Lady Di was queen of the court

The Legend of Diane Davis still very much alive and well

By KARL PETERSON Staff Writer

When Diane Davis was learning about basketball, she had to get her training by going up against the boys. Little did guys like Deora Marsh, her next-door neighbor on West 38th Street in Ashtabula, and her brother Roy realize, but they trained her so well that she became arguably the best player Ashtabula County has ever seen, male or female.

They certainly helped make her into the greatest scoring machine Ashtabula County has ever seen. With 1,934 career points, Davis, now Diane Davis Corpening, is nearly 300 points ahead of her closest pursuer, Conneaut High School product Jessica Olmstead. And, unlike Olmstead, when Davis played from 1979-83, there was no three-point line and the girls used the same basketball as the boys. Had there been a three-point line during her playing days, she would have probably scored somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 points.

Her total is more than 400 points higher than that of Ashtabula County's leading boys scorer, Conneaut's Matt Zappitelli. There has never been an offensive machine like Davis, before or since.

For those reasons, Davis is part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation. She is one of just 11 individuals to be inducted at ceremonies Sunday, April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Conneaut Human Resources Center and one of just three females in that first class.

Even Corpening finds it difficult to relate to the idea. "I'm blown away by it," she said from her home in Germany, where her husband, Robin, a career U.S. Army officer and sons, Ivan and Stefan, live on a military base. "Every time I talk about it, it seems strange. It's been like 20 years ago. It's all hard to believe."

If it hadn't been for Roy Davis' willingness to have his little (Diane was only 5-foot-3) sister engage with he and his friends in games played on West 38th Street or at the outdoor courts at West Junior High School.

"I probably started playing when I was 10. My brother used to take me along to play with his friends," Corpening said. "We used to nail a bicycle rim to a pole and play on the street. Later, we'd go up to the outdoor courts at West. We used to shoot around all the time.

"The guys all accepted me playing," she said. "I used to play against guys like Deora Marsh (a standout at Ashtabula who is still playing professional basketball in Ireland). I think they realized I could play."

Fortunately, her mother, Ruby, who still resides in Ashtabula, was willing to let her daughter go play with the boys, however reluctantly at first.

"I had four brothers," Corpening said. "My mother didn't want me to be around the boys at first, but she let us play on the street near the house. Gradually, she let us ease our way up to the court at West. I give credit to Roy for helping me get there."

Because she was playing, comparatively speaking, among the trees, Corpening quickly learned she had to hone her outside shooting and getting shots off quickly. She found out how to manuever in heavy traffic, too.

"A major part of my game was shooting from outside," she said. "I had to learn to shoot from out there."

It wasn't long before Corpening wasn't the only girl involved in the games on the outdoor courts. It helped that several of them were her cousins - Rosalyn Hunt, Angie Thompson and Beverly Wells. They all learned the game together. There was no real formal training for any of the girls.

"I think the game came naturally to be," Corpening said. "I never had any formal training. I never went to basketball camps like they do now."

By the time they got into seventh grade, they were joined by Sherri Lyons, who took on the off-guard duties, and Eleanor Young, who would become their center and jined Davis as a 1,000-point scorer. Sherry Cooley, now the principal at West, was their coach in seventh grade, while Louise Poynton directed the team in eighth grade.

When they got to Ashtabula High School, they came under the tutelage of Dominick Cavalancia. He, like Cooley and Poynton before him, realized the gifts the girls, especially Corpening, possessed.

"They always wanted me to shoot the ball," she said. "I wanted to pass the ball and get more of the girls involved, but they always wanted me to take the shot."

Many opponents probably unestimated her when they played her the first time. With her small size, big, black-rimmed glasses and an even bigger smile, it was easy to do. Once the game started, though, they found out she was a gentle assassin.

It all worked, so well in fact, that the Panthers eventually got to the Division II regional tournament at Massillon Perry High School in her junior year, thanks to Corpening's 50-point night against Warren JFK in the district championship game.

That was thought for many years to be the single-game scoring record among Ashtabula County girls until Star Beacon Sports Editor Don McCormack discovered that Harbor's Florence Carey, another of the ACBF's initial Hall of Fame class, scored 52 points in a game in 1924.

That trip to the Sweet 16 ranks as Corpening's career highlight. She feels it might have been better, though.

"If Sherri had stayed past her freshman year, I think we might have made it to state at some time," she said.

The Panther girls of Corpening's career had more going for them than basketball ability.

"I think we knew each other so well," she said. "We played together during the offseason and we did a lot of other things together than just play basketball. It helped that a bunch of us were cousins. I think we got along very well together."

Corpening, of course, went on to the greatest degree of recognition. She earned United Press International Division II Player of the Year honors her senior year and earned a scholarship to Ohio State.

But college basketball never quite worked out for her. One of the first area girls athletes to earn a scholarship, she is nonetheless impressed at the opportunities afforded to female athletes now.

"I think girls have so many more opportunities," Corpening said. "I think things like the WNBA has made it possible."

Corpening doesn't dwell on her achievements on the court, but her sons and husband are aware of her accomplishments. They have expressed pride in her selection to the Hall of Fame, but also hand out doses of humility.

"I've shown them my scrapbooks and they tell other people what I've done," she said. "My husband said I was a big gun."

Ivan, a junior, has much in common with his mother. Basketball is his passion, but like her, he is smaller in stature at just 5-5.

"He loves basketball. He's a guard, just like me."

