With an 8-0 record, the Rams & their fans were excited about having the 8th- ranked Price HS come to "Death Valley"!

As the 1972 Georgia High School basketball season opened, the Newton Co. Rams felt like they had solidified their tradition the previous year.

There was a time when a Region Championship was almost an unattainable-goal for a Newton Co. boys basketball team! But, with the success the Rams had over the past 13 years, there was no ceiling on their goals for the season!

Our story on Darrel Huckaby continues: By giving up coaching, it gave Darrell more time to write from his vast reservoir of stories & experiences.

Darrell Huckaby is unique in the lives of the thousands of people who know, read, & have enjoyed his writings! Darrell has been like that in our lives.

I always thought it might be important if each child had stamps on their head that said "raise with care!"

This is the 4th story on the 1971 team. As the 6AAA tournament opens, the Rams are trying to do something no Newton Co. team has ever done--win 4 region championships in a row.

Continuing the story of the 1971 team, with a 9-0 record: A good coach knows that there are going to be both highs & lows in a season, so a team tries to avoid several losses clumped together, which "shakes" the team's confidence.

Now, the 2nd part of the story of the 1971 NCHS basketball team: When a team has averaged only 2 losses a year for 12 years, you wouldn't think we would have to prove much to the public.

Our 1971 season was much anticipated as the Rams were moving into the highest classification in Georgia. Many "basketball experts" were predicting that this team was too short to compete with the taller teams in in the larger schools.

Several years ago, one of our great players called me to come to Atlanta & give his committee some help with a project they had been working on. This was one of our players who not only had outstanding success in high school, but had gone on to a very successful playing & coaching career in college.

There is no doubt, in my 50-year coaching career (or for my entire life), who is the Most Valuable person--my wife, Jan!!

Luke, better known as "Bubba" Hill, was one of our most exciting (& colorful) players! His senior year, he led us to a 27-3 record, as our leading scorer (20 ppg), and was the leading rebounder (11 rpg).

The final of 4 stories on the 1970 NCHS boys team: After all of the excitement of winning another region championship the week before,

This is our 3rd story on the 1970 NCHS basketball season. Our loss in the Sub-region finals to Burney Harris was only the 2nd loss we had suffered this season.

Tournament time is the most exciting part of the year for a team! Most of our seniors had about 2,000 hours invested in their career, & they'd "paid a price"

When the 1970 season came around , the Newton Co. tradition was so strong that their fans expected nothing but a big winner!

As we approach the1969 season, we felt that we had another outstanding basketball team that would carry on the Ram tradition. We were returning our outstanding senior center Thad Blankenship, one if the best young guards in the state Bubba Hill, & a young Tony Harris, who had grown six inches in the past year.

This is the last of three stories on the life of Betty Jaynes. I never coached Betty Jaynes--I wish I could have enjoyed having her on my basketball team.

This is the 2nd part of the story about Betty Jaynes. As Betty became more "important" throughout the country, she never forgot those people (& things) which were so close to her heart!