Photo - YouTube Video
Many believed that Kentucky high school basketball was headed for classification. Then came the 1976 Sweet 16. Many now believe that tournament, and specifically that championship game kept Kentucky basketball a single class system. And, the Christian County Colonels were a part of that historic moment.
Much of the conversation at that time surrounding classification was initiated by the recent domination of the “big schools.” The tournament had been a run of Louisville schools winning 6 of 7 titles, and Owensboro snagging the other.
Louisville Male won the title in 1975. Louisville Central was the champion during the 1974 tournament. Louisville Shawnee took the title in 1973. Owensboro cut down the nets in 1972.
Male took the championship in 1970 & 1971. Central was the Sweet 16 champion in 1969. You had to go back to 1968 with Glasgow and 1967 with Earlington to find a smaller school cutting down the nets.
With school consolidations and the run from 1969 to 1975, many believed that the era of the small schools being able to compete was past, and that classifying basketball was the only chance a “smaller” school would have to take home the title. The volume on that discussion was about to get louder than that of the traditionalists.
Then came the 1976 Sweet 16, and Bo Davenport.
“Little” Edmonson County came out of the 4th Region with their charismatic coach Bo Davenport. Davenport and his team became the “darlings” of the tournament.
Edmonson County fought its way to the final game. They edged out Betsy Layne in their opener 77-72. In the quarterfinals, Edmonson County took out 61-57. After two battles, it was no surprise that Edmonson County had to go down to the wire against Shelby County in the semis, winning 53-52.
In the bottom bracket, things were just as tough for Christian County. The Colonels won their opener 67-63 over Ashland. The Colonels took out Shawnee 75-69 in the quarterfinals. After playing the last game on Friday night, Christian County had to come back on Saturday morning and take on Lexington Henry Clay. The Colonels gutted out a 68-67 win to advance to the Saturday night final against Edmonson County.
There was a feeling across the state at the time that if Christian County took home the title, classification of high school basketball was no longer a question of “if” in Kentucky, but rather “when.”
The starters for Christian County in the game would be John Banks, Greg Walton, Kenny Bussell, Mike Reese, and Curtis Parker. The Colonels were coached by Lyle Dunbar.
The starting lineup for the Wildcats was Chester Bethel, Kevin Clemmons, Phil Rich, Mark Hennion, and Aaron Goad.
An interesting note to the game was that both Lyle Dunbar and Bo Davenport were in their first seasons on the job at their respective schools.
The game was back and forth through the opening eight minutes. Edmonson County scored in the final 30 seconds of the quarter, and then Christian County’s John Banks missed a free throw line jumper just ahead of the horn, as the Wildcats took an 18-17 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Edmonson County would extend the lead out to as many as 8 points in the second quarter at 35-27. The Colonels would cut the lead to 35-31 at the half.
In the 3rd quarter, the Wildcats would get on a bit of a roll and extend the lead back out eight at 47-39, prompting a timeout from Lyle Dunbar. You began to wonder if playing three tough games in just 24 hours was beginning to take a toll on the Colonels. Edmonson County would go into the final quarter holding a 49-41 lead.
As the 4th quarter got underway, shots that were falling earlier in the game for Christian County quit falling, and the momentum began to roll heavily in favor of Edmonson County. With 5:06 to go in the game, the lead had grown to 14 points at 57-43. Christian County would not be able to get within double figures again as the Wildcats stunned the state by taking home the title 74-52.
Bigger schools would go on to rule the roost again until 1982 when Laurel County won the title, but the talk of classification never emerged again like it had been going into the 1976 tournament.
Carlisle County reached the title game in 1983, and Logan County won the championship in 1984.
Christian County would return to the title game in 1979, losing to Lexington Lafayette. The Colonels would win the state title in 2011, knocking off Rowan County.
On the tv broadcast that night in 1976, color commentator Jock Sutherland made the comment that Edmonson County had quieted the talk that the little guy could not do it any more.
While the “big” schools, or the big city schools, have won most Boys Sweet 16 titles since that 1976 season, the talk of classification has never reached the volume it had back in 1976, when little Edmonson County might have just saved the Sweet 16.