Freshman Stefan's passions run more toward track. He's trying to shake off the affects of a serious car crash he and his father suffered back in December.

Although she doesn't get out of the court much anymore because of her demands at the base commissary, she teaches her boys a thing or two.

"I still show them a move or two," she chuckled.

Going with the Flo

Harbor's Flo Carey is a reluctant Hall of Famer

By KARL PEARSON Staff Writer

Old-time actor Walter Brennan, in his role on the television show "The Guns of Will Sonnet" said it first, and best: No brag. Just fact. It might as well have been said by Florence Carey.

Ashtabula County's all-time single-game scoring leader doesn't brag about the night she scored 52 points for the Harbor Mariners in a 70-2 victory over the Geneva Eagles, but it's a fact.

Flo Carey definitely does not brag about her accomplishment, which is fast approaching the 80th anniversary of that night - Feb. 16, 1924. In fact, the 97-year-old, who recently moved from Mentor to LaPorte, Ind., virtually refuses to acknowledge it.

But the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation isn't about to let that achievement be forgotten. When the ACBF holds its first awards banquet April 6 at the Conneaut Human Resources Center, Carey will be one of only three women, and 11 individuals combined, to be inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame.

Fittingly, Carey is being inducted along with the woman who for many years was considered the single-game women's scoring champion - Ashtabula graduate Diane Davis Corpening, who had a 50-point game on Feb. 27, 1982 against Warren JFK, 58 years and three days after Carey's feat.

But Davis is being recognized more for her 1,934 career points, which easily leads all Ashtabula County males and females.

Informed that she is among the initial inductees, Carey, who responded to the call herself in a clear voice, expressed thanks for the honor, but deflected the praise.

"That's very nice. Thank you very much," she said. "But give credit to the players of today. They're the ones who deserve the attention.

"Give the credit to others," Carey said. "They're the ones who deserve it."

The circumstances under which she accomplished her feat are certainly remarkable. In her era, six girls were on the court and were restricted in their movement. Guards were confined to the backcourt, centers in the middle of the floor and forwards exclusively in the frontcourt. Furthermore, the players were limited to one dribble before passing or shooting.

Apparently, Harbor coach Lillian Lucas Armour recognized Carey's shooting skills. She moved Carey from her usual center spot to the left forward role and the senior responded by burning the Eagles for 21 field goals and 10 free throws.

Unfortunately, society of the time didn't allow Carey to develop those skills further when she headed to Ohio State to earn her undergraduate degree. She later went to Western Reserve University in 1943 to earn her masters in library science.

By 1937-38, the Ohio High School Athletic Association had eliminated girls sports and would not reinstate them until 1975, so Carey never even got a chance to share her basketball knowledge through coaching.

So Carey had to contribute in other ways. In 1938-39, she taught English and dramatics, then switched to librarian and English teacher from 1939-48, before taking over as the fulltime librarian until her retirement in 1968.

Again, she was popular with her fellow faculty members and her students. She served at various times as student council advisor, director of student activities, chairperson of the Faculty Guidance Council, National Honor Society advisor, recording secretary for the Northeastern Ohio Teacher's Association and was a member of the state Reading Circle for three years.

In tribute to her, the 1951 edition of The Echo, Edgewood's yearbook was dedicated to her.

Yet Carey still refuses to take credit for anything.

"I am surprised that record is still standing," she told Star Beacon sports editor Don McCormack when he discovered it. "But that is so far in the past ... I am sure no one cares about something that happened so long ago."

Not so, Miss Carey. We leave it to your former classmates to say it best.

"Flo can play any position on the team with equal success and she is the lone athlete who will stand out in the memory of fans for many years to come.

"Harbor High School can well be proud of the girl athletes that she has turned out into the world and of the athletes that she is turning out at the present time.

"The greatest girl athlete of all time in Ashtabula County was trained at Harbor High - no less a person than Captain 'Flo' Carey."

Basketball big part of her life

Beth Helfer coached girls sports when it wasn't fashionable

By CHRIS LARICK Staff Writer

Beth Helfer played basketball before Pymatuning Valley had a girls team. Despite her lack of high school team experience, Helfer went on to play for Kent State University-Ashtabula Campus.

"They didn't have girls sports," Helfer, a 1967 graduate of Pymatuning Valley who will be one of the first inductees into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame on April 6 said of her early athletic experience at PV.

"I had an elementary principal, E.J. Kinleyside. Bob Hitchcock (another inductee) and I went to elementary school right here in Richmond. E.J. was big on basketball. Every kid through elementary school played basketball all the time.

"On weekends, the coal chute was left open. We'd slide down the coal chute and there were always basketballs left on the stage. That's what we did, my brothers and me."

When Helfer got to high school, there was no girls team, so she became a statistician for the boys team.

"Probably the main influence on me through high school was Joe Shantz, without a doubt," she said. "He was Bob's coach. I statted for him. My inspiration for getting into basketball was watching Joe, working with him."

When she enrolled at Kent, Helfer went out for and made the team, then coached by Frieda Fly.

When she became girls basketball coach at Pymatuning Valley, Helfer remembered what she had learned from Fly.

"She was a tremendous influence," Helfer said. "I was fortunate enough to have really good athletes and students to work with when I coached, exceptional kids who'd give 110 percent. I always felt I was able to adjust to the type of players I had.

"I always considered myself a student of the game. There weren't many clinics I didn't attend. I got as much information as I could; I was always looking for the one thing that would help a kid."

