Varsity Basketball: 13-7 4-1 State Playoffs Coach: Dave Hammer Assistant Coaches: Mark Kling, Mike Sussli GCL Championships: 3rd out of6 Teams- 5-5 Byron Larkin became the All-Time Career Scoring Leader in Moeller history with 1336 points. This was achieved despite having played only (7) varsity games as a sophomore. He was named "GCL Player of the Year" -1st Team All-GCL. 1st Team All-District- 1st Team All-State- All-American As "Player of the Year" in Cincinnati, he was also !st Team All-City Soph Vada Murray was 2nd Team All-GCL. Seniors Ron Ober-3rct, Jamie Brock and Marty Suter were Honorable Mention. Sectional Championships: Champions District Championships: Runner-Up Moeller Opp. Win or Loss Roger Bacon 68 59 w w 39 LaSalle 46 62 Purcell Marian L 55 W -Forfeit 0 Penn Hills -Pittsburgh, Pa 2 w Norwin - Pittsburgh, Pa 48 84 76 L Cathedral Prep- Indianapolis 62 48 w Chaminade-Julienne 62 61 Elder L 60 64 Sycamore w 72 w 70 St. Xavier 76 L Alter- Kettering, Oh 74 66 w 42 Roger Bacon 75 w 56 Princeton 100 W-O.T. 57 LaSalle 59 w 73 Portsmouth 79 85 L Purcell Marian 66 w 73 McNicholas 94 L 82 Elder 69 W-O.T. 50 Mt.Healthy 62 L 65 St. Xavier 64 w 43 Norwood- State Tournam. 68 w 50 Withrow- State Tournam. 62 55 Western Hills- State Tourn. 56 58 Hughes- State Tournam. 81 L-O.T. 64 Middletown- State Tourn. 62
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Panthers catapult_Qver Moellet Crusaders yield their share;. ·I.J..-'t4 By Joe Jacobs Staff Writer Just like Moeller High School dominates Greater Cincinnati League football play~ Elder High ·School's Panthers seem to always ruie the roost when it comes to basketball. The Panthers made it nine straight years they've won or shared the GCL cage title with an ~mpressive 82-69 win over the Crusaders on their home floor Feb. 10. That ended any chance Moeller had of extending its two-year reign as co· or tri·title holder in the GCL. The loss to Elder certainly . wasn't caused by senior guard Byron Larkin, who had another splendid performance. The _Crusader co-captain tossed in 28 points for the night and was joined by Vada Murray's 17 and Ch~is Kuprionis and Jammie Brock w1th 10 points apiece as Moeller double figure scorers. 1
THE LOSS came more as a result of mental errors according to Crusader coach David Hammer. "Just a bout everything fell their ;way:" Hammer said. "We made a ~couple of stupid positionings on 'defense and that. made it look ·'worse than it was. We really didn't i play all that poorly but they :(Elder) did what they had to do to ~win. They played smart and hit the :·open man." ~ One of the open men was Elder's ~6-foot·6·inch senior center Mike 'Holmes who tallied career highs :with 31 points and 18 rebound_s. :"Holmes can play with anybody," ~Hammer said. "We lost to a good ~team. They're one of the better .,teams around.'' '• Elder was also without the ser· ·vices of starting junior guard Sean • Mason and senior forward John ·.Kemper. Although Kemper was :nursing a bad left knee, he did play ; and proceeded to twist his right j:ankle. But the inside play of ~HolmesMike Kramer, Paul ~ I-iofmeyer and Paul Geiger more
Photoe't!y JOE JACOBS
Moeller High School's Chris Kuprionis (22), above, splits Elder defenders Tim Keller (11) and Denny Bleh (13) with a pass in the Crusaders' 82·69 loss to the Panthers Feb. 10. At right, Elder's Paul Hofmeyer (41) meets some resistance from Moeller's Vada Murray (40) while Greg Heile (50) observes the proceedings. \
than made up for Elder injuries. The Crusaders jumped out to 1713 and 34·28 leads after the first two quarters but went cold in the third quarter when the Panthers pulled ahead 54-49 after 24 minutes of basketball. Moeller never could regain its touch from the field while. Elder had some easy pick· ings underneath. MOELLER HAD some injury woes of its own. Senior forward/center Ron Ober was out of the Elder game with a severely sprain· ed ankle. Ober is a key for the Crusaders underneath and they
missed his bulk in moving bodies out of the way for other Moeller players. "He really helps us," Hammer said, "and moves people around. We're hoping to have him for the tourney.'' The Crusaders w.ent to Mt. Healthy for a non-league game Feb. 14 and travel to St. Xavier Feb. 17 for the GCL and regular season finale. Fourth-seeded Moeller opens up Cincinnati Class AAA tournament play when it takes on Norwood Feb. 21 at St .. Xavier High School. "If we play consistent, we'll play . good games," Hammer said.
