The 1969-70 Trigg County Wildcats were 20-11 and won the school’s first region basketball title. (Front from left) Simon Ladd, James Hopson, George Barnes, Norris Radford, Billy Alexander. (Second Row) Assistant Coach Buddy Sivills, William Wharton, Lennus Redd, David Fitzwater, Dwight Martin, Bruce Higbee, Robert Baker, Eddie Radford, and Head Coach Jim Wallace.
Fifty years ago this week, Trigg County was turning heads and silencing the naysayers with a run to the Sweet 16 Final Four that is still the longest postseason run in school history.
The 1969-70 Trigg County basketball team returned only two starters from the previous season that saw them win 21 games. The 1968-69 Wildcats won the Fifth District title but lost to Webster County 53-50 in the first round of the region tournament. Many people, including Coach Jim Wallace, felt that team had the makings of a region championship until Mike Holland was injured late in the season. Holland was one of four starters who averaged in double figures at 13.5 points per game.
In 1969, the region’s coaches picked Trigg as the sixth-best team in the region in a preseason poll. The Wildcats seemed to back that prediction with a 3-6 start to the season.
The Wildcats lost to the region’s best that season – Christian County, Madisonville, Earlington, and the Bird Averitt-led Hopkinsville Tigers twice.
Trigg roared to the district title by winning their three tournament games by an average of 25 points. They entered the region tournament at Madisonville with a 15-10 record.
The Wildcats edged Earlington 68-63 in the first round, avenging an eight-point loss to the Yellow Jackets from the regular season. They beat a much taller Todd County Central squad 87-74 in the semifinals setting up a third showdown with Averitt and Hopkinsville in the region championship.
The Bird scored 28 points, but the Wildcats got better balance and knocked off the Tigers 68-64 for the school’s first region title.
The win may have meant a region title, but it did not mean respect from other schools in the region. An athletic director from a rival school was quoted as saying that Hopkinsville would have breezed into the Sweet 16 finals had they advanced, and that Averitt would have scored 40 points in their opener.
Trigg County was expecting to meet 15th Region favorite Johnson Central in the first round of the Sweet 16 at Freedom Hall. However, they were upset by Wheelwright in the region final.
The Trojans featured some matchup problems for the Wildcats. They had a pair of 6-5 forwards, and their starting lineup averaged 6-foot-2 – the same height as Trigg’s tallest player.
However, Wheelwright liked to push the tempo and averaged 80 points a game. And that fit right into Trigg’s style.
Former Trigg County standout Buddy Sivills joined Wallace’s coaching staff in 1969. He had played basketball at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee and brought with him something that helped the Wildcats make their run to state – the Carson Newman shuffle offense.
The shuffle offense was developed in the 1950s by Bruce Drake at the University of Oklahoma. The offense is perfect for a team of ball-handlers who aren’t blessed with size because each player rotates in each of the five positions on the floor.
The versatility of Trigg’s players allowed them to get more looks at the basket.
Wheelwright jumped out to a 16-9 lead early and had a nine-point lead late in the second quarter before an 8-0 Trigg run got the Wildcats to within one point at halftime.
Wallace switched from a 2-1-2 defense to man in the second half. The Wildcats got more open looks at the basket and took a 53-48 lead into the fourth quarter. Trigg extended their lead to 67-59 before the Trojans began chipping away.
Simon Ladd hit a free throw with eight seconds left to put Trigg up 76-74. Wheelwright missed a potential tying shot, and Billy Alexander grabbed the rebound. His two free throws produced the final score of 78-74.
Lennus Redd, Trigg’s 6-foot-2 center, that used his speed and muscle to average 15 points and 16 rebounds during the season, led the Wildcats with 24 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Wheelwright. Trigg outrebounded the taller Trojans 49-38.
Alexander, who averaged nearly six assists a game in running the team, added 22 points. Eddie Radford, Trigg’s leading scorer at nearly 23 points a game scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The Wildcats also got a clutch performance from Dwight Martin who had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Trigg County would face Fourth Region champion Allen County in the quarterfinals after they edged past Ashland Blazer 46-43.
Whatever jitters the Wildcats may have had in the opener did not show against Allen County. The Wildcats hit 29-of-40 shots from the field and opened up a 53-36 lead after three quarters. Allen County didn’t go away and turned up their pressure defense in the fourth quarter. They managed to get the lead down to five points late thanks to 21 Trigg turnovers in the game. The Wildcats held on for the 75-70 win. Radford had a huge game with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Redd added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Martin scored 12 points.
Trigg’s win set up a Saturday morning semifinal matchup with eventual Mr. Basketball Robert Brooks and the Royal Purples of Richmond Madison. The 6-foot-2 guard came into the game averaging 27 points and 13 rebounds per game. He had already scored over 2,100 points in his high school career.
Trigg County had quieted some of their critics by advancing to Saturday morning. But they knew their biggest test still lie ahead. The Royal Purples employed a 1-3-1 defense that had given their previous opponents trouble. Brooks scored 47 points in Richmond Madison’s 84-59 win over Breathitt County in the quarterfinals.
The Wildcats led 13-12 midway through the first quarter before Richmond Madison ended the frame with a 9-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. The Wildcats kept pace with the Royal Purples in the second quarter and trailed 33-26 at halftime.
However, the 1-3-1 defense took its toll on Trigg County in the third quarter, and the Wildcats were outscored 19-9. Trigg shot just 33-percent from the field and could not overcome the deficit as they fell to Richmond Madison 66-45.
The Royal Purples simply took Trigg County out of their game. The Wildcats were outrebounded 49-34 and committed 21 turnovers. The 45 points equaled a season low.
Radford led Trigg County with 16 points and nine rebounds. Defensively, he held Brooks to 21 points – 11 below his tournament average. Brooks would score 32 points that night as Richmond Madison lost to Male 70-69 in the state championship game.
Radford was Trigg County’s lone representative on the All-Tournament Team, a snub to the Wildcats who were the only semifinal team to not have multiple players named. An argument could have been made for Lennus Redd, who averaged 16.6 points and 12 rebounds in Trigg’s three Sweet 16 games.
The 1969-70 Wildcat basketball team began a period of time that saw the Wildcats claim back-to-back state football titles in 1971-72 and a girls’ state track and field championship in 1972.
Radford’s 723 points scored and 23.3 scoring average would remain school record for nearly two decades. Alexander’s 177 assists were a school record until the next time Trigg County advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1997. Sophomore Lemar Northington handed out 183 assists that season.
Lennus Redd pulled down 445 rebounds – an average of 14.3 per game. Both still remain school records fifty years later. Redd also attempted 247 free throws that also is a program best.
Perhaps the biggest legacy left by the 1969-70 team was confidence. They gave other Trigg County sports teams of the 1970s the hope they could compete against larger schools on the big stage and win.