In her quest to learn more, Helfer attended as many tournaments as she could fit into her schedule.

"There aren't any tournaments I haven't seen somewhere in the state of Ohio," she said. "If something clicked, I'd write it down."

Though the Mid-American Conference didn't have a women's basketball league at that time, Helfer played against most of those schools while playing guard for the Vikings. Kent did play against other Ohio colleges in a state tournament at Cedarville.

When Helfer graduated and returned to PV as a teacher/coach in 1974, she took over a Lakers girls program that had been established for two years with Carla Walchak as coach.

Helfer immediately coached volleyball, basketball and softball upon her return to PV.

"I was girls athletic director," she said. "I coached all three sports for $500. (Boys coaches) probably made that in one sport."

In basketball, Helfer was at the helm of the Lakers for 20 seasons, compiling a record of 197-190 (.509), leading PV to eight conference championships (six in the Grand River Conference, two in the East Suburban Conference) and two sectional championships (in 1990-91 and 1991-92).

Her 1990-91 Lakers squad reached the district championship game against Brookfield before having its season come to a close.

Helfer returned to the sidelines in 1999-2000 and coached the Chardon Hilltoppers for two seasons.

During the nearly three decades since she has been involved with girls high school sports, first as a coach, now as athletic director for the Lakers, Helfer has seen the level of basketball change.

"The girls have improved immensely the last 25 years," she said. "The interest has increased in women's college basketball, even more so the last 10 years with the women's NBA.

"The talent is being exploited more than ever with national television and commercials."

Helfer is excited about being in the first class of inductees into the ACBF's Hall of Fame.

"First of all, I think it's long overdue, it should have come a long time ago," she said of the organization. "I'm thrilled (the foundation) is getting started. They've done it for years for football.

"My first reaction (to being named to the Hall of Fame) was kind of shocked. Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm more impressed and honored. I always heard about Gene Gephart and Ed Batanian (two other inductees) when I was a kid growing up.

"I was in school when Al Bailey was at Geneva, watched him coach. They were legends in their time. I feel honored to go in as one of the first inductees.

"I admired Al Bailey and Gene Gephart. Those guys were legends in their time. It's an honor to go in with those distinguished gentlemen."

HELFER AT THE HELM

PV 1974-75 - 8-2 GRC

1975-76 - 8-1 GRC

1976-77 - 6-10

1977-78 - 11-3 GRC

1978-79 - 13-6 GRC

1979-80 - 13-7

1980-81 - 13-8 GRC

1981-82 - 4-16

1982-83 - 6-13

1983-84 - 7-14

1984-85 - 17-4 GRC

1985-86 - 2-19

1986-87 - 3-18

1987-88 - 6-16

1988-89 - 12-9

1989-90 - 18-4

1990-91 - 21-2 ESC, S, DF

1991-92 - 13-9 ESC, S

1992-93 - 10-12

1993-94 - 6-16

Chardon 1999-00 - 5-16

2000-01 - 8-14

Totals - 210-220 (.488)

Key - GRC denotes Grand River Conference championship, ESC denotes East Suburban Conference championship, S denotes sectional championship, DF denotes reached district finals.

Basketball's in his blood

ACBF Hall of Famer Gene Gephart has spent half a century being involved in Ashtabula County hoops

By KARL PEARSON Staff Writer

Like a Hallmark card, Gene Gephart is the gift to Ashtabula County basketball that keeps on giving. Excluding seven years to pursue his college education and serve two years in the United States Army, Gephart has been a part of Ashtabula County basketball in some capacity for 50 years.

His legacy is undeniable. As a player, in his very first season of varsity competition in 1946-47, he played an integral part in making the Ashtabula Panthers the first county team ever to reach the Final Four of the Ohio boys basketball championships. As it turns out, that team was the last county big-school team to reach the state tournament and one of only two teams ever to attain that level.

As a coach, he learned from arguably the two best coaches the county ever produced, working for two years as Andy Garcia's assistant at Conneaut and three years more once he returned to Ashtabula under his old high school coach, Bob Ball. Chosen to succeed Ball after his 28-year run, Gephart maintained the standard of excellence that had been established. In the 10 years he ran the Panther program from 1961-1971, his teams compiled a 146-62 record for a .702 winning percentage.

But Gephart's involvement with high school basketball didn't stop with his move into high-school administration. After his retirement from coaching, he joined the radio broadcast team of the former WREO in its presentation of high school basketball for the 1971-72 season. He started out with Jim Cordell and Pat Sheldon and has stayed with it through the station's change to WFUN, the retirement of Cordell from the group and the addition of Jon Hall Jr. as its play-by-play announcer. Through it all, Gephart has provided expert analysis for both sports. And there are no signs he plans to give up the basketball portion of the job despite problems for many years with his sight.

Thus, it is no surprise Gephart has been chosen a member of the first class of Hall of Fame members for the newly-formed Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation. He will be inducted Sunday at 6 p.m. at the ACBF's first awards banquet at the Conneaut Human Resources Center. It will be a bit of an early birthday present, just two days before celebrating his 72nd.

Informed of his selection, though, Gephart seemed somewhat surprised to be selected.

"I feel very fortunate and a little bit humbled," he said. "The game has been a source of great enjoyment to me and has allowed me to develop so many longtime friends."

The establishment of an organization to honor county basketball players and coaches excites Gephart.

"I think it's an excellent idea," he said. "For anything that recognizes the efforts that goes into basketball, it's something that's great and has been long overdue."

