Basketball

[IndianFan]

Nominate your choices for the all-time greatest Indian basketball players. When listing your selection please include qualifications (all-American, all-state, all-district, passing record, rushing record, etc)

 

[NDNPARENT]

monte waninwright
steve westbrook
bobby scarface

think they all made all district

i know the 82 team was the number one rank free throwing team in the state. and they had like a 25 win season

 

[IndianFan]

monte waninwright
steve westbrook
bobby scarface

think they all made all district

i know the 82 team was the number one rank free throwing team in the state. and they had like a 25 win season

You mean Bobby Straface?

 

[Aces_Full]

What about Joel LaFleur? Think he averaged around 30 ppg in district, and was named district MVP in '92. He was a 4 yr. varsity starter on some pretty good PN-G teams. He also holds the school record for points in a game with 50 against Nederland.

 

[PNG Proud]

Coach Pat Abel

 

[hookem14]

Joel LaFleur was district MVP, all-state and McDonald's Honarable Mention All-American.
He also had schoolership offers to just about ANY big time school you can name.

 

[ScalpEm24]

I agree, there is no way a list of the best Hoops players at PN-G is complete w/out Joel LaFleur. I think if it woulda been allowed, he would have played on Varsity in the 8th Grade. He was that much better than everyone.

 

[pngfanatic]

Rick Duplantis gets my vote. He was a 6'7" center on the only Indian basketball team to win a district championship (1968) - as far as I know. "Spider" went on to play at Texas A&M.

 

[1989NDN]

PNGFANATIC - I love your historical knowledge about PN-G athletics in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Please keep posting. The 1968 PN-G boys basketball team, was that before integration? Were the leagues still split between the UIL and PVIL? The late sixties for PN-G sports were good times. In 1967 or 1968, Greg Davis led the football Indians to a DC, in 1968, Rick Duplantis led the basketball Indians to a DC, and the 1964-1965 track team set national records with Mike Simpson, Lyman Landry, et al. Tell us more.

Go Indians. Peace.

 

[pngfanatic]

1967-68 was the first year of integrated sports competition. I took a closer look at my 1968 annual and it turns out that we won the 11-4A South zone. We then lost to North zone champ Beaumont Charlton Pollard in a 3 game series. All 3 games were close. BCP won the first game 80-75. We won the second game 67-66 on a last second shot by Jerry Hanlon. The 3rd game was played at Lamar MacDonald gym and I remember that the place was packed. BCP won 84-74.

I also remember it being a big deal that we had 5 starters at least 6' in height:

Center Rick Duplantis 6'7"
Forward Harry Montegomery 6'3"
Forward Ricky Heider 6'4"
Jerry Hanlon 6'1"
Greg Davis 6'0"

 

[pngfanatic]

Thanks for your support. I've never been sure how many are interested in my "back in the day" posts. But be careful what you ask for - I can talk all day about PNG sports (just ask prepballfan).

One more note about integration in 1967-68. The student bodies were not integrated, but the all-white and all-black schools began competing against each other. I've never understood why it was done that way. Doesn't seem like the best way to promote racial harmony. Just my 2 cents.

That said, I don't remember any issues in the BCP games other than a couple of knuckleheads waving rebel flags on our side. From the stands, it looked like good sportsmanship in the games as well.

Side note - PNG was not an all-white school that year. Ella Roberts was the first African American girl (as far as I know) to graduate at PNG - with my class in 1968. Her brother John graduated from our school in 1966. I wish I knew more about their story - how they ended up attending PNG and what their experience was like.

 

[1989NDN]

You have outstanding stories to share, please post them. I had no idea about Ella Roberts or her brother, John. That is information that needs to be shared. We can search online and try to locate Ms. Roberts. It would be great to interview her and ask her about unique experiences. Besides Greg Davis, who else starred on the football team? Was that the year of Coach Esquivel? Was the baseball team any good? Did the ladies have athletic teams in 1967, 1968, or 1969? I'm interested in hearing your stories and perspectives. Thanks for posting.

Go Indians! Peace.

 

[IndianFan]

Yes, please. pngfanatic and everyone else. I've been asking\encouraging\begging for content for years. 20 years. There has never been any doubt about stories, photos, videos, memories being desired!

In the near future I will be sharing some more of the really, really old PN football history. 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. We're approaching 100 years of Indian football. Think about that. Most of our actual experiences are just the tip of the sword. We'll try to bring some of the old stuff back to life. Hoping benchwarmer53 can also help out on that.