When I started teaching in 1969, I did not coach. However,
I did support the basketball coaches and their teams. In 1969, those coaches
were Gerry Kreuder at grades 5-6, and Denny Woods at grades 7-8.
Gerry and I had started teaching together that year and we
became close friends. He and Denny needed someone to be the teams’ scorekeeper,
so they asked me if I would do it. It paid a few dollars for each game, and I
definitely needed the money. I didn’t know how to keep score, but I found
enough information to help me do it.
Doing it and doing it well are two different things.
When one watches a basketball game, you tend to focus on the ball and usually the activities
of your team’s players. A scorekeeper has to keep track of both teams. It is
also necessary for the scorekeeper to make sure that all points and fouls are
recorded. In addition, the scorekeeper keeps track of the free throws attempted
and missed. The scorekeeper determines when a team has committed more fouls
than allowed in a half and indicates which team will receive a bonus free throw
(known as a 1 and 1). The scorekeeper marks this designation using a “V” (Visitor)or
“H” (Home) so the referees know which team is to receive a bonus. The scorekeeper also records the number of timeouts for each team.
Players must report to the scorekeeper before entering the
game and report which player they are replacing. The player’s uniform number
must be properly recorded in the score book, or a technical foul is assessed for
each incorrect number in the score book. The coach also has to identify which 5
players will be starting the game. Initial recording of the numbers is the
coach’s responsibility, and errors result in technical fouls against the
coach’s team. If more timeouts are taken than allowed each is another technical foul on the team. Of course, coaches and players can get a technical foul for arguing with a referee. My buddy, Gerry, was pretty good at getting those.
When I was a coach, I got caught several times with
technical fouls on uniform numbers. For some strange reason, our home numbers
were always one number lower than our away uniforms. That is number 10 in the
home jersey was number 11 in the away uniform. The reason for error was always
a home game following an away game or vice versa. I would just copy the lineup
from the prior game, and forget to change the numbers.
Each team kept their own score book, so there were two
scorekeepers sitting at the scorer table. The home team score book was agreed to be the official book.We followed the same rules used at
the high school level. The only difference was that there is an official trained scorekeeper in high school. That scorekeeper, like the
officials and official timer, were hired by the home team. In high school, one official was keeping score in addition to the timer who ran the scoreboard. In junior high,
where cost was a factor, many of the scorekeepers are volunteers.
Because junior high scorekeepers were not trained
scorekeepers, there were often errors made in score-keeping. Add to that the
games were often exciting, especially when there was a history of close games
between two schools. To reduce errors, the scorekeepers usually communicated
with each other to make sure scores are not missed, but when the books didn’t
agree, the home team book ruled. The book, not the scoreboard, had the official
score. The referees always verified the score with the scorekeeper before
deciding when a game is over.
Today, much of the score-keeping is done electronically. It
includes shot location, made and missed shots, rebounds, assists, turnovers,
and which team gets possession on a held ball. We didn’t keep track of any of
that, and we still had a difficult time keeping the score accurate.
Over time, I improved at score-keeping, and I made fewer
errors. Early on, my error was failure to immediately record a made shot. I quickly
found out, that I had to keep my pencil in the book and watch both teams
closely.
Gerry’s teams his first two years were outstanding. He had a number
of great athletes who would go on the play in high school. Many played on
Fulton High School’s first state championship football team and one would be
honored as All State in football.
Gerry was also a great coach and pushed his players hard. The
result of this combination were undefeated teams for the 1969-70 and 1970-71 school years Any coach will
tell you and undefeated season is a rarity. In my years of coaching, I only had
one.Gerry started with two of them.
There is a caveat to one of the undefeated teams and it involves the
scorekeeper’s official book. The game was at Fulton Christian. FC was a small
private school, that had some great teams, but they didn’t have a gym. In order
to play basketball, the school had to rent a gym. The gym they rented for home
games was at Fulton Junior High.
When we played Fulton Christian the first time, it was in
our new home gym. (See my prior blog entitled Slip, Slidin' Away in the AGS Gym). This was probably the 1970-71 season.The game was exciting and close, but Gerry’s team won. The return game at
Fulton Christian was near the end of the season and Gerry’s team had not lost a
game.
The game was extremely close with the lead changing hands multiple
times. Albany had a one point lead with seconds to go in the game, when an Albany
player fouled FC’s best shooter. The FC player had a 1 and 1 free throw. He
made the first one, tying the game. He made the next one as well giving FC a
one point lead. Albany in bounded the ball, but did not score.
Except, the official scorer from Fulton Christian became so
excited when the second free throw was made, he failed to mark it in the book. When
the referees checked the official final score, it was tied. I didn’t know what
had happened at the time, but did not argue with the official score.
Both teams were already in the locker room, when the referees
reviewed the official score book. They decided the game was tied and should go
into overtime. Albany was elated, but Fulton Christian was heartbroken. Albany
easily won the overtime and the game.
To this day, I feel I should have argued for the correction.
I am not proud that I did not.
Gerry would go on to coach basketball for many years. He
had many great teams. Denny retired from coaching basketball. Gerry moved up to coach grade 7-8. I took over at grade 5-6 in 1973 and Nancy (Harvey)
Countryman became our scorekeeper. Gerry’s teams were outstanding and his
coaching earned him multiple junior high coach of the year honors for our district.
It wasn’t long before many of the starting players on Fulton High School basketball
team had played for Gerry in Albany. I believe he never had a losing season,
but were both of his first two teams undefeated?