Beginnings

It may seem like Gephart has lived in Ashtabula County forever, but he was born in Circleville in 1931. But his parents, E.I. and Opal Gephart, who were both teachers, moved the family to Ashtabula in 1935.

"I grew up over on the east side," he recalled. "We lived on Valleyview Drive. Bill Schmidt (the retired St. John baseball coach) lives in that house now."

Apparently, the elder Gephart had an appreciation for basketball because he made sure his son was set up to hone his skills. "My dad had a basket set up down in the basement," he said.

He improved his skills further through his elementary schools days on into the eighth grade at State Road Elementary School. "I played a lot on the outdoor tennis courts there," Gephart said. "I played a lot on my own."

Every chance he got, Gephart could be found working on his shooting and ballhandling. He especially relished game nights for the Ashtabula team because he would shoot around in the West Junior High gymnasium, where the Panthers of that day played.

"I got the chance to go out and shoot before the games and at halftime," he said.

High school ball

In ninth grade, Gephart played for Don Gatchell. When his sophomore year rolled around, it might have been expected that he would have been required to serve an apprenticeship, especially in the powerful program Bob Ball had already molded. In fact, the Panthers of Gephart's freshman year had been what many still consider one of Ball's finest teams.

But, as Gephart states with some pride, "I never played a JV game. My sophomore year, I was the first substitute on the outside."

No doubt that was because Ball, ever the defensive-minded coach, realized Gephart could inject some much-needed offense into the 1946-47 Panthers. It would turn out to be a stroke of genius from the genius.

"I could shoot," he said. "I was a good outside shooter. Plus, I could play defense. And I was the fastest guy in school even then."

The sophomore definitely made significant contributions in that special season. The biggest probably came in the regional championship game, where he scored 10 points against Cuyahoga Falls to help the Panthers earn their ticket to the state tournament.

Ashtabula's bubble was burst by Middletown in the state semifinals, but it had to be a great experience for young Gephart, who would be expected to take over a key leadership role for the Panthers in 1947-48 with all five starters from the 1946-47 team graduating.

Lead he did. With the help of center Delbert DeVaughn, they powered the Panthers to another Lake Shore League title. Both earned first-team all-league honors. The Panthers lost to Cleveland Heights in the sectional finals at Euclid Shore High School.

Gephart's senior year was quite special in a variety of ways. The 5-foot-6 senior was quarterback of Coach George "Chic" Guarnieri's undefeated (9-0) football team and earned second-team All-Ohio honors. He was also one of the key factors on an undefeated Ashtabula track team, winning the LSL 440-yard dash for a second straight year and finishing fourth in the 220-yard dash after winning that event as a junior.

"I ran 10 flat in the 100, 22.3 in the 220 and 52 flat in the 440," Gephart said. "Back in those days, they only took three in each event from district to the state meet and I finished in fourth, one spot short of going to state, in the 440 and long jump."

Basketball in Gephart's senior year was also productive, except for one thing.

"We were 12-0 in the league," the captain of the Ashtabula County team that year said. "We were 16-3 overall. But we were upset in the first tournament game by Harvey."

College athletics

After high school, Gephart went to Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) in Cleveland. He eventually gave up football there after breaking his leg in the fourth game of his freshman year.

"I had a cast on for four months and was on crutches for six months," he said. "They had moved on and I just didn't want to go back out."

He focused on basketball and track, eventually earning four letters in each. He was captain of the 1952-53 basketball team and a first-team All-PAC (Presidents' Athletic Conference) selection in basketball and track. He also held the school's 440-yard dash record for a while.

After graduation, he served two years in the Army, then got into teaching and coaching, with his first job at Conneaut in 1956. He coached eighth-grade football and basketball, then became Andy Garcia's assistant for varsity basketball in 1957-58 and 1958-59. He returned to Ashtabula in 1959 and served as Bob Ball’s assistant before taking over the Panthers himself in 1961.

Coaching and broadcasting

In his 10 years as varsity coach at Ashtabula, Gephart produced five Lake Shore League championships and had four 17-win seasons. His best teams included the 1967-68 squad that went 18-2 and the 1970-71 team that went 17-3.

After stepping down as coach in 1971, he transitioned into school administration but stayed close to the game. He joined the high school sports broadcast crew at WREO, later WFUN, providing analysis for basketball and football. He has been part of the team for more than three decades.

"Basketball has given me so many things," Gephart said. "I’ve been able to be around great people and remain close to a game I love."

Despite losing much of his sight in recent years, Gephart continues to contribute to basketball in the county through his insights and presence on the air.

"I may not see as well as I used to, but I can still feel the game. I know what's happening," he said.

Hitchcock directed PV to plenty of thrills

Legendary Lakers coach to be inducted into ACBF first class of Hall of Famers

By CHRIS LARICK Staff Writer

Bob Hitchcock always aimed to be a coach. When it came time to pull the trigger on a job at a larger school, though, Hitchcock, a longtime Pymatuning Valley High School, couldn't pull the trigger.

Hitchcock will be one of the 11 inductees into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame April 6. First a player, then a coach at PV, Hitchcock never strayed far from his roots.

"Four or five schools a lot bigger than here offered me jobs," Hitchcock said. "My old friend, Andy Garcia, offered me one at Conneaut. I had a chance to go to Brookfield. Rob Winton's dad (Doug Winton) interviewed me at Madison. I had a chance to go there, too.

