The Sports Programs

We were not the most athletic team that ever played the game. We were well coached and played smart. We certainly were not a run-and-gun team. We relied on our shuffle offense and we ran it pretty smoothly. We had some pretty good shooters and played good defense. Paul ‘Hodie’ Thomas was our defensive ace and would always draw our opponent’s top scorer. He, however, frequently got into foul trouble. When he guarded an opponent — it was like fly on flypaper. ‘Hodie’ was a very gifted defender! 

Coach Bob Barker devised some very innovative defensive schemes to slow-down top scorers like Metz, Cottner, and Ron Smith. Usually, these schemes worked well. In my opinion, Coach Barker was an outstanding coach as we were always well prepared. He had an innate ability to make decisive, quick in-game adjustments. He was a good motivator and had the respect of the players. I certainly enjoyed my year playing on Coach Barker’s team.

We were a team! No one was going to average 30 points per game with our disciplined approach. We always played hard, were unselfish, and we played well together. Eventually, I was able to anticipate Tommy Nebel’s no look passes and, as the trigger on the shuffle offense, to get the ball to Johnny when he beat his man on a backdoor play. We certainly worked on that a lot in practice. We did develop good rapport on the court.

We ended up with 19 wins and 9 losses. We scored an average of 60 points per game and allowed 54 points per game. Ronnie Wyatt was injured early in the season and did not play much, thereafter. We really did miss his contributions on offense and rebounding. Several guys picked up their play in his absence. We had a pretty balanced attack with Tommy and me averaging about 15 per game and Johnny averaging 12 or 13 points. I averaged between 10 and eleven rebounds, taking a real beating while doing it. I sure wish that I would have had the additional forty pounds that I have now back in 1965. (Yes, I would have liked to have had 40 additional pounds of muscle on my 160 pound wire frame!)

For some unknown reason, we seemed to perform poorly in tournament play. Also, we played much better against stiffer competition. The games with Oran and Scott Central were always classics. They were always very competitive. I can remember playing part of my senior season wearing a softball catcher’s mask as I ended up with a broken nose after one very intense battle with Oran. I was supposedly our “big man” at 6 foot 1 inch and 160 pounds soaking wet. I got knocked around, but I battled and held my own. I guess that I was trying to live-up to the nickname that Coach had given to me. That was “hoss”!

During the 1964 – 1965 season, the Kelly Hawks were regularly ranked in the top ten schools of southeast Missouri. The best teams in the area were the Richland Rebels of Essex, Advance High School, and Oran High School of our conference. We won the Scott-Mississippi Conference by winning tough games against Scott Central and Oran. Incidentally, Gene Bess was the head coach of Oran that season. Gene Bess, the recently-retired coach at Three Rivers Junior College in Popular Bluff, Missouri, happens to own the record for the most wins in college basketball history. I think he has 1300 college wins and 250 high school wins. He retired earlier this year (2020). What a career!

In 1965, I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the five all-conference players in the Scott-Mississippi Conference. I was humbled and honored to be in the company of such talented athletes. That year Donnie Metz was selected as the Conference MVP and Donnie was definitely a great player. In fact, Donnie, Lynn, Rob, and Ron were all terrific, however, in my honest opinion, Ron Smith of Delta High School should have received that honor as he was very good around the paint and had a very nice 10-foot jumper. He was silk-smooth and gave us fits. My teammates, Tom Nebel and John Merrick, also received mention for their outstanding conference play that year.

The clipping below is from the Daily Sikeston Standard. Yeah, they spelled my first name wrong, but that was a significant improvement from earlier clippings from the Southeast Missourian and Sikeston Standard. In a couple of articles, I was referred to as the ‘unstoppable force’, Glen Merrick! (I really never thought my friend, Johnny, and I were indistinguishable, but I will accept the compliment!)