Uniontown celebration to include 1925 team, 1,000-point scorers
There will be a lot of history on hand when Uniontown无毛视频檚 boys basketball team hosts Gateway Friday at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium.
The Uniontown Area High School Academics, Arts and Athletics Hall of Fame will honor the Red Raiders无毛视频� four PIAA championship boys basketball teams as well as its 1,000-point scorers before the Section 1-5A game.
The centerpiece of the event is Uniontown无毛视频檚 1924-25 team, which won the school无毛视频檚 first state title a century ago.
无毛视频淭his marks 100 years since the 1925 team won the state championship and we无毛视频檙e celebrating that, No. 1,无毛视频� said Uniontown Hall of Fame chairman Tony Mercadante. 无毛视频淏ut since we only have two surviving relatives from that team 无毛视频� one is coach Everhart无毛视频檚 grandson who will be there, and Les Cohen, who can无毛视频檛 make it 无毛视频� we decided we无毛视频檇 honor the 无毛视频�62, 无毛视频�64 and 1981 state championship teams and also the 1,000-point scorers. We无毛视频檝e got 10 or 11 of the 1,000-point scorers coming, a couple guys from the 无毛视频�62 team, one from the 无毛视频�64 team and about seven from the 无毛视频�81 team.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going to hold a get-together with some food at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria before Friday无毛视频檚 game, then introduce everybody in a pregame ceremony.无毛视频�
Three of the most recent Red Raiders无毛视频� 1,000-point scorers will be there, as Jamire Braxton and Notorious Grooms hit the mark last season, and Calvin Winfrey III this season. Grooms and Winfrey are current members of the team.
The 1924-25 team went 23-1, with its lone coming to the Pitt freshman team. In the WPIAL playoffs, the Red Raiders defeated Homestead, 24-22, behind 12 points from Charlie Hyatt, Tarentum, 47-27, thanks to 17 points from Cohen and 16 from Hyatt, and Edgewood, 23-16, in the district final, with Cecil Connelly scoring nine points.
In the PIAA playoffs, Uniontown beat Erie East, 30-20, with 12 points from Cohen, Lock Haven, 30-21, and Williamsport, 21-14, in the state final.
The 1924-25 team then was invited to play in a de facto high school national championship tournament in Chicago where it went 2-1.
There will be a couple vintage clips shown at the pregame event.
无毛视频淲e have one of the 无毛视频�25 team coming back from the train in Connellsville (after winning the state championship) and one of Ron Sepic, who was on the 无毛视频�62 state title team, on the Ed Sullivan Show with the high school 1963 All-American team, with Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar),无毛视频� Mercadante said.
Mercadante also owns a letter that Jabbar sent to Sepic when he was ill on March 20, 2020. Sepic died 11 days later.
无毛视频淜areem found out Ron was sick and sent that note out to him, which I thought was amazing by him,无毛视频� Mercadante said. 无毛视频淩on无毛视频檚 wife gave me a copy of the letter. Ron was the only Uniontown player to earn that All-American honor.无毛视频�
Uniontown无毛视频檚 list of 20 1,000-point scorers is topped by Terrance Vaughns with 1,721 but Grooms is threatening that mark. The senior无毛视频檚 career total was at 1,524 going into Tuesday night无毛视频檚 game at McKeesport.
Marc Vassar (1,420) is third, followed by Ray Robinson (1,406), Don Yates (1,344), Billy DeShields (1,329), Dierre Jenkins (1,244), Winfrey (1,231), Braxton (1,201), Greg Gabriel (1,156), Chris Jacobs (1,131), Jordan Pratt (1,108), Mel Freeman (1,103), Junior Mays (1,092), Arnie Belt (1,087), Earl Minor (1,076), Sepic (1,071), Darrin McLee (1,060), Chris Polumbo (1,059) and Kevin Kozup (1,008).
There are four girls who have scored 1,000 points for Uniontown, the most recent being Mya Murray in 2020. Jocelyn Chandler is the school无毛视频檚 all-time leader scorer, boys and girls combined, at 2,048. Murray finished with 1,363, and is followed by Becky Oglevee (1,261) and Kelsey Sleighter (1,245).