"But I always enjoyed it here. I stayed at PV and enjoyed it. Every coach has to go through some controversy from the local fans."

As a player, Hitchcock was good enough to start the Lakers' final tournament game as a freshman. He then started at point guard for PV in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, playing against the likes of Conneaut's Harry Fails and Geneva's Lyle Pepin. Bob Miller was one of Hitchcock's outstanding teammates.

"I was the point guard," Hitchcock said. "My brother and teammates accused me of shooting too much. My brother, Gordy, played with me for two years.

"I scored quite a bit. I used to have the records at the school, but now I'm like fifth in our school's history, with not quite 1,000 points."

In his senior year, 1962, the Lakers made it to the regionals before being beaten by Berlin Hiland in overtime at the Canton Fieldhouse.

Hitchcock attended Otterbein for a year, hoping for a chance to play basketball, but never got one. He came back to Northeast Ohio to finish his college degree at Kent State University, majoring in education.

He returned to Pymatuning Valley as athletic director/physical education teacher/basketball coach in 1970.

"I served in that capacity for about five years," Hitchcock said. "I ran into some difficulties with the board of education and got out of coaching. I was out for about four or five years then came back (in the 1981-82 season) and stayed until I retired when Anthony LaCute and Jared McNeilly were juniors (through the 1996-97 season)."

Hitchcock, who compiled an outstanding 239-177 (.575) record in 20 seasons at the helm of the Laker boys, admits that retirement has changed his life a bit.

"Every day is Sunday," he said. "I've enjoyed my time off.

"I go to a lot of basketball games. I miss game nights but I don't miss practices and summertime (camps). But I miss the kids. There were an awful lot of good kids who played for me, a lot of fond memories.

"I hope it was easy to play for me. As long as they gave the effort it was enjoyable for me. I was fortunate enough to have players who were real good guys and won some games."

Some of Hitchcock's favorite games came against county rivals. One of his biggest victories came against Newton Falls in the early '70s.

"They were ranked in the state. The coach there, Gene Zorn, was a good friend of mine. We beat them down in Warren."

One of Hitchcock's best teams was the 1987-88 team, led by Bob's son, Doug, and his nephew, Gordy. Other key players on that team were leading scorer Steve Oman, Sean Freeman (who, like Oman, became a 1,000-point scorer), Rod Brown and Jason Poole.

"All of those players except Rodney graduated from college and are doing well," Hitchcock said.

That team made it to the district finals before being ousted by Hawken, starring O.J. McDuffie, who was to become a star wide receiver with the Miami Dolphins.

"We were ahead with a minute to go," Hitchcock said. "It was a great game. A fellow at Hawken said it was one of the greatest games he'd ever seen. We had a great year. The chemistry of the players was so good."

Hitchcock takes pride in his players' accomplishments. One of his former players, Maurice McDonald, is a lieutenant-colonel in the army. Another, Jimmy Malz, is an important financial officer in the Key Bank office in Cleveland.

Hitchcock, who won 10 league championships (eight in the Grand River Conference, two in the East Suburban Conference) and four sectional championships during his tenure, is pleased to be among the first batch of former basketball players and officials who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"When I was called about it, I was thinking back to when they started the (Ashtabula County) Touchdown Club in the '70s," he said. "I told the old guys they should do one for basketball, now they've done it.

"Basketball has been my life. I'm glad those guys took the initiative to do it. We used to have a (basketball) coaches association. I'm a past president of that. As you go through coaching, you're not just worried about wins and losses. Some guys who are a little older than me have had a lot of success. I'm happy they thought of me."

Bob and his wife, Marcia, have three children — Doug, who played on Hitchcock's last great team in 1987-88 and is now principal at Leavittsburg LaBrae High School; Jackie Dolan, whose husband played for Hitchcock and who now lives in Madison; and Kimberly Hitchcock, who is in the U.S. Air Force in Great Falls, Montana and who will be leaving for Korea soon.

Hitchcock has fond memories of the Star Beacon, too.

"They did a great job of following us when I was a kid in high school," he said. "I have a lot of memories of an old sports writer at the Star Beacon, Jim Landis. I give him a lot of credit for getting me All-American. My brother and I were pallbearers at his funeral."

HITCHCOCK NO MYSTERY

• PV 1970-71 – 11-10 S
• 1971-72 – 4-15
• 1972-73 – 14-6 GRC
• 1973-74 – 8-11 GRC
• 1981-82 – 17-5 GRC
• 1982-83 – 11-9 GRC
• 1983-84 – 14-7 GRC
• 1984-85 – 6-15
• 1985-86 – 14-7
• 1986-87 – 12-9 GRC
• 1987-88 – 22-1 GRC S, DF
• 1988-89 – 11-10 GRC
• 1989-90 – 17-5 S
• 1990-91 – 7-14
• 1991-92 – 19-3 ESC, S
• 1992-93 – 10-11
• 1993-94 – 12-9
• 1994-95 – 4-17
• 1995-96 – 8-13
• 1996-97 – 18-3 ESC

Totals – 239-177 (.575)

Key: GRC denotes Grand River Conference championship, ESC denotes East Suburban Conference championship, S denotes sectional championship, DF denotes reached district finals.

Andy Garcia, A Hall of Famer in every sense

By CHRIS LARICK Staff Writer

It was absolutely a no-brainer. The minute the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation decided to have a Hall of Fame, Andy Garcia was an automatic selection.

