This week in Villa Grove Blue Devils hoops history

By Tony Hooker
This week’s look back at VGHS basketball sees the Blue Devils begin to gear up for regional play.

1959
Horse around with Trojans
Jim Duncan had 22 points, Bob Gaines tallied 19, Danny Corbin added 15, and Joe Eversole chipped in 12 as VGHS defeated ABL 74-64.  

Different team, same mascot, same results
The Blue Devils defeated Charleston 81-74 as Bob Gaines continued to round into game shape, pouring in 25 points.  Danny Corbin added 17, Schackel added 14, Eversole 12 and Howard helped out with ten.

1965
Unseat Riders
The Blue Devils stayed alive in Regional play with a thrilling 64-63 win over Arcola.  The Riders took a 63-62 lead when Gary Taylor scored on a driving layup with eight seconds left, only to see VGHS pull out the win when Chuck Smith canned a 10-foot jumper  off a perfect feed from Jerry Harvey with just two seconds remaining.  John McGrath tallied 30 points to lead the way for the Grovers, and Larry Sigler added 14. 

Scuttle Pirates
The “Cinderella Team” made it home before midnight and celebrated a Regional championship with a 55-52 win over Cumberland in the Regional final.   John McGrath and Chuck Smith led the way, tallying 18 points each,  and Jerry Harvey chipped in nine for VGHS, who saw a 10-point fourth quarter lead dwindle to three before Smith sank both ends of a one and one opportunity to cement the victory.  

1975
Bow before Rajahs
Atwood Hammond took advantage of Stan Prosser’s ankle sprain and defeated VGHS 62-61 in a LOVC tournament semifinal contest.  Joe Waymire led the way with 18 points, and Tim Keith added 13.  Prosser, who gamely re-entered the game with a heavily taped ankle in the fourth quarter, added 10 points as VG saw their valiant comeback from a ten-point fourth quarter deficit fall just short as Brian Car’s last gasp shot rolled off the rim.  Carr finished with nine points on the night.

Cage Bulldogs
Playing without Prosser, the Blue Devils bounced back to defeat Bement 64-53 in the third-place contest. Carr led the way with 20 points, Waymire tallied 16 and Keith added 12.  

1984
Defeat Rajahs
Doug Reed had 23 points and Kevin Moraski added 18 as VGHS routed Atwood Hammond 85-51.  Moose Eckerty also reached double figures for the Blue Devils, netting ten points as the Grovers saw 10 players score points in the win. 

Unsaddle Riders
Doug Reed continued his strong play with 17 points to lead all scorers as VG defeated Arcola 60-55.  

84 Girls basketball
Buck Broncos
Marie Kleiss poured in 16 points and Cheri Howard chipped in 13 as VGHS defeated Cerro Gordo 50-44. Melissa Madigan added eight points and Cathy Homma chipped in 7 for the victors.

Fall to Warriors 
Kleiss had 13 points and Lori Knight added ten but the Devils dropped a close one to Tuscola, falling 41-36.  Madigan and Homma helped out with 6 each in the loss.