1953-54 Butler County High School Bears

Mon, 01/29/2024 - 12:26pm — Mark Allen

The Butler Co. High School basketball team of 1953-54. We look back down memory lane seventy years ago this year of Butler Co. High School basketball history.

The Korean War was ending, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House. America was locked in an era known as the Cold War with the Soviet Union, having emerged from World War II as the most powerful country in the world.

Butler County High School and the small community of Morgantown, Kentucky, enjoyed a basketball season that many in that time and even today would call magical. Under the direction of head coach Bill Warren, the 1953-54 varsity boys basketball team went 22-2 in regular season play. The only two losses during the regular season were to Caverna High School and Irvington High School.

The Bears entered the district tournament winning three games in a row: first, 88- 56 over Brownsville High School, then 71- 69 over Sunfish HS, and finally, the district championship, 57- 52 over Leitchfield High School. The Bears' record is now 25-2 overall, and they are heading to the Region 3 tournament.

The Bears won an opening-round game in Region 4 by defeating Leitchfield High School by a score of 61-43. In the Regional semi-finals, the Bears would go on to defeat Flaherty High School 68-59. This set the stage for the Region 4 championship title game in March 1954, when the Bears would meet Central City High School. A Regional championship win, of course, sends you onto the KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 State tournament. But the magical season ended as Central City High School defeated the Bears 79-63; the Bears finished the season as Regional runner-up with an overall record of 27-3.

The Bears roster of 1953-54 was as follows: Seniors- Bobby Green, Tom Hampton, Jimmy Hampton, Jim Holman, David Dotson, and Max Van Fleet. Juniors: Hugh Evans, David Miller, James Van Fleet. Sophomores- Wally Johnson, Alan Shields, Radean Hammers, Tommy Jones, Gary Douglas, Wallace McCoy, Ralph Romans, Thomas Harper, and Johnny Dalton. Freshman- Larry Forgy, Billy Forsythe, Jimmie Willis, Royce Martin, Johnny Martin, Kenneth Johnson, Nickie Cardwell, and Richard Ward.

We celebrate Coach Bill Warren and the young men of the 1953-54 team of Butler Co. High School as we look back seventy years ago this year. Stats, info, and records thank David Clark for researching and preserving Butler Co. High School Sports history.