OldhamOldie

I am relieved to hear the pic is real! You had me going for a second! I agree with you totally. If he made contact with the ball, and you are right, the pic does not show that, it is certainly a goaltending call. I am assuming the video one of the previous posters noted will show the hand rejecting the ball out of the cylinder. This is a great photograph, though. My question is how in the heck did the photographer convince the KHSAA people to let him sit at the row for the newspaper and radio people in 1978?

Are you saying this pic is not legit? I am easily fooled, so I am assuming this picture is the real thing. Correct? I'm an old-timer and not up to date with a lot of the new technology toys, but I have read about people photoshopping pics.

Absolutely correct. They make mistakes, but at the high school level, refs are just trying to do the best they can do and get it right. I was not at this game in 1978 with the Hurt goaltending, but I would guess both refs were watching the play for contact when the outside official should have been looking for basket interference once the shot was put up. It appears both refs were concerned about contact (the pics shows very little, just Hurt way above the rim) and disregarded the block of the ball and hand through the rim. I am amazed by the positioning of the photographer for the pic as the state tournament always has the photographers under the basket. Great job by this person getting a great shot of the play!

I really enjoy your recap. The only small item I will disagree with is South Oldham not being ranked ahead of Oldham. South Oldham knocked off Oldham earlier and looked to be a slightly better team, IMO. I think Oldham is a very good team, but the fact they are still searching for a go-to rotation this late in the season concerns me. They play a lot of combinations, but it appears going into the post season Oldham needs to find a solid seven or eight players. I think you shorten the bench in tournament play, and I am not sure right now Oldham has that. But I do agree Owen County is the 8th Region's best team. South Oldham is close, and Oldham is a good No. 3 team that could pull off surprises in the regional.

Refs are human, humans make mistakes. It certainly looks like the two gentlemen made a blunder with this obvious goaltending by Shelby County's Charles Hurt. But I believe everything evens out in the end. I go back to the previous season in 1977 with the Holmes/Newport regional finals, where a blundered call helped the Bulldogs win the 9th Region. Holmes benefitted in that instance from a call and advanced to the Sweet 16. I will admit this lack of a call in 1978 against Hurt is magnified by fact there is the photographic evidence, but I am sure Holmes probably missed some easy shots/free throws in the game that would have made it a moot point. If one of the previous posters is correct, Shelby County apparently made a spectacular shot to just send the game to overtime, so all things evened out this time to the disappointment of Holmes, just as the previous year against Newport the call went their way. Refs miss calls, but players make plays to win games.

Does this mean Mullins in a cryptic way? Or is it something else?

Did Mullins play for Newport? If not, is he still a member of the team? I am curious after hearing about their game with St. Henry.

These rankings are much better than the Litkenhous Ratings. Christian County and Bowling Green appear to be the best two teams, though Mercer County and Scott County will be factors. It will be interesting to see if Dunbar or Henry Clay can defeat Scott County in that regional.

I wonder if there is an old film of that game setting in Reynolds Flynn or Bob Vanderpool's desks? Those were the two coaches at the time. I do not think the TV stations consistently sent out cameras to the games in those days, but most teams filmed the games. If anyone has one of the '77 Newport/Holmes game, I would pay to have it put on DVD!

Great information, thank you! Do you recall the game from 1977 when Holmes defeated Newport in the closing seconds in the 9th Region championship? Schloemer hit a shot in the last seconds to give Holmes a 77-76 win. Any chance of having a video or pics from that game? I was at it, and it was the best high school game and atmosphere I have ever experienced.

I would expect the Owen County coaches and players are just laughing at these ratings. Games are won on the court. South Oldham beats up on Oldham County and they are unranked. Owen County defeats South Oldham, yet they are not worthy of the top 20?

These ratings are so far off it is laughable. As someone deeply involved with the Oldham County schools, I can objectively say they do not even have the correct team from Oldham County ranked! South Oldham should be ranked if Oldham County is. But I would say that without a doubt Owen County is the best team in the 8th Region and they are not ranked at all? Like I have said for years, these rankings are absurd and mean nothing. This is the latest example.

Correct. The baseline ref should be looking for contact, not the outside official. Someone wasn't doing their job on this play.

I would say, based on this pic and if it did indeed happen in overtime, Holmes has a huge gripe. This is blatant poor officiating. No excuse for a state title game to have a missed call like this one.

Of all the state tournaments I had to miss (I was at Portland State as a grad student 1978 and '79), it would have been this one! No wonder so many people have told me about this goaltending. I'm a 8th Region guy, but that is definitely a goal tending on Shelby County. When did this block happen? Late in the game?

I know they only had two refs, but still....

This is a brutal no-call. My only guess is both refs were watching for contact and paid no attention to the ball. Very unfortunate.

That is Doug Schloemer in the pic with Charles Hurt. The ironic part of this pic is the previous season in 1977, Holmes won a controversial game against Newport in the regional finals. I was at that game and saw for myself the refs blundered a call that would have given Newport the ball in the final seconds, and gave it to Holmes. Schloemer, who was a great player, hit a shot to give Holmes a one-point win. Karma again a year later? Wow!

Holy Blind Mice! Thank you for this! How did a ref ever miss this?!?!?!

Anyone have a pic or video of this? We were discussing this in another thread that got a bit off topic. I have been told of this play by Charles Hurt against Holmes, but I was in Oregon in 1978 and was unable to attend the Sweet 16. Would love to see video or pic.

If you have that photo somewhere in a old paper, I would love to see it! I have heard the legends of the Hurt block/goaltend with Holmes, but never saw a video or pic. Some of my old buddies were at the game and said the refs missed an obvious call on that one, and I take their words for it. Would love to see the pic. Tell Mama you are gonna make a special trip to that historical attic and look through those boxes, please!

I did not recall this about the clock. I do remember two years later the Charles Hurt hand through the rim block of a Holmes player helping Shelby County win the state title in 1978. Maybe that was karma? I was in Oregon in grad school at Portland State in 1978 and missed the state tournament. I wish I could have seen the supposed goal tend on Charles Hurt with the Holmes player.

Yes to this as well. Tennessee was fine until Allen Houston turned pro. That's when things went downhill for Wade. As for Ron Abernathy, I do not recall if he ever got a head coaching job after leaving as LSU's top assistant. I know Macklin led LSU to the Final Four in 1981, but I can't remember how much longer Abernathy remained on the LSU staff. Abernathy had many talented players at Louisville Shawnee, but Macklin was the best.

This is why I dared to compare Carson Williams the high school player to high school Larry Bird. Carson will willingly give the ball up to a teammate for a better shot, yet has the ability to completely dominate a game. You do not see Carson running down the floor flexing his muscles like some players, he is a true gentleman and sportsman. The same can be said for his teammates. I also applaud the South Oldham players and coaches, who are very classy and conduct themselves well at all times. The half court traps that South Oldham executed against Owen County last night were outstanding. Hope to see them play again in the 8th Region Tournament.

Watching the game I thought Carson had more rebounds than 15. He completely dominated the lane. I agree that South had very few rebounds, most of those came in the final quarter. South Oldham hustled for a couple of offensive boards off missed three-point shots late in the game. Most of the rebounds during the first three quarters were snatched by Williams.