Not that it would be a singular honor for Garcia, who died at age 88 on April 19, 2001. At the time of his death, Garcia was already a member of the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the OHSAA Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, the Akron University Hall of Fame, the Northeastern Ohio District Athletic Administrators Hall of Fame and the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame.

Somewhere in heaven, Garcia has to be smiling at his induction into his sixth Hall of Fame. Is it only vanity to believe his selection to the ACBF's Hall Sunday (6 p.m., Conneaut Human Resources Center) would stand ahead of all of those other honors in his mind? It is, after all, the only one of those halls that the people of Ashtabula County - or at least their representatives - had much of a say in.

Rose Marie, the love of his life, who shared his life for 55 years, thinks this would be the greatest honor.

"Yes, this is his sixth and the one he would be most proud of," Rose said. "The others were from universities or organizations he belonged to. This was his life, right here.

"The family and I are grateful to those who promoted and kept this going. I'm thrilled but disappointed that I won't be able to be there (because of knee surgery Wednesday). I wanted to be there."

Garcia came to Conneaut after starring in football in high school at Akron East and then at John Carroll and Akron University in 1942. The son of a Spanish immigrant who was brought to the country to help populate the west, Garcia was proud of playing every second of every game before graduating in 1940, playing on offense, defense and special teams and being the team MVP his senior season.

For Garcia, giving to the community was the highest priority. After being drafted into the army interrupted his first year in Conneaut, he returned to Conneaut in 1946, married the love of his life, Rose Marie, and went on with his life. That life included a job as health and education teacher, head basketball coach and assistant football coach for starters. Later he added the duties as head track coach and community recreation director, eventually becoming Conneaut High School's first athletic director, serving in that capacity until he retired in 1978.

As a basketball coach, Garcia went 312-172 (.645) in 22 years at Conneaut. His best team may have been the 1947-48 team that went 20-6 but wasn't the best team in the county. That honor went to the Ashtabula squad that made it to the state tournament that year, defeating the Trojans three times in the process.

Gene Gephart, who will also be inducted into the ACBF with Garcia, played on that Ashtabula team and later coached against "Garsh." Gephart was also Garcia's assistant at Conneaut for two years for 1956-57 and 1957-58 before leaving for Ashtabula to serve as Bob Ball's assistant for three years.

"He taught me more about defense," Gephart said of Garcia recently. "He was a very good defensive coach. He was very good at adapting his offense. If he had great outside shooters like (Tom) Ritari, he got the ball to them. He had three or four years in the '60s when he had 6-6 or 6-7 guys who could really play, so he made sure they got the ball inside to them."

Some of the more important things Garcia taught Gephart had little to do with the X's and O's of basketball.

"He taught me to treat all players the same," Gephart said. "He was a good disciplinarian. He let me make my own decisions in terms of coaching and discipline."

"He (Garcia) always used to use chalk to diagram plays beside the court. When Conneaut came to Ashtabula in 1956 to play at the new gymnasium (not yet named Ball Gymnasium), Mr. Ball gave him orders that there would be no writing on the new floor."

"He and Coach Ball were great friends and always treated each other with great respect. We (Garcia and Gephart) always treated each other with great respect. We used to talk to each other before and after the games. He's (Garcia) the second greatest coach I've been around, next to Mr. Ball. He (Garcia) had a slightly better head-to-head record against me."

Garcia always posted good records, but even improved after the team moved from the old Lakeview Gymnasium to the current gym at Conneaut High School. From 1956-1960, his squads had a 77-20 record. From 1963-1967, the record was 93-28. In 1968, the gym was named for him.

For all of that, Rose Marie thinks the work he did for his community might rank ahead of his coaching in importance, the time he spent directing Conneaut's summer recreation program.

"He kept people on the straight and narrow," Rose Marie said.

Garcia made a practice of taking the kids in the summer program somewhere every year - to an Indians game or to Waldameer Amusement Park. In addition, he was one of the founders of the Conneaut Little League in 1948, umpiring in the league and becoming director of officials.

He was also a charter member of the Ashtabula County Touchdown Club and served as the NEC's director of officials, a post his son, Phillip, now holds.

Andy and Rose Marie raised seven children - Andy, Tom, Virginia, Fred, Jim, Phillip and Rich, who are now between 44 and 54 years old. Money was always in short supply for the Garcias, with such a large family. Andy and Rose Marie didn't even have a television set until 1953. The family didn't get a color TV until 1968, a (coaching) retirement present from the community.

"We said our money was for shoes and food," Rose Marie said a few years ago. "We saved green stamps to buy things. Before we had a television, the kids had to go across the street to watch Howdy Doody."

Garcia became a well-known figure around the state of Ohio. Lee Tressel, Baldwin-Wallace's football coach at the time and the father of current Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. During his lifetime, Garcia was awarded three keys to the city of Conneaut.

When he retired from teaching and as athletic director in 1978, the community had a celebrity roast for him. Many of his former players, in addition to Ball and Ed Batanian, took turns speaking about Garsh.

On the occasion of his earlier retirement as a coach, one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, Jim Crowley, attended the function. At his funeral in 2001, almost the entire community of Conneaut, not to mention hundreds from all over Northeast Ohio, turned out. Meanwhile, the testimonials flooded in.

"Kids who played for him thought a lot of Andy," said Jim Hietikko, who played both basketball and football for Garcia, then went on to play football at Ohio State, said, "He was very demanding, but he got results. You had to like the guy, but he had powerful lungs. If you did something you weren't supposed to, you heard about it."

