Revised November 2015

LOOKING BACKWARD IN AHS BASKETBALL

The 108th AHS Basketball Season 2015-2016

The 2015-16 Season is the 108th year of AHS Basketball.  The Orange and Black have won 1211 games and lost 828 times. In the 81 years of league competition the Arrows have 24 Conference championships: the Northern Central Ohio League 11 times, the Cardinal Conference 10 times, the Ohio Heartland Conference twice, and last year the first Ohio Cardinal Conference title. In tournament play they have 22 Sectional or District crowns, and four times they have advanced to State, when it was the Sweet Sixteen. The entire history is on the web site: www.centuryarrowsbkb.com

5 Years Ago 2010-11   Ashland 56, Orrville 54
Greg Gallaway scored 27-points for first year Coach Tim Fralick, and the Arrows upset the defending State runner-up Red Riders. At the season ending banquet Greg was given the Sportsmanship award: named for his grandfather, the legendary George Valentine.

10 Years Ago 2005-2006    Ashland 65, Wooster 58
The hoopla game of the year: first year AHS head coach Rob Lavengood vs the former AHS coach Chris Stokes on his new home court. The Arrows produced a balanced attack Taylor Housewright (18 pts), Anthony Bell (16), Cory Metcalf (11), and Aaron Hawks (10). Housewright ended the ballyhoo with seven straight free throws in the final minute.

15 Years Ago 2000-2001  
Coach Chris Stokes led his quintet to the Sectional and District crowns for the first time since 1947. The MVP’s were Matt Hess (the OHC Player of the Year), Jerome Anderson (the career assist record of 447), and Matt Schlingman (the highest FG percentage in AHS history). Matt Hess was the first 4-year letterman since Max Messner in 1956 and only the fifth in AHS history after Earl Thomas, Bob Howell, Dick and Max Messner. Paul “Spitz” Ganyard was a four-year starter (1907-12), but letters were not awarded until 1915.

20 Years Ago 1995-96 AHS 95, Marion Harding 69 & AHS 74, Tiffin Columbian 72
Sensational double weekend: The Arrows scored the most points in 17-years with every starter in double figures. Then they upset the once beaten Tornadoes on Jeff Gierhart’s three-pointer in the last two seconds. Jeff was the MVP and 1stteam All-OHC.
 
25 Years Ago 1990-91
Thirteen was the Arrows lucky number. The 13 wins was the first winning season in 13 years. Coach Walt Harrop had the twice-injured Rod Mitchell as leading scorer with 381 pts and junior Chad Honaker with 352 pts.

30 Years Ago 1985-86  AHS 60, New Philly 49 and AHS 58, Marion Harding 50
Coach Phil Hawk’s squad without a single letterman got two of their three wins the last weekend in January. Sophomore Steve Petee led the A’s with 17 & 15 scores. Mike Garbash had 11 both nights, while Columbus Woodruff had 11 on Friday and Dan Denbow added 10 on Saturday to lead the double figure barrage for the twin win.

35 Years Ago 1980-81 Ashland defeats Dover 58-26 & 73-49
In the battle for the Cardinal Conference cellar the Arrows buried the winless Tornadoes twice. Randy Huggins hit on 11 of 14 shots for 22 points in the first game. The A’s had a balanced attack in the second game: MVP Gary Kiplinger and Dave Ramage had 15 points, while Keith Barr added 14 and Bruce Cunningham chipped in 10 points.

40 Years Ago 1975-76
Coach Jim Barr got a second straight Sectional championship at AC. John Smith scored 33 pts in a losing effort at the BG District against Findlay. However, Big John closed his big career with 814 points and 599 rebounds.

45 Years Ago 1970-71 Season
Under former OSU basketball player Doug McDonald the Arrows captured their third straight Cardinal Conference championship. Led by Co-Capts. Dave Honaker (378 pts) and Gary Baum (299 pts) the A's marched to the District Finals at Bowling Green. Mark Hamilton set the school record with 176 assists. Celina ended the tourney trail.

