By Rob Ginter - Staff Writer
Members of the Rowan County Vikings 16th Region Championship Basketball teams from 1987, 1988 and 1989 will reunite and be recognized tonight during the East Carter at Rowan County basketball game. A reception will begin at 5:45 p.m. in the Viking Café. Team members and Coach Tim Moore will be recognized before the varsity game.
“We fell into the perfect storm,” said Jeremy Morgan, member of the 1987 and 1988 and Assistant Coach of 1989 Viking championship teams. “We were a pretty talented bunch not overly talented, but Coach Moore showed up at the right time and gave us some direction.”
“Playing with those guys is something I’ll never forget and I cherish it especially during region time,” said Michael Price, member of ‘87 and ‘88 Viking championship teams. “It was kind of a ‘Hoosier’ story because we weren’t that good of a team before Coach Moore got there. I carried a lot of what he taught me to this day. Myself and Jason Blair, Greg Adkins and Ronnie Moore played basketball together since we were in elementary school. Every Saturday morning at Laughlin we were on the same team. I could almost read what they were doing. We played together and knew what the other guy was going to do.
“He inherited a pretty good young team,” Price said. “None of us knew anything about the flex offense he brought in. No one in the region knew how to defend it but we did really know how to run it.
“Coach Moore came in and broke us down,” Price said. “He was tough as nails. We would practice so hard, he would tell us to come in at 7 in the morning and say he was going to have to see who was with us. He would roll the ball down the court and sling that thing down the base line. He would call your name and you would have to go get it and he would blow the whistle and you pretty much had to dive to get that ball before it hit the other baseline. Sometimes when he would blow the whistle the ball would already be way past half court. I don’t know if coaches would get away with that now. He broke us down and built us up into the team he wanted us to be.”
“The ‘87 team had a losing record and we were terrible at the beginning,” Price said. “We played the district at home and we got on a roll. Morgan County had the better team out of our district.”
The 1987 Viking basketball team beat the Morgan County Cougars 65-49 to capture the 61st district crown. After the game coach Moore gave his philosophy for the Vikings.
“All year long our theme has been to play 10 down two to go basketball for the entire game,” said Moore. “That is, we want to always play the whole game like we’re 10 points down with two minutes to go.”
The Vikings had a 10-16 record for 1987 season going into the district. The Vikings would go on to shock the region upsetting highly favored Boyd County 61-48 to win the regional championship for the fist time in the school’s history. Before the 1987 team, the last time the public high school in Rowan County went to the regional final was a losing effort in 1941.
The Vikings went on a roll to won regional titles in ‘87, ‘88, and ‘89.
“It’s been 23 years since the first regional championship,” Moore said. “What you reflect back on is that you had a group of kids that were willing to stay focused and were willing to sacrifice in the hope of becoming a champion. That was really special to take what some people looked at like a fluke and the third championship team and we had a really special group of kids that worked hard and believed that if we pulled together and sacrificed we could win.
“I’m most proud of that our kids were great representatives of our team, the school and our families in the communities,” Moore said. “They did well in the classroom and that meant more to me. They were willing to commit to and work at a level that was higher than a lot of people nowadays. I’m proud of their accomplishment, they went above and beyond.
“It is all about helping people reach goals that they think something is unattainable,” Moore said. “I look forward to those kids seeing each other and positive recognition for their accomplishments, these things are big accomplishments.”
“I really appreciate people putting this together for us,” Price said. “I’m excited.”
“It’s nice to be remembered,” Morgan said. “We’re all really honored. I’ve talked to a few of the guys along the way, but the best part will be getting back to Morehead and seeing familiar faces.”
