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Williamsport man arrested after domestic dispute at casino hotel

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Your view: Congress must pass the Heroes Act

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Looking at the picture, I kept thinking about the movie &ldquo;Hoosiers&rdquo; with Gene Hackman as the headstrong coach, clutching his playbook and stressing fundamentals, like five passes before a shot is taken.
				Back in the school year of 1966-67, Plymouth High School became Plymouth Area &mdash; the first year of the &ldquo;monster merger&rdquo; of Wyoming Valley West. Edwardsville and Larksville kids were now a part of Plymouth Area. There were two other high schools that first year of WVW &mdash; Kingston Area and Forty Fort Area the other two.
				But they all graduated from WVW.
				That year of 1966-67 marked the beginning of a new era in local school districts and also marked the end of the era of hometown schools.
				The year before, 1965-66, Plymouth High School won the District 2 title before falling to Williamsport of District 4 in a controversial contest played at the Scranton CYC.
				Anyway, the merger happened and we resumed school with a whole bunch of new kids. The following year, kids from all nine towns that comprised WVW would attend one school. It was a huge adjustment &mdash; one that some have yet to fully accept. But it is what it is.
				But looking at that picture of the 1966-67 Plymouth Area basketball squad brought back many memories of competitive practices.
				First of all, just look at that team. This was a talented group, for sure. And Coach Joe Evan was as good as it gets. Coach Evan knew basketball and he knew how to plan for every opponent.
				During the 1965-66 season, we were getting ready to play Dallas, who had an outstanding player named Mike Wilkes.
				Wilkes, who was first team All-State at Dallas, would go on to play at the University of Virginia. Coach Evan chose me to play the role of Mike Wilkes during our practices leading up to the game. He told me that whenever I got the ball, to shoot it. He didn&rsquo;t care how many guys were guarding me or whether I was open.
				&ldquo;Just shoot the ball every time you get it,&rdquo; he instructed.
				Now, I have been know to take a few shots that perhaps I shouldn&rsquo;t have, but not like this. It was fun to shoot every time, despite the fact that I don&rsquo;t think I made any &mdash; in fact, I rarely hit the banking board. But it sure was fun.
				And Coach Evan made his point. He got the team to get to a mindset that whenever Mike Wilkes was gong to get the ball, he would look to shoot.
				It worked. We won.
				As I look back on those years, and I see those great uniforms, red with black and white trim, I think of the Hickory Hoosiers of Hollywood fame. We were them. We didn&rsquo;t win a state title, but we were part of an era when hometowns faithfully followed their teams and rabidly cheered for them.
				Small band-box gymnasiums, overflow crowds and good, solid, fundamental basketball. Even the referees were part of the ambiance.
				There were a lot of good teams back then: Swoyersville Sailors, Nanticoke Nans/Rams, Newport Nutcrackers, Northwest Rangers, Kingston Huskies, West Pittston Rams, St. Vincent&rsquo;s Vinnies, Meyers Mohawks, Dallas Mountaineers, the Catholic League teams, the Valley League teams, the North League teams and the Wyoming Valley League teams, to name a few.
				Good teams, good players, great coaches, intimate venues, big crowds.
				And pride everywhere.

Beyond the Byline: Vintage Plymouth Area basketball photo conjures up past