazing that the record still in the national record-books after 45 years. The closest any team has come to this record was when DeMatha H.S. (of Maryland) streak ended @ 127 straight in 1976. The Rams' streak might have been longer if injuries had not been a factor. Thad Blankenship's 15 ppg. avg., was sorely missed, as he was unable to play, & all-stater Terry Schell, (18 ppg. avg.) & all-region Richard Allen (15 ppg) were hampered by badly sprained ankles.
The NCHS loss was only the 2nd home loss in the previous 10 years, but Wills H.S. march to the state finals undefeated proved the win was no fluke! The '68-'69 team, to their credit, came back from this "devastating" loss, to win their last 13 games, including the sub-region & region championships! Even tho' there was much publicity about the home-court streak, the teams never put much extra emphasis on it never really discussed it openly. The main emphasis was to help each player to become the best person (& player) possible! This emphasis was mainly responsible for the Rams only losing 18 regular-season games during the previous 10-yr. period (overall record at that time was 284-31).
As a coach, I had great responsibility for their well-being as they, over the 4-year period, would be under my direction for more than 2,000 hours in their 4-yr. h.s.basketball career. I would spend even more time thinking & planning what I could do to help these youngsters to be the best they could be! We had something they wanted--(a burning desire to be a part of our program) and that gave us much leverage with them! I wish every student had the desire to share a love for a positive activity where valuable lessons are learned, under the direction of a dedicated teacher or instructor! We wanted each player to "be special", to gain some experiences that would prepare him/her for the "battles" that were to come in their lives! I knew that "the mighty oak was once a little acorn which stood its ground & wouldn't give up!" When our season ended, I always tried to leave with some positive words--and I asked them to do one thing for me--"One day, when things are going wrong, remember old Coach Bradley & that he tried to teach me to NEVER give up!" I would like to share the "raw" (or un-cut) version of an interview conducted for a GPTV special done several years later on our coaching career. I feel that this interview pretty-well covers many aspects of my career. http://youtu.be/L5ZK3N-p584
