One of the older basketball team members who enjoyed great success is 85-year-old Jim Gottman, a long-time school board member and farmer. Gottman played all four years of high school. His team won the Palmyra Tournament in 1956, his junior year. They went on to win districts and then lost their second game in state. Billy Key was his coach. In his senior year of 1957, they won the Monroe City, Palmyra and South Shelby tournaments. They won districts, but lost the first game in state competition.
Congratulations to middle school students of the month: Cameron Dowell, Kynlie Minter, Emily Shuck, and Owen Schachtsiek!! Way to work hard!
The 1956 tournament was one to remember. 31 teams participated.
That year, on the way to the state tournament, the Monroe City boys won two conference titles - the Salt River Conference and the Quin-City Conference. They won the championship in the Monroe City Tournament, the Paris and Palmyra tournaments. They also won the Class M regional tournament.
They were the only team to advance to the state tournament undefeated.
They lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament with a 35-1 record.
They still hold the Monroe City record for the most wins in the season.
Some of the members of that 1956 team are still alive. They include Jerry Burditt of Monroe City, Gary Wayne Mayes of Missouri, John Henderson of Arizona and Jim Gottman of Monroe City. Other members coached by Bill Key were Alvin Feldkamp, Richard Warren, Gene Mudd, Gene Ely, Mark Swearengen, Kermit Reynolds, Kenny Sullivan and Robbie Harris.
MS Basketball Game Day!
MS Girls Home vs. Palmyra 5pm
MS Boys @ Palmyra 5pm
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Freshman twin brothers Joe and George Talton were on the team in 1960. By seventh grade, the Hunnewell boy, Joe Talton was 6-foot-8. Twin George, now deceased, was 6-foot-6. Both Talton boys played all four years.
Monroe City schools had been integrated only a few years earlier when Talton started high school in Monroe City. Former MHS Coach Dave Almany points to Talton’s dogged determination that made him a legend. Madison had a player even taller than Talton, but Talton was determined not to be intimidated. He scored 50 points in the game, more than the entire Madison team. Monroe City won three of the four Monroe City basketball tournaments while Talton was on the team and compiled a 82-21 record with four conference championships.
In 2022, 100th MHS Tournament anniversary committee chairperson Dave Almany wrote of Talton, “School friends say his shoulders were so wide he had to turn sideways to enter classrooms, he could hold three apples in one hand and his handshake would swallow up a forearm.”
Almany, who is head track and cross-country coach at St. Charles Community College now, writes about Monroe City athletics in a blog, “America’s 50 Yard Line.” To read about Talton and other Monroe City athletes, go to http://rollingdownhwy83.blogspot.com.
Talton graduated in 1963 and became the first black athlete to play at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar until 1967 and earned a spot on the JUCO All-American team. He also served in the military, is retired and lives in Columbia now.
Athletic Weekly Activities
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In the 1946 tournament book, an ad encourages fans to buy popcorn and souvenir pencils from the “Monroe City Ag Boys” on the first floor, south hall of the building (which is now the middle school). The 1946 graduating class included Donald Benson, Doris Cullom, Barbara Lee Daniel, Maxine Dunkle, Jane Freidank, Shirley Louise Fohey, Junior Geist, Martha Lee Greening, Elvina Mae Heather, Dorothy Hedberg, Helen May Hess, Robert F. Hulen, Jack E. Jones, Mary Ethel Leake, Ava Lee Moutray, Lucille Paris Cheek, Virginia Rae Parrish, Lilburn Rubison, Beulah Fay Schofield, Kenneth Tuley, Edwina Utterback, Betty Lou Vollrath, Mildred Fern Wright and Lorene Vern Wright Seward. C.L. Gottman was superintendent of schools.
The 1945-1946 boys’ ball team included (front row) Jack Jones, J.W. Smith, Kenneth Tuley, Don Wycoff and Harvey Dole; (back row) John Hirner, Donald (Rink) Benson, Keffie Weaver, C.L. Gottman, Paul Calvert, Bob Shoemaker and Sonny Fredic.
The 1946 basketball tournament bracket in the school’s official records in a hand-written note: “Shelbyville was forced to withdraw at this point because of Scarlet Fever.” Anyone with scarlet fever was forced to quarantine and place a sign in their window. It was the ninth most common cause of death in 1946.
MHS 2016 girls’ tournament champions took the title by defeating Palmyra. It was the third time in a row that they played Palmyra in the championship game. Team members were (from left) Jada Summers, Haleigh St. Clair, Lila Yager, Ananiah Talton, Madi Hays, Asjia Troy, Emilie Okenfuss, Delanie Okenfuss, Lauren Youngblood and Bailey Hays. Photo courtesy of Brittany Johnson
In 1949, the 25th annual MHS basketball tournament fans were welcomed by the late Ivan Hendrix, then student council president. Did you know that Monroe City had a “M” club, for young men who lettered in sports? Does anyone recall what year the “M” Club ended?
Thankful for Coach Adam Rung for reading to our elementary students during library time.
Final Score!
Congrats Lady Panthers!
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MS students help out at the food pantry today. Thank you!
Game Day!
Home vs. Montgomery County
Varsity Girls only 6pm
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MS Girls basketball team take a field trip to 1ST TRUMAN WOMEN BB GAME!
One Monroe City player who went on to gain worldwide fame was actor Henderson Forsythe. Forsythe, 1917-2006, was best known for his 30-year run as Dr. David Stewart on the soap opera, “As the World Turns.” After graduation from MHS, he went on to graduate from Culver-Stockton College in 1939.
Forsythe won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” He also starred as Col. Harland Sanders in commercials for KFC restaurants.
Final Score
MS Basketball
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Congratulations to our very own MCHS teacher David Kirby on receiving the Golden Apple Award from WGEM.(Will air early next week)Mr. Kirby embodies the importance of building relationships in and out of the classroom. We're blessed to have him and his family in our community!#mcpride
Monroe City girls' basketball has remained strong through the years. Above, this 1928-29 team photo comes from Donna Boling Gottman, class of 1958. Her mother, Norma McClintock Boling is one of the players, pictured third from left. Coach was Walter Swearengen, right. Other players included Helen Harris, Justina Courtney, Elberta Smoot, a Zeiger, Jean Wade and captain Jenny Sharp who was named the best player in Monroe County and featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday, Dec. 9, 1928.
100th Monroe City Basketball Tournament
Dec. 9th-14th
Follow the link for tournament brackets, updates, rosters, and history of the tournament.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/108Cjx8Rcg6Qy56eO1RixzxfunzTytJBcr-GyanPlS4E/edit?usp=sharing
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