Induction Graduation Sport

2022 1972 Basketball

Fifty years ago, the 1971-1972 Boys Varsity basketball season was certainly an exciting season for the team and the whole Raider community. The Columbia Raiders finished the regular season with an impressive 18-0 record and won the Inland Conference Championship. The team averaged 81 points a game while holding their opponents to 60 points a game. Twice, the Raiders scored 100 points or more, beating Firelands 104-67 and Keystone 100-59. The 104 points became a single game record. The 1903 points scored that season was also a new record. At tournament time, the Raiders won the North Ridgeville Secional Championship by beating Keystone 71-51 and Lorain Catholic 76-74. Moving on, the Raiders captured the Canton District Championship in two very exciting clse games, outscoring Clearview 63-62 and Rittman 52-51. Heading to the Regionals, the Raiders downed Kirtland 65-53. Ironically, Kirtland's head coach, Dick Crowell, was a Columbia graduate from the class of 1962. The tournament trail ended the next night, as the Raiders lost to the eventual State Champion, Indian Valley South, whose star player was Bobby Huggins. The Raiders overall record was 23-1. In the final state polls, the Raiders were ranked 4th in the UPI Poll & 5th in the AP Poll. Team members were Clark Ashley, Wayne Brassell, Jeff Grills, Dan Hagen, Al Hanchey, Dave Knopf, Dan Ritter, Steve Roberts, Ed Scott and Dean Smith. The Raiders head coach was Bruce Hurley, assisted by Dave Kuhn.