Here are the greatest Nashville area high school girls basketball players from the 1960s

High school girls basketball players were not permitted to play five-on-five, but many of the girls who played high school basketball in the greater Nashville area in the 1960s were outstanding athletes.

The girls game was six-on-six in the 60s. Three players were on offense and three on defense. It prevented players from running the full court, which officials at the time believed was too much of a strain on female athletes.

Despite the awkward style of play lots of girls mastered the game and today The Tennessean honors some of those by naming the Nashville area's 1960s All-Decade High School Girls Basketball Team.

Girls who played from 1960-69 were eligible. In parenthesis is the year when each athlete graduated.

Julie Brown

Madison | Forward (1962)

Nashville Interscholastic League Player of the Year ... The 5-6 forward set the NIL career scoring record at the time with 1,955 points ... three-time All-City ... Tennessean sports writer Jimmy Davy wrote, "Brown is one of the most remarkable offensive players in Nashville prep history." ... NIL scoring leader as a senior with 714 points ... scored a season-high 38 points in a 71-32 win over Central ... four-year starter ... also played tennis ... after graduating from Tennessee Tech became the Hendersonville girls basketball coach in 1967 and won more than 650 games in her career ... Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.

Betty Carol Fite

DeKalb County | Forward (1965)

Midstate Player of the Year as a senior ... All-Midstate as a junior ... the 5-8 forward led DeKalb County to the 1964-65 state tournament ... scored a state tournament record 50 points in a 61-42 win over Hillsboro in the semifinals ... scored a total of 123 points (13 shy of the record) in the state tournament. DeKalb County's next leading scorer in the tournament was Brenda Cripps, who had just 20 points ... averaged 31.0 points as a sophomore and increased that to 41.9 by her senior season.

Ann Hutcheson

Hillsboro | Forward (1968)

NIL Player of the Year as a senior ... the 5-11 forward scored 52 points in a regular season game against HIllwood and again in a district tournament semifinal win over Stratford as a senior ... scored 1,047 points as a senior and averaged averaged 38.8 points per game ... led Hillsboro in scoring three straight seasons ... helped lead the Burros to the state tournament in her sophomore and senior seasons ... became the NIL's all-time leading scorer when she graduated with 2,443 points ... also ran track and was the 1968 tennis singles state champion ... played tennis at Vanderbilt ... Tennessean NIL Girls Athlete of the Year as a senior ... Vanderbilt Athletic Hall of Fame ... Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.

Helen Johnson

Antioch | Forward (1961)

NIL Player of the Year in 1961 (second year the award was presented) ... runner-up NIL Player of the Year as a junior ... two-time All-NIL ... the 5-5 forward led the league in scoring as a junior (485 total points, 24.3 ppg.) and was second as a senior (600 points, 30.0 ppg.) ... scored 42 points in a game against Joelton in the district tournament as a junior ... outstanding ball handler with a knack for driving to the basket ... four-year varsity player.

Mary Langley

Franklin | Forward (1961)

All-NIL first team as a senior and second team as a junior ... the 5-5 guard broke the NIL single-season scoring record as a senior with 729 points then added 66 in the postseason to set the all-time record at 795 ... averaged 31.8 points as a senior ... scored 465 points as a junior ... signed with Nashville Business College ... older brother Bobby also played for Franklin and is the school's boys all-time leading scorer ... Franklin jersey retired ... Franklin High Sports Hall of Fame.

Joyce Lemley

Stratford | Forward (1967)

NIL Player of the Year ... Downtown Optimist Player of the Year ... 5-6 forward was All-City first team in her junior and senior seasons and second team as a sophomore ... finished with 2,410 career points ... ranked fourth in the state in scoring as a junior (34.4 ppg.) ... scored more than 50 points in several games ... also played tennis ... went on to play for the Texas Cowgirls professional basketball team, which modeled itself after the Harlem Globetrotters.

Sandra McMurtry

DuPont | Forward (1964)

First junior to be named NIL Player of the Year in 1963 and first to repeat when she won again as a 5-9 senior in 1964 ... Finished with a then-NIL career scoring record with 2,047 points ... led DuPont to the state tournament as a senior after breaking the NIL single-season scoring record she set the year before with 672 points ... led the Bulldogs to the NIL championship as a junior and scored 45 points in the 64-51 championship win over Litton ... averaged 28.2 points per game as a junior and 36.4 points as a senior ... scored at least 51 points in four games as a senior including a season-high 55 against Goodlettsville ... DuPont All-Sports Hall of Fame ... Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame ... became the Cumberland High girls basketball coach in 1970 and later moved to Goodlettsville.

