Sun-Democrat, March 17, 1974

 

1974 All-Purchase High School Cage Squad

 

By Mark Hultman

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Seven seniors, three juniors, and a sophomore comprise the 1974 Sun-Democrat All-Purchase Basketball Team.

 

First Region champion Murray High claimed two of the spots, as did county neighbor Calloway County.

 

The 11-member squad, one more than the usual 10 because of a tie for last place, was chosen by First Region coaches before district or regional competition got underway.  Coaches could not vote for a  player on their own team.

 

Heading the list is Mayfield’s Eddie Williams, who was voted into the No. 1 position.  The 6-4 junior forward piled up 145 points, easily outdistancing the second player, St. Mary’s Gene Roof. 

 

Williams was named on 18 of 22 ballots and he picked up three first-place votes, seven second-place votes and two third-place votes.  Except for a single seventh-place vote, he was not picked lower than fifth on any of the ballots.

 

The Mayfield star, who averaged 19.5 points per contest, paced his team to a 23-6 record and he was named to the First Region All-Tournament Team.

 

Roof, the Vikings’ 6-1 sophomore forward, holds down the No. 2 position with 119 markers.  The St. Mary standout got only one vote for first place but he was named on 20 of the 22 ballots,

 

Roof, brother of Minnesota Twins’ baseball catcher, Phil Roof, averaged 20.5 markers per contest as he led his team to a 21-13 record.  Like Williams he was named to the First Region All-Tournament team.

 

Fulton County's Preston Pearson, the region’s leading scorer, took third place with 114 points.  Averaging just over 24 points per contest, the 6-0 sophomore forward picked up three first-place votes, being named on 17 of 22 ballots.

 

The hot-handed shooter reached the 25-point plateau 14 times during the season with his high (37) against Cuba early in the season.

 

The senior ranked highest on the list is Reidland’s Jeff Holland.  The Greyhounds’ 6-5 pivotman was the fourth and last to go over the 100-point level as he piled up 107, good for the No. 4 spot.

 

Holland ranked among the region’s top scorers with a 20.7 mark.  He became the all-time leading scorer in Reidland history earlier this season when he passed the 1,000 point mark.

 

A pair of First District players, Hickman County’s Sidney Spate and Carlisle County’s John Martin grabbed the fifth and sixth positions respectively.

 

Spate, the Falcons’ 6-1 senior, totalled 97 points to join the list.  The star forward averaged just over 15 points per contest in leading the First District champs to a 21-8 showing.

 Martin is one of two players from the 1973 All-Purchase team to make the squad this year.  He is the smallest player of the group, standing at 5-8.

 

Coaches voted him onto the squad with 94 markers.  The senior guard played a big part in the Comets’ owning the regions’ winningest record (26-8).

 

Martin kept the Carlisle County record of placing players on the squad as he became the eighth player in four years to gain the honors.  He averaged 17.1 markers per game.

 

Calloway County landed its top two stars on the 1974 team.  Junior pivotman James Wells was rated seventh while forward Greg Howard was a notch behind in eighth. 

 

Wells, one of the region’s tallest players, stands at 6-8, and piled up 86 points.  He was given the most votes for first (4).  The Lakers’ center averaged 22.2 markers per outing this season.

 

Howard, Calloway County’s dependable forward, is the other member of this year’s squad to also make the team last year.

 

The 6-2 senior piled up 77 points to take his place behind Wells.  Howard picked up just under 20 points per contest as he and Wells both finished among the region’s top scorers.

 

Murray High’s two standout guards made the exclusive list with Ray Lane holding down the No. 9 spot.  The 5-11 senior guard totaled 65 markers and averaged nearly 18 points as he paced the Tigers to the regional championship.

 

A tie for 10th between Murray High’s Glenn Jackson and Paducah Tilghman’s Larry Flatt forced the All-Purchase list to be expanded to 11 players this year.  Both players received 60 points from the coaches.

 

Jackson, Murray’s fine 6-0 senior guard, pulled three first-place votes in making the squad.  He averaged 19 ½ points per outing this season.

 

Flatt, a 6-3 senior forward, picked up no first-place votes but he received a balanced number of votes from the coaches.  Flatt was a 19-point producer during the season with his high (34) coming against St. Mary in the finals of the Second District tournament.

 

Besides Williams and Roof, other All-Purchase players who were named to the First Region All-Tournament team were Spate, Martin, Wells, Lane, and Jackson.

 

Players receiving honorable mention honors (in order they received votes) were Leo Henderson, Ballard Memorial; Larry McGregor, South Marshall; Danny Hudspeth, Murray High;  Larry Sanderson, Mayfield; Mike Woodard, Lone Oak; Robert Whittemore, Symsonia; Ricky Weatherspoon, Symsonia; Don Menefee, Paducah Tilghman; Mike Woods, Carlisle County; Tyrone McCuiston, Murray High; Scott Curtis, Fulton City; Steve Putteet Benton; Rick Cochran, St. Mary; Dale Pilant, North Marshall; Steve Wright, Heath; Thomas Jenkins, Carlisle County; Ronnie Goode, Lone Oak; Stan Colley, Farmington..