"He was always known for yelling, but he was very goodhearted," said Tony Julio, who played three years of basketball and football for Garcia. "He treated everyone equal. He was a disciplinarian and didn't allow any backtalk.

"What impressed me is that he stayed in this system all that time. He probably had opportunities to go elsewhere. He raised a family and coached basketball, football and track, did all three for years and years.

"He's like a legend. Everyone always called him Garsh, never Coach or his name."

Tom Batta, who has been an assistant coach in the NFL for many years, visited Garcia regularly right up to his death.

"I don't think anybody that played for him didn't have respect and love for Andy," Batta said. "He didn't touch you only as an athlete."

"He taught me to be demanding, but he also taught me to be your own person. He had such great relationships with players. I've always tried to apply those when I'm dealing with players. Actually, I know he influenced all the things I do in coaching."

Tom Ritari, who played for Garcia and is now the girls basketball coach at Conneaut, said of Garcia's influence, "You don't realize what he did for you for a couple of years, how he made you tremendously better. I played for one of the best coaches in the state of Ohio and didn't realize it.

"He was always there for me when I wanted to talk. He was Conneaut sports. He's a legend. Just look at the lives he touched, in the classroom, on the basketball court, on the track. He made you, as an individual, feel so special."

When Jon Hall, Sr., another inductee into the ACBF Hall of Fame Sunday, came to Conneaut, he served as Garcia's assistant.

"I learned a great deal from him, especially about how to understand students and the fact that basketball isn't everything," Hall said. "You've got to guide them through other facets of life. He ingrained in me the idea that defense wins games, that defense was something you could do on your own. All you had to do was play to the best of your ability."

"He was a wonderful person to work for. When you lost, you felt you weren't worthy of him. He was a wonderful man who's done a lot for Ashtabula County and a lot for Conneaut. He was one of the true reasons I had as much success as I did, because I was able to work with him and learn from him."

Bill Fails, now Conneaut's athletic director, was taken under the wing in 1969 when he came to Conneaut as assistant track coach. Andy and Rose Marie invited Fails to supper at his house. When Fails took his current post, he made sure to invite the Garcias to all athletic functions. More often than not, the Garcias accepted.

"Rose has always been a real gracious lady; they're just real good people," Fails said of the Garcias. "Andy spent a lot of time working with kids here. His last year, he knew he was going to have a real bad team, but he went ahead and coached that last year so Harry Fails would have a good team his first year."

When the Northeastern Conference created an award for a male for athletic and academic contributions, it named the award after Garcia.

"He's someone who carried the torch and got things going in all areas of education," NEC secretary-treasurer George Bellios said. "He was one of a dying breed in how he looked at things, in the way he saw things athletically and academically... He's been an inspiration to people today."

"He was a great teacher," said Ed Batanian, another Hall of Fame inductee, who was one of Garcia's best friends, driving the Garcias to athletic events when they were unable to do so. "He was so good at breaking down the years between himself and the youngsters. He had a touch I don't know if I ever had. He was my hero.

"His family values were so shining. They're not common today. I always admired him. Probably over the past 25 years together, we've traveled thousands of miles together.

"He was like a brother to me, the best friend I ever had in sports. They don't make him like that anymore. In heaven, he'll be a great teacher, one of the best of them."

Rose Garcia, who has had health problems since Andy's death but who remains as sharp mentally as ever, is happy that Andy is going into the Hall with Bob Ball and Al Bailey.

"They were the big competitors in our early years," she said. "That's when I learned what a big business this was, how he competed and how he trained his boys. They learned from each other and respected each other.

"It was a great life for both of us, for me to help all I could."

In a league of his own

Bob Ball won more games than anyone in county hoops history

By KARL PEARSON Staff Writer

Nearly 20 years after his death and more than 40 years after he last coached a game, the mention of Bob Ball's name still is spoken with reverence when basketball is the topic in Ashtabula County.

There is good reason for that. In more than a century of playing the game, Ball's 1946-47 Ashtabula High School team is one of only two Ashtabula County basketball teams to reach the final four in the state. It is the only county team to qualify for the state tournament in the big-school division of its day.

In a career that ranged from 1933-34 through the 1960-61 season, Ball's teams had the best records ever in Ashtabula County basketball. His teams compiled a 361-165 record for a .686 winning percentage. That included eight Lake Shore League championships, four Northeastern Conference titles, 14 sectional-tournament crowns, two district championships and one regional championship. The 361 wins represent the most by any coach in Ashtabula County basketball history.

Moreover, the gymnasium at the high school where Ball did all his work, even though the school now bears a new name, still is considered one of the area's finest playing facilities. Now the home of the Lakeside Dragons, Ball Gymnasium, which received its name on the night of Aug. 22, 1961 after its construction in 1956, has hosted some of the area's best basketball for 42 years and continues to do so.

For all these reasons, Ball is a no-question choice to be in the inaugural class to be inducted into the newly-formed Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation. That ceremony will take place Sunday at the Conneaut Human Resources Center at 6 p.m.

Although it comes two decades after his death, Ball's son, Jeff, a member of his father's Panther varsity for three seasons before his graduation in 1959, believes the elder Ball would enjoy such an occasion.

"I think he'd feel privileged," Jeff Ball, who plans to attend along with his sister, 1956 Ashtabula graduate Susan Ball Ralph, said from his home in Cuyahoga Falls. "He was the kind of guy who liked awards, even though he might not have said so.