50 Years Ago 1965-66 Season
Coach Sam Marchio, who introduced Arry Arrow to AHS basketball, came up with a 13-7 team. Tom Roberts led in rebounds with 207. Roosevelt Robinson finished with 936 career points 4th best at the time.

55 Years Ago 1960-61 Season
It was the first year in the Cardinal Conference, and the final season for Coach George Valentine. Capt. Bob Sweet, a first-team All-CC, set the school’s single-game record with 31 rebounds against Bellevue. He, also, grabbed 325 boards for the season.

60 Years Ago 1955-56 Season
Coach George Valentine's high scoring quintet set a McDowell Auditorium record with 107 points against Lima Central. Max Messner earned his fourth varsity letter, and finished with the second highest career point total with 1,012, and broke the single game record with 40 pts against Wooster.

65 Years Ago 1950-51 Season
The A's finished 16 and 2 against everyone except Mansfield. The Tyger nemesis won all three contests against Cloyce Taylor's roundballers. Bill Rogers set school records with 35 points in one game and he broke Ted Jacobs' season mark with 441 points.

70 Years Ago 1945-46 Season
The A's were listed as 35th in the final state poll, while losing twice to Sandusky. Tournament tickets sold out in 3 hours at Ganyard's Toggery. The season scoring totals were: Dick Messner (226), Bob Miller (199), Bud Strine (163), Dick Denbow (140), and Gary Cooper (126).

75 Years Ago 1940-41
It was the last AHS team to make the State Tournament. After a 4th place NCO 5-5 record, Coach A.L. Buckner's team caught fire in the Sandusky District.The A's won four straight against Bellevue, Mansfield, Tiffin, and Fremont. A tall Springfield Township team defeated them 38-33 in Columbus. Pete Risser, Dean Duffey, Bob Howell (4 year letterman  and All-NCO), and Phil Stentz all scored over 100 points for the season.  Bob Brownson, Jim Puglisi, and Ben Davis saw playing time, too.

80 Years Ago 1935-36 Season
NCO co-champs, Sandusky District champs, and the State Sweet-16 tournament were all achieved in this 18-victory season. Akron South ended the dream. Bob Sprague (167), Bus Hockensmith (134), Bud Plank (94), and Ken Gongwer (93) were the leading scorers. While only 6'4 Virg Scobey, Edgar Koehl Jr, and Glenn Zercher played in all 21 games.

85 Years Ago 1930-31 Season

Although the A’s lost top players, Johnny Matthews and Robert Rybolt, to mid-year graduations, they still won an NCO co-championship with Galion, whose coach was Fred McClintock, a 1921 Ashland grad. Earl Thomas (107 pts) and Lawrence McMillen (106 pts) led the team in scoring and were both named all-NCO players with Nick Dolby.

90 Years Ago 1925-26 Season

The first double-champions team in AHS basketball history won the North Central Ohio League (6-0) and were the Northeast District champs defeating Cleveland Central at Cleveland's Public Hall. The Query brothers William
(123 pts) and Dave (118 pts) led the A's in scoring. The other starters were: Ray Miller, Don McEntire, Hayden Fouts, and Lewie Vermillion.

95 Years Ago 1920-21 Season   Ashland 75, Medina 11

The A’s made 37 fields goals and one free throw in all-time widest margin of victory in AHS history. Five players scored in the double-figures: Fred McClintock (15), Clarence Cook (14), Clarence Cordell (12), Harry Moser (12), and Arthur Frentz (10). This team, also, scored 66 points against the highly respected Tiffin Junior Order team.

100 Years Ago    1915-16 Season  First Year in the “olde girls’ gym”
A new high school with 330 students and a new gym and locker rooms with 30 prospects for the team launched a season of highlights. In the opening game at the new gym Don Smith scored 14 points to lead the A’s to the first-ever win over Mansfield. Among the ten-win season they made a first-ever two-day road trip to NE Ohio. The season finished with an acclamation as City Champs, when they defeated the Hubs Tailoring Company, the winner of the 6-team YMCA City League. Clarence “Dick” Miller, who scored between 20 and 30 points in half the games, had the best average (17 ppg) until Ted Jacobs averaged 19.9 ppg in 1944.