-------------------BYJOHNFAY Enquirer Cofltrbltor
No one In the world feels more wanted than a legitimate blue chip high school baSketball player. A big center with a soft touch or speedy guard with quick hands are Just what every college coach in the good, ole U.S. of A. wants and needs. A big time coach and his staff of tireless assistants/recruiters will spend lots of time and money to land young Mr. Blue Chip. They will tell him everything he wants to hear. They will wine him. They will dine hlm. They will do everything the NCAA !Ulows and a lot of things it doesn't. But big --ehlppers are hard to find. The college game is played mostly abOve the rim these days. Forwards are bullt like tall \lght ends. Centers are seven footers. And guards are sprinters. It takes a special kind of athlete to be able to step In and dance with that kind of fast company. LAST YEAR, Cincinnati had only one big-time prospect, Kannard Johnson, of Tart. This year's pickings aren't so thin. Four players-Moeller's Bryon Larkin, Western Hills' Andre.Gault, Purcell-Marian's Andrew Denson and Woodward's Darryl Ivery-all have a chance sign wlth.a Division I school. Ivery already has, signing early with Tennessee-Chattanooga. In addition, two players from just up the road-Hamilton Badin's Steve Eyl, who has signed with Indiana, and Middletown's Crls Carter-are considered top prospects. What follows is a list or the top recruits in Ohio. It was not reached by scientific means, rather It Is based on a survey of the various All-American/Blue Chip lists pub·ushed this year. · Tilman Beverly, 6-5, Youngstown Campbell-Had extraordinary numbers last year: 29.2 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots. Has scored 1,298 career points. Signed early with Youngstown State. Bryon Bowman, &-6, Columbus Brookhaven-Second team allstate as a junior. Good leaper. Averaged 22 points a game last year. Has visited Old Miss and Indiana State. The major concern is grades. Cris Carter, &-2, MiddfetownAll-American In both football and basketball. was leaning toward basketball but he had so much fun playing football that he Is reconsldering. A great natural athlete with incredible moves and leaping abillty. Andrew Denson, 6-5, PurrellMarian-A small forward type. Averaged 22.4 points.and 14.4 rebounds a game last year. But the question Is: will he go the pro baseball route? Has an excellent shot at~;,oing in first round of the II d ft H 't made June b ·eba ra . asn
any declslon yet. \t;; . Steve lyl, t-t, BamUNll Bad . Eyl surprtsed a lot of people March when he announced bt would sign with Indtana, which he did earlier this month. Wasn't very well known at the time or the signing. Strong. (7 rebounds a game) and quick. Didn't score a great deal last year-16.5 a gamebut has a nice shooting touch. Gave up football to concentrate tn basketball this year. • Andre Gault, &-7, Western HiUs -"A tremendous athlete, tfie quickest 6-7 kid you'll ever see," says coach Joe McNeil. Firm}y undecided about where he'll go to college. Last year's numbers: 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, while shoot: ing 54%· from the noor. Gary Grant, &-2, Canton McK~ ley-Named one of the top "u players in the country by Street and Smith. Averaged 19.3 poinf.s, six rebounds and 4.7 assists a gan,te last year. Hit .891 from the freethrow line. Has narrowed his list to 10-count,em 10-schools, including Kentucky, Ohio State aJtd Indiana. · Darryl Ivery, 6-6, Woodward::Coach Larry Mlller says: "Ivery .is the best player in the city." Vety strong at207 pounds. Averaged 15.7 points a game last year while shooting 61%. Signed w 1t h Tennessee-Chattanooga aftbr considering Mississippi aqd Kansas State. • Byrttl\ Lukin, 6-3, Moeller-n,e last of the Larkin gatlg. Brother Mike plays football at Notre Dame. Brother Barry plays baseball at Michigan. But it looks li~e Byron has picked basketball over football. Undecided as to where. 'A great scorer, averaged 23 points a game last year. Likes to set up out, side and go to the hoop. Grady Mateen, &-11, Akron Cep· tral Hower-"Already one of the nation's finest centers," accordiqg to Street and Smith. Averaged 19 points, 11 rebounds and ·5.5 blocks as a junior. A 3.3 grade point In the classroom. Ohio State. Georgetown, Michigan, Notre Dame 8J1d Purdue have best shot at signing him. . ' Anthony Robinson, &-5, Canton McKinley-Averaged 15 points and nine rebounds a game last year. Very mobile. Teams with Grant to make Canton McKinley one of tlie teams to beat In Ohio. Street and Smith rates McKinley No.3 in tHe nation. Steve Smith, &-4, Kettering Alter -Was all-state at Dayton Roth as a sophomore moved to Alter after Roth ceased operation. Was allstate again last year, averaging 18 points, five rebounds a game Swings between guard and forward. Turned down some l:Jig school tQ remain home and play at · .the University or Dayton. Steve Stoyko, &-10, Bay VillageA bit lean at 190 pounds. But has the speed to play t'he runnin game,. runs hurdles and Ion J'umps in track. I l..
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Moener, '\ft'liu. aJ;l:..citY guard Byron Larkin and f:h·'7 J~mmie Brock at forward, will give !vf.t. Healthya run tor toP honors in the area, as will Elder al,ld wes\~ ern Hills.
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Byron Larkin was first unveiled during the 1982 post-season playoffs. It was that year that the sophomore was elevated from the reserve squad and averaged close to 30 points in playoff action. Since that time, the 6-foot-3 l!enior Larkin has been rated high by a number of national publications, by virtue of liis 23-point scoring average (third in the city in scoring) and his sh<>oting percentage of 58%. Larkin was a first team all-city and honorable men.tion all-state selection last year. Also returning from last year's 156 team that tied for the GCL championship, is Jammie Brock, a 6-7 forward who averaged 12 points and six rebounds. Brock has already signed with Ohio. University. "We should have good offensive skills, but we must improve our defense," said c~ach Dave Hammer. "We have good possibilities, but the proof is in the pudding.'-' MOELLER Nam•....... . . • • • .. Jammie Brock • • • • • • Gllrry Ellis... . • • . . . . Greg Heile.. . . . . . . • . Rob Jutze. . • • • . • • • • • 8yron Larkin....... Ron Ober........... Marty Sv!'er........
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F 6-1 n ChriS Ktiiwlonls..... G ~ 175~11 Tom,~........ G ~ 1611 11 CllilrtM Prob.... . • • • G-F 6-2 17t 11 Kv•n.McK•nZI•...... G ~ 165 . 10 acla Murray •••.••• · F 6-5 110 10 ., . Coadl: Dove Hammer. Assistants: MIKe Sussn, Mark " 11ng, 0111) Ragland. .