"Dad would be very happy to be there going in with men he coached with and against and would be pleased that basketball players were being recognized," he said. "He'd say this was long overdue, but he'd be pleased to be there."

As much as Ball is remembered for his achievements in basketball, he is remembered for the qualities he demonstrated on and off the court. His son perhaps said it best about Ball, who died on July 30, 1983.

Thanks to the care of Gene Gephart, a sophomore on Ball's state qualifier and another three-year varsity player, the words Jeff Ball spoke on Feb. 10, 1984 at a ceremony to put a portrait of his father in the lobby of Ball Gymnasium have been preserved. They speak eloquently of the coach and the man.

"When he became a coach, he decided that to win, he would be a student of the game and a practitioner of defense," Jeff Ball said. "He would win graciously and lose with class.

"Competitor, style, class and sportsmanship went with his name," he continued. "Ashtabula was fortunate to have him and he was fortunate to have Ashtabula. They made a great team."

Some other thoughts of his father were shared by Jeff Ball.

"Dad would tell us 'Be humble in victory, be gracious in defeat,'" he said.

The road to Ashtabula

Bob Ball was born Nov. 1, 1907 in East Palestine. He was a fine all-around athlete in his own right, excelling in football, basketball, baseball and track before graduating from East Palestine High School in 1926.

From there, Ball moved on to Mount Union College in Alliance. His exploits in football, basketball, track and baseball were enough to earn Ball, who graduated in 1930, induction into Mount Union's M Club, its Hall of Fame, in 1967.

He arrived at Ashtabula High School in the throes of the Great Depression and worked one year as the JV basketball coach before taking over the head coaching job in 1933-34.

Certainly the Panthers of 1946-47 are considered Ball's marquee team, and are arguably the greatest team ever from Ashtabula County, but there were other great Ashtabula teams before and after that under his tutelage.

For instance, Ball's 1944-45 Panthers reached the Class A regional finals. That team was powered by seniors Jack Cummins and Bill Kelly and two junior standouts who also excelled on the gridiron, Mel Olix and Bill Ritter.

Jeff Ball believes the Panthers of his senior year, which featured future Ashtabula head coach Bob Walters, was one of his father's best. Young Ball himself had progressed from a reserve role as a sophomore to sixth man as a junior to a starting guard spot as a senior.

"We were 16-6 and went to the district finals before losing," he said. "We beat Glenville in the semifinal, which was considered a huge upset. That was probably Dad's last big win."

"He didn't treat me any differently than any of the other players," he recalled. "We won the NEC that year. We knocked off Harvey with (future Ohio State athlete) John Mummey."

"One of his most important wins was in the 1956 sectional final against Geneva," he said. "Both teams were state-ranked at the time.

"I remember the time we played against Cleveland South at Cleveland Arena," Jeff Ball recalled. "They had a 6-10 center named Sawyer who ended up going to Louisville, but we beat them. That was a big upset, too."

That special season

But, sooner or later, the discussion always seems to return to the 1946-47 Panthers. Ironically, it probably seemed unlikely at the end of the regular season. The Panthers were just 11-7 in the regular season, going 11-1 against Lake Shore League competition to win the league, but losing all six of their non-conference games.

"Mr. Ball always had us playing the tough teams from Cleveland and Erie of that time," Gephart said. "We just didn't have any success against them that year."

One of the most satisfying sets of games in the regular season was beating a Harvey squad that included senior Don Shula...

... who later gained fame as the winningest coach in NFL history with the Miami Dolphins. Another key to that season was the development of a three-guard offense, spearheaded by sophomore Ralph Angelo, who gained fame later at the University of Dayton and as the coach of the Conneaut Spartans.

Ball's Panthers picked up steam through the sectional, district and regional. They knocked off Fremont in the regional final to earn their spot in the Class A semifinals. The Panthers went to Columbus and beat Dayton Fairview 51-46 to earn a spot in the state championship game. There they lost to Middletown and one of the all-time greats of Ohio basketball, future NBA star and Baseball Hall of Famer Don Zimmer.

"We were probably a Cinderella team," Gephart said. "We didn't have a great record. But Coach Ball got the most out of us. He was very intelligent, very cerebral. He had us prepared for every situation. I believe that if he had had a more talented team, he could have gone even farther."

After that magical season, Ball’s teams remained competitive but never returned to the same lofty heights. His last season was 1960-61, after which he stepped down from coaching but continued teaching. His influence was seen in the next generation of coaches and players throughout the region.

A lasting legacy

Those who knew Ball remembered not only the wins but the discipline and dignity with which he led his teams. He stressed defense and team play. He insisted on excellence in conduct as well as on the scoreboard.

He inspired loyalty among his players, and several of them, like Walters and Angelo, went on to successful coaching careers of their own. His meticulous preparation and teaching-oriented approach left a model many would try to emulate.

"Coach Ball was a man of principle," Gephart said. "He didn't rant and rave, but you knew he meant business. When he spoke, you listened. And he taught us not just basketball, but how to carry ourselves in life."

The naming of Ball Gymnasium remains a fitting tribute, one that has stood the test of time. Generations of players have taken the court under his name, some without knowing the full scope of his contributions. This induction serves to connect the past to the present and ensure that Bob Ball’s remarkable life in basketball is never forgotten.

"Even today, when I walk into that gym, I think of my father," Jeff Ball said. "That name on the wall—it’s more than just a name. It’s a legacy."