Article: State Champ Team of 1960 Celebrated in Front of Current 'Cats Saturday
State Champ Team of 1960 Celebrated in Front of Current 'Cats Saturday
Posted Date: 01/30/2023
The 1960 Madill boys Class B basketball state championship team was celebrated in front of the current Wildcats Saturday. This team went 25-4 that season. The only losses came against Purcell twice, Ardmore Douglass and Pauls Valley. The Wildcats flipped the script by defeating Ardmore Douglass in the distict playoff finals and Purcell in the regional round. Madill turned into the favorite heading into the state tournament. Madill dispatched Canton 57-32 in the quarterfinals, throttled Spiro 49-40 in the semifinal and grabbed the golden trophy by eclipsing Beggs Wheatley 66-47 in the championship contest.
“The five seniors on that team,” Logan Beard said was part of what made that team special.
George Stokes was an all-state football and basketball player for the ‘Cats. Stokes went on to play football at the University of Oklahoma for Bud Wilkinson. Stokes and Charles Harp were named to the all-tournament first team in the state tourney. Stokes capped off the year logging 21 points and 13 rebounds. Harp contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds in the finals.
There were only four classes of high school basketball in that era. There was 2A, A, B and C.
A star player for Beggs Wheatley named Randolph Ferch went on to win four gold medals at the state track meet.
Head coach Gordon Vaughn had help from football coach Bill Ayres.
“Everybody was tickled to death,” Beard said of bringing the trophy back to school. “We had a lot of people up there for the finals.”
“We got in those corners and everything and threw the ball until someone was open,” Beard said of the offense they employed.
Madill athletics director Brett Weiberg joined them on the court and present them with Madill apparel
Photo (l-r): Madill athletics director Brett Weiberg, David Ragland, Judy Smiley, Bob Walker, Dianne Walker, Lucy Cox, Lowell Cox, Logan Beard and Mary Lou Beard
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