Brenda Moon

Goodlettsville | Forward (1965)

NIL Player of the Year as a senior ... All-City first team in her junior and senior seasons and second team as a sophomore ... tallest player in the NIL at 6-2 ... scored 66 points in the final regular season game of the 1965 season and 55 in the game before that ... averaged 34.8 points per game as a senior and finished the regular season with 661 points ... averaged 33.0 points per game as a junior despite having a broken finger ... four-year starter ... went on to play for the touring All-American Red Heads exhibition basketball team ... Goodlettsville High School All-Sports Hall of Fame ... Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.

Shoma Perkins

Franklin County | Forward (1969)

All-State ... All-Midstate ... led Franklin County to the 1968-69 state championship and a 25-6 record ... the 6-1 forward scored 78 total points in the state tournament ... all-state tournament team ... averaged 22.3 points per game as a senior ... made a three-point play with one second left to lift West to a 50-49 win in the TSSAA East-West All-Star game ... signed with Belmont ... Belmont MVP as a junior.

Rita Rochelle

Lebanon | Forward (1967)

Two-time All-Midstate ... set the state tournament scoring record with 54 points in a 70-46 first-round win over Lexington as a junior. Also set the record in that game for most points in a half with 31 ... all-state tournament team as a junior ... scored 55 points in a win over Murfreesboro as a senior and two weeks later scored 56 in a win over Franklin ... led Lebanon back to the quarterfinals of the state tournament and a 31-6 record as a senior.

Sally Smith

Waverly | Forward (1968)

One of the state's all-time greatest high school players ... the 5-8 forward led Waverly to the 1968 state championship and a 33-0 record and the 1967 state runner-up and 30-2 record ... scored 52 points and set the state championship game record for points in a half with 37 in the Tigers' 73-64 win over Everett ... set the record for most points in the state tournament as a junior (154) and broke it as a senior (159) ... state tournament MVP as a senior ... Midstate Player of the Year as a senior ... two-time All-Midstate ... became state's all-time leading scorer with 3,793 career points and is currently third all time .... set the single-season scoring record as a senior with 1,520 points ... averaged 40.5 points per game as a senior ... first Black player to sign with Nashville Business College and first AAU Black All-American ... coached at several colleges including Tennessee State.

Carolyn Sudberry

Shelbyville | Forward (1965)

Led Shelbyville to its first of 12 state championships and a 34-0 record as a junior ... the 5-11 forward scored 42 points in the state tournament semifinals win over Manchester (outscored Manchester's entire team by six points) ... averaged 29.5 points in the 1964 state tournament ... all-state tournament ... led Shelbyville back to the state tournament in 1965 ... All-Midstate.

Meet the boys team: From Perry Wallace to Ted McClain, The Tennessean's 1960s All-Decade boys basketball team

Brenda Thompson

Stratford | Forward (1969)

NIL Player of the Year ... two-time All-NIL ... the 5-10 forward won the league scoring title as a senior with a 35.2 points per game average ... scored more than 40 points in seven games and a career-high 52 in a game against Donelson ... inside/outside scoring threat ... 2,176 career points, third-most in NIL history ... played tennis and advanced to the 1968 singles state tournament ... Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.

Donna Vaughn

Maplewood | Forward (1966)

NIL Player of the Year as a senior ... two-time All-NIL ... the 5-8 forward set the NIL all-time scoring record previously held by DuPont's Sandra McMurtry (1962-64) with 2,053 points ... averaged 31.1 points per game as a junior ... scored 818 points as a senior ... led Maplewood to the state tournament quarterfinals as a junior and scored 31 points in a 50-42 first-round win over Adamsville and the semifinals as a senior ... two-time all-state tournament team.

Betty Wiseman

Portland | Forward (1961)

Beginning as an eighth grader, started every game at Portland and led her team in scoring all five years (more than 100 games) ... All-Midstate as a senior ... the 5-8 forward averaged 30.5 points per game ... scored more than 600 points as a senior and 2,000 for her career ... turned down an offer to play basketball at Nashville Business College, the defending National and World AAU champions, to attend Belmont ... created the Belmont women's basketball team in 1968 and served as coach for 29 years then spent 16 years as the school's assistant athletic director/senior woman administrator ... Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame ... Belmont Athletics Hall of Fame ... Portland High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Coach

Jackie Turner

HIllsboro | 1956-80

Played at Hillsboro (1944-48) … NIL player of the year as a senior … became Burro’s coach in 1956 … led Hillsboro to the state tournament five times in the decade (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1968), more than any other team from Nashville … advanced to state tournament quarterfinals in 1962 and 1965 … four-time NIL champion coach in the decade ... also coached tennis, volleyball and track and field … father Jim was pitching coach for the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds … coached through the 1980 season … Hillsboro Gym renamed in November to honor Turner along with Ed Hessey … Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Greatest Nashville area high school girls basketball players from 1960s