When Sports Were Played: 1985-86 Washington basketball made it look easy
The 1985-86 Washington High School boys basketball team defeated its opponents in the state tournament by an average of 27.4 points per game.
The 1985-86 Washington High School boys basketball team celebrates after its 68-50 win over Wilkes-Barre G.A.R. in the PIAA Class AA championship game at the Hersheypark Arena.
The 1986 PIAA Class AA boys basketball championship trophy.
Coach Ron Faust, right, guided Washington High School to state basketball championships in 1984 and 1986.
In the first “When Sports Were Played” we look back at a story that dominated the O-R’s sports section exactly 34 years ago today: Washington’s victory in the PIAA Class AA boys basketball championship game.
HERSHEY – It was certainly fitting that Washington High School won this game with ease. Its entire basketball season had been an exercise in dominance, a display of talent and team play so overwhelming no one could have feigned surprise at the way in which it ended here Saturday afternoon.
If, indeed, you are only as good as your last game, then these guys are incomparable.
The Little Presidents (29-1) led by as many as 16 points in the first half before winning their second PIAA Class AA championship in three years with a 68-50 victory over Wilkes-Barre G.A.R. (29-3) at Hersheypark Arena. A crowd of 4,497 witnessed the most lopsided Class AA title game in seven years.
“In the limited games I’ve seen up here, I’m not sure how many teams came out and took command of the game that early and then held it off at 16 or 18 points through the whole game,” said Washington coach Ron Faust, whose 1984 team won the school’s first PIAA title with a 45-43 victory over Delone Catholic. “That wasn’t a typical state championship game, I don’t think.”
This was not your typical state championship team, either.
After winning 19 of 20 regular-season games by an average margin of 29.9 points, Washington rolled to its third consecutive WPIAL title by defeating four playoff opponents by an average of 24.2 points. In PIAA play, the Little Presidents won five games by an average of 27.4 points.
“They were the best team I’ve seen this year,” said G.A.R. coach John Hopkins.
Senior center Ron Moore (6-2) and senior forward Furlo Ellis (6-2) scored 16 points each and combined for 22 rebounds in helping neutralize Greg Skrepenak, the Grenadiers’ 6-7½ junior center. Senior point guard Sean McKenzie scored eight of his 14 points and senior guard Mark Popeck seven of his 11 in the first half, which saw Washington shoot 48.5 percent from the floor and earn a 35-23 lead.
“Once we got started in the game, when we saw what the tempo was, the kids couldn’t wait to play the rest of it,” Faust said. “When they saw that we were going to get to run, and we were going to get to maybe, at the end, showboat a little … boy, they couldn’t wait to get there.”
Skrepenak finished with a game-high 24 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, but he had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the second half, when the pace – and the outcome – of the game had been largely decided.
“They were a quick team, and it seemed like they stuck everything they shot,” said Skrepenak. “I thought they would run a lot and try to wear us down. They did run a lot, but their outside shooting was just great. They have great athletes on that team.”
Ellis, who had a team-high 13 rebounds, converted a pair of layups to break a 4-4 tie and McKenzie followed with a pair of jump shots that gave Washington a 12-4 lead with 4:11 to play in the first quarter. Senior guard Billy Callahan scored his only point of the first half to help G.A.R. cut that lead to three later in the quarter, but the Little Presidents were ahead by 11 points, 24-13, after two minutes of play in the second quarter.
“We just got behind too early and couldn’t really make it up,” said the 6-3 Callahan, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Callahan converted his first field goal of the game 24 seconds into the second half to cut the Washington lead to 10 points, but Moore then took an alley-oop pass from Popeck and scored two of his six third-quarter points to ensure there would be no comeback.
“We could not stop them defensively,” said Hopkins, whose team played a variety of zone defenses before switching to a man-to-man in the final quarter. “We thought maybe we’d pack it in, see if we could get a hand in their face when they shoot, but they put it right in. We tried following it with a 1-3-1, maybe matching up with them, but they solved that. They drove by the guy.
“At halftime I told them, ‘We didn’t come down here to keep it close. So we’re going after them with a trapping defense in the third quarter, and if that doesn’t work we’re going after them man-to-man.’ Whatever we did, they had the answer immediately. There was no hesitation.”
Said Popeck, whose defense helped force 19 G.A. R. turnovers, including eight in the third quarter, “It really wasn’t that exciting this year, but no matter how bad we were winning, it was still a state championship.”