Oldies but goodies: Maysville's 1971 state team made its own basketball magic

Steve Galloway and Dean Wolfe can't help but reminisce.

It was 53 years ago when they led a scrappy, unified Maysville team to the school's first Class AA regional championship with a 66-62 win against top-ranked Waverly at the Ohio University Convocation Center.

It was a team that caught fire in the tournament, providing a thrill ride that rallied the masses around Newton Township.

Sound familiar?

While the current Panthers captivated the locals with their clutch shooting and unselfish play during its own regional championship season, members of the 1971 squad were keeping close tabs.

Galloway, the former point guard and current PGA professional at Green Valley, was in the stands with wife Kathy at both regional games in Athens last week.

Dean Wolfe, the team's top scorer, was following the regional online from Florida, where he spends his many of his retirement days on the golf course. He has watched other games on YouTube while following his grandson, who plays at West Muskingum.

More: The journey is only part of what makes a basketball season memorable, Sam Blackburn writes

More: Five things to know about Maysville's state-bound boys basketball team.

In Galloway's case, he was at the high school on Tuesday to show old newspaper clippings and participate in a television interview with Spectrum News 1, which will broadcast the game. He then spoke at Thursday's pep rally at the school.

"It just brought back so many memories," Galloway said. "It was like I was just there (at The Convo) the other day. It looks exactly the same."

Wolfe said it has been difficult to be in Florida unable to watch the games in person, echoing Galloway about the retrospective feelings it has created.

He averaged 23.8 points per game as a senior while earning All-Southeast Ohio and special mention All-Ohio honors. Galloway was also an All-SEO pick after putting up 11.7 per contest while handling the bulk of the team's ball-handling duties.

"I've been cleaning a bunch of stuff out of the house and found a bunch of old newspaper articles, and it's funny this is all happening (with this year's team)," Wolfe said. "I've been getting texts from all kinds of people. I told Steve that it's a shame we couldn't all be back and let them know what to expect.

"It's an experience they will never forget," Wolfe added.

Wolfe led '71 squad to new heights

Wolfe and Co. scored at least 60 points in every game it played in a 17-5 regular season that saw them win nine of its first 10 games before a 66-63 road loss to a Will Finley-led Morgan squad.

It was 11-2 before an overtime loss at Philo, starting a string of three straight losses that also included a home setback to Paul Albanese-led New Lexington (80-69) and Sheridan (67-63). The loss to the Generals, who won the league, ended its title hopes.

A 77-69 win against Crooksville, a Class A regional team led by All-Ohioan Gary Swinehart and versatile guard Curt Houk, finally got the Panthers back on track.

They didn't take another loss until the state tournament, earning four straight wins at Muskingum's Rec Center in sectional and district play.

A 74-62 win against Coshocton, which included future MLB catcher Bob Brenly, sent the team to regional play at The Convo. It was a 75-67 upset of third-ranked, 19-1 Sugarcreek Garaway in the district semifinals that set the official pace for the postseason, however.

According to an article published in the March 26, 1971 edition of the TR, Garaway purposely chose the Panthers' side of the bracket at the tournament drawing to get a potential matchup with them in the district.

It was a choice that blew up in the Pirates' faces.

"We went to Muskingum College that night and all you saw was 'all the way with Garaway' signs on cars," Galloway said. "Then you walk into the gym and it's tiny. They had more fans there than we did."

The regional wins came against No. 3 Steubenville Central Catholic (85-69) and Waverly (66-62), which finished the regular season as the top-ranked team in Class AA by the United Press Institute.

Dunn's basket in the final minute against Waverly provided the deciding basket.

Dream ends in Columbus

The dream ended with a 71-61 loss to Warren Champion at Ohio State's St. John Arena, despite 26 points from Wolfe. It was tied at 43 after three quarters, after Maysville fell behind by 12 in the second quarter, before All-Ohioan Craig Kuszmaul scored 12 points in the fourth for Champion.

It ended a 19-6 campaign under head coach Jim Wiezbiski, who Wolfe said hammered home the concept of fundamentals on both ends of the floor.

He said they rarely scrimmaged in practice, instead focusing on skill work.

"I felt after my junior year that we had the potential to go to the state, because we worked really hard in the summer," Wolfe said. "Even though we played baseball, we played (basketball) during the day, and then would go play baseball and play basketball again the next day. I would get up and run and dribble for an hour before school, run with ankle weights on. We were just very active."

Wolfe led four players who scored in double figures — Dunn added 11.9 per game, Galloway 11.2 and Justine Sowers 10.5 — despite the absence of a 3-point line. Jerry Clark, Bob Crawford and Glenn Kimble were also key role players.

The Wolfe-Galloway combination was one that gave opponents fits.

"You couldn't have had a better point guard," Wolfe said. "Nobody could take the ball from him. He had huge hands and could control the ball. Once we started to get hot, Steve was the main point guard and they had me running off picks. He got the ball to me, and I was told to shoot because we had people underneath."

Wolfe averaged 32 points per game in the tournament. They took down two of the top three teams in Class AA at the regional to get to Columbus.

"When we lost up there it just hits you," Wolfe said. "You’re done. It was hard to take and I remember (former Maysville star) Mike Swain came into the locker room afterwards and that meant a lot to us. At least it did to me."

'A lot of similarities'

Galloway said his team's balance and ability to minimize mistakes on offense were the team's most important elements.

"When you press and run like we did, and to only have five to seven turnovers a game, that is pretty good," Galloway said. "It's a lot like this team. They don't turn the ball over much either. It see a lot of similarities between the teams."

Galloway said being at the regional games brought back the old butterflies, adding the anxiety felt like he was actually playing.

Like everyone else in attendance, he left amazed by Alex Bobb's game-winning, buzzer-beating 3 against Columbus Hartley and the 15-point comeback against Vincent Warren.

He admired their tenacity and effort, especially on defense.

"They're kind of like our team," Galloway said. "We all had roles. They probably have a few more shooters than what we did, but my role was to bring the ball up and pass the ball. Dunny did a little bit of everything. Kimble and our big guys rebounded. We pressed and ran the ball, similar to these guys.

"The pressure they put on these teams, it hurt Hartley and it hurt Warren," Galloway added. "They really wore Warren down in the second half with the pressure they were putting on them."

The games Wolfe has been able to see through livestreams on YouTube have indicated what he had heard from others. He and Galloway spoke on the phone on Tuesday morning.

"They play really good pressure defense and it seems they all get along," Wolfe said. "It doesn't matter who scores. They can all score and they have some decent 3-point shooters."

sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Maysville boys basketball's 1971 state squad made own magic