We enter the top five of my countdown of top sports stories of the year. For this one we head over to the School of the Ozarks.
5- School of the Ozarks Basketball.
The School of the Ozarks started the basketball season losing two of their first three games in the Forsyth Tournament. They lost to schools more than SIX times their size and both games they lost on shots at the buzzer.
Little did we know at that time, that they would not lose again until the State Quarterfinals. Coach Jerry Martin’s ballclub went on a streak to behold. Running through their competition with a combination of tough defense and deadly three point shooting, to go along with an aggressive rebounding game.
They would host and win the district championship at the Keeter Athletic Complex on the Campus of College of the Ozarks including a 72-34 blowout over Bradleyville in the Championship game. They would then head to Cabool where they would dispose of Eminence by 20 in the sectional finals of the state playoffs.
Gideon would end the run for the Patriots in the Quarterfinals. But not before the Patriots racked up a total of 22 wins, including 21 in a row.
