The subject of this years Russia Raiders basketball team
started a tale this week that went back 44 years ago
Henry then proceeded to tell me about an average, but spirited, Russia team he played for in the 1970-1971 season. He said the big rivalry game was Ft. Loramie, just as it is now. Only back then, Henry stated, the fans were even more passionate than today. When the two schools played it wasn't unusual to see Russia fans chewing on heads of cabbage and Ft. Loramie fans carrying into the game all sorts of toy frogs. Both shenanigans in reference to the heritage of their rival opponent. Henry recalled how Ft. Loramie's biggest star was a multi-talented athlete named Randy Schafer (who would later become my high school baseball coach) and Russia countered with a balanced attack in their starting five. In the first of two match-ups that season, the Redskins beat the Raiders on a buzzer beater and afterwards Russia was anxious for revenge at their final meeting played on Russia's home court in Versailles at the time. The second game lived up to the hype as the Raiders sealed a victory with a couple Don Cordonnier free throws in the closing seconds and Ft. Loramie missed a shot at the horn. Russia finished the season just 7-12 overall and 4-8 in the league, but that Ft. Loramie win will always be remembered because it was the Redskins only league loss that year. Henry's tale was an interesting one and I enjoyed hearing a little sports history about a rivalry that still runs strong today.
Statistics from the 1970-1971 season courtesy of
Shelby County League Basketball 1921-1995 by Bob Wise
Hall of Famer Ernie Banks on the left and Tony Bornhorst
is the tall guy in the back row standing next to a basketball
coach named Al McGuire... yes, that Al McGuire
is the tall guy in the back row standing next to a basketball
coach named Al McGuire... yes, that Al McGuire
The next day, Tuesday, mom replied to my email. She contacted Tony and he told her he remembered that game at Hobart Arena, but he was still in school in 1975 and the game took place several years beforehand during the 1970-1971 season. Tony recalled how Lehman and Ft. Loramie were both state-ranked either #1 or #2 in the AP and UPI polls. John Kremer was the Redskins coach and his two biggest stars were Randy Schafer and teammate Tony Winner. The game between the two schools was not a tournament game, rather a regular season match-up that was suppose to be played in Ft. Loramie. Lehman asked if the game could be moved to Hobart since it was expected to be quite a battle. The Redskins did not provide the competition that was expected despite having a tall and talented team and Lehman won easily. The loss frustrated Ft. Loramie fans for many years afterward. My story doesn't end there folks...
One Fish Report reader that I frequently email back and forth is Ft. Loramie alum Dave Boerger. Dave is a retired executive with Ford Motor Company that lives in Michigan, but stays in touch with life back home through the Fish Report website. Dave enjoys local history, as I do, and from time-to-time he will share stories with me. Dave is also a high school classmate of my mother. Here was my opportunity to share a story with Dave, so I forwarded him the email correspondence between mom, Tony and myself. Dave replied almost immediately on Tuesday and said my mom has a good memory! The year was indeed 1971 and he attended that game between Ft. Loramie and Lehman at Hobart Arena. Dave said the attendance was a sell-out and unfortunately the poor performance by the Redskins was really disappointing. Ft. Loramie finished the 1970-1971 season with an impressive overall record of 19-3, but it was unsatisfying to many fans. They lost the Lehman game and later an early tournament game. Oh, and one more game, that one against Russia that started this whole tale. It's funny how one interesting sports story can lead to the next sometimes!
*Follow up note - Shortly after writing this story I ran into Russia's Don Cordonnier and Don verified a lot of the facts above. However, he did add one more fact that may sting some Ft. Loramie fans 44 years later. Remember those game winning free throws Don made to beat the Redskins? Don said when he got fouled by the Ft. Loramie player he was barely touched!
One Fish Report reader that I frequently email back and forth is Ft. Loramie alum Dave Boerger. Dave is a retired executive with Ford Motor Company that lives in Michigan, but stays in touch with life back home through the Fish Report website. Dave enjoys local history, as I do, and from time-to-time he will share stories with me. Dave is also a high school classmate of my mother. Here was my opportunity to share a story with Dave, so I forwarded him the email correspondence between mom, Tony and myself. Dave replied almost immediately on Tuesday and said my mom has a good memory! The year was indeed 1971 and he attended that game between Ft. Loramie and Lehman at Hobart Arena. Dave said the attendance was a sell-out and unfortunately the poor performance by the Redskins was really disappointing. Ft. Loramie finished the 1970-1971 season with an impressive overall record of 19-3, but it was unsatisfying to many fans. They lost the Lehman game and later an early tournament game. Oh, and one more game, that one against Russia that started this whole tale. It's funny how one interesting sports story can lead to the next sometimes!
*Follow up note - Shortly after writing this story I ran into Russia's Don Cordonnier and Don verified a lot of the facts above. However, he did add one more fact that may sting some Ft. Loramie fans 44 years later. Remember those game winning free throws Don made to beat the Redskins? Don said when he got fouled by the Ft. Loramie player he was barely touched!
Don and Henry Cordonnier were senior classmates in 1971
Wow. You made me remember a lot of things and people from the 70s with your blog this morning.
ReplyDeleteIt's been 44 years and I could be wrong but I think Don hit one free throw to put Russia up by one point with almost no time on the clock. Back then you shot one free throw on the first six fouls until you got into the one-and-one. As he said, it wasn't much of a foul and I think it was away from the basket. The official who called it was "Doc" Staley, who was an officiating legend and, shall we say, a bit of a performance artist when he called a game. I wrote a story on him while working at the Piqua Daily Call. Sometime after that, and it possibly could have come from a disgruntled Loramie fan, someone said that Doc supposedly at one point in his career had said if a game went into overtime it was the officials' fault.
The Al McGuire-Ernie Banks photo was from some sort of anniversary at the Medalist clothing factory, formerly known as Atlas Underwear, in Piqua in 1975. Medalist was a Milwaukee company, I believe, and had those two as celebrity endorsers. Two years later, they brought McGuire back right after Marquette won the NCAA title. It wasn't a public thing but they called me and asked me if I wanted to drive him to the Dayton airport and interview him after he finished all his hand-shaking, etc., at the factory. I was a big fan of his and had read a lot on him. One of the things everybody wrote was that he had a reputation as a bit of an eccentric. Anyway, I get there and he says that it would work better if he drove my car and I took notes. He doesn't ask me directions and starts driving down Main Street or whatever 25-A is called in Piqua. After a few blocks, he turns left. It doesn't look like any way I know to get to I-75 but I figured someone at the factory had given him directions. Pretty soon we dead end into the bank of the river and he looks at me and says, "Where the hell are we?" I said, "You're the one driving. I thought you knew." Reputation confirmed. He was one of a kind.