A look back at Villa Grove Blue Devils hoops history
By Tony Hooker
Here is this week’s look at past successes of VG Blue Devils regional winners from 1959, 1965, 1975 and 1984, the last four teams to win a Regional in Boys’ basketball.
1959
Unseat Riders
Jim Duncan poured in 24 points and Danny Corbin added 17 as Villa Grove outlasted Arcola 69-63 in an early Okaw Conference Tournament contest at Unity. The Blue Devils splashed 24 of 28 free throws in the win.
Blasted by Rockets
Unity avenged an earlier defeat by beating the Blue Devils 61-48 in their second game of the OVC tournament. VGHS, playing without Bob Gaines, who was out with the mumps, got 18 points from Jim Duncan and 17 from Danny Corbin in the loss.
1965
Horse around with Trojans
Villa Grove blasted ABL 83-57 behind 18 points from Don Burgett. Larry Sigler backed him with 17 and Chuck Smith added 12 in the win.
Beat Sullivan
The Blue Devils stretched their winning streak to four games with a taut 80-78 win over Sullivan. John McGrath poured in 24 points, Larry Sigler added 20 and Chuck Smith chipped in 19 for VGHS.
1975
Bust Broncos
Cerro Gordo, the two-time defending conference champions, put up a valiant effort, but VG proved to be too much in a 57-39 road win. Stan Prosser had 28 points and 14 rebounds, fellow big man Joe Waymire added 12 points and pulled down 15 boards to help out. Tim Keith put together a nice stat line with 10 assists, eight points and seven rebounds, and Brian Carr chipped in seven points and 10 boards of his own as VG dominated on the glass to the tune of a 49-19 rebound advantage.
Treed by Oaks
Abysmal Free Throw Shooting (4-16) cost the Blue Devils as they dropped a 54-52 overtime decision to Oakland. Stan Prosser netted 28 points and Tim Keith added nine to lead the way for VGHS, who could have clinched a tie for the conference title with a win.
1984
Girls basketball
Beaten by Trojans
The Lady Blue Devils opened their season on January 5 with a 51-40 loss to ABL. Lori Knight led the Blue Devils with 12 points.
Cage Panthers
Knight again led the way, tallying 15 points and Marie Kleiss chipped in with 13 as VGHS defeated Homer 46-42.
Boys’ basketball
Fall to Redskins
Villa Grove dropped a tight contest to Sullivan by a 60-58 count when Doug Reed’s apparent game tying bucket was waved off by an official. No individual stats were available for this contest.
Bust Broncos
Doug Reed had a team high 18 points, and Kevin Moraski added 17, but his biggest contribution might have been on the defensive end as he had two crucial steals down the stretch as Villa Grove defeated Cerro Gordo 67-62. Andrew Turner added 11 points and Mark Eckerty tallied 10 as the Blue Devils moved their record to 6-1 in the conference and 10-5 overall with the win.
