1965 Martin Purple Flash

MARTIN 1965                                          This group of 1965 Martin Purple Flash boys basketballers won the eight team 58th District Tournament which consisted of all Floyd County teams at the time,  by defeating Garrett, Prestonsburg and Wayland.   Then in the 15th Region Tournament they defeated 59th Region champs Meade Memorial 55-51, 57th District champ Belfry 76-49 and 60th District champs Morgan County 64-51 to claim the 15th Region title and a trip to the Sweet 16.                          In that State Tournament they drew Breckinridge County with their great senior  first team All Stater and future Louisville Cardinal Butch Beard. The Purple Flash had a first team All State player of their own in Larry Hall and All State Honorable Mention selections that year in Stevie Halbert and Tommy Woods.                                                       But this was the year of Breckinridge County as they not only defeated the Purple Flash 73-55 but took out Shelby County, Hazard and Holy Cross to take the State crown.                                       But the Purple Flash had made not only their school proud and their future Hall of Fame coach Denzil “ Hoss” Halbert proud but the entire 15th Region as well. It was a year still talked about today.    The Purple Flash wrapped the season with a 36-3 record. It was  the only season the school ever played in the State Tournament. Martin closed its high school after the 1971-72 school year and consolidated with Garrett, Wayland and Maytown to form Allen Central High School.                                                    Were the 36 wins for Martin the most of any Floyd County boys basketball team in history?  Let’s have a look.   There were a few high schools that had short term basketball teams so we won’t count them here. A quick check shows those teams never had that many wins. They were Bonanza, Weeksbury, Beaver and Lackey. So we will look at the others.  We will include  that season’s won/ lost record for each.         All info comes from the Ky High School Basketball Encyclopedia 100th Anniversary Edition so Floyd Central records weren’t available as it began after the book was published . Prestonsburg: 28-14 in 1940-41.        Garrett: 30-13 in 1947-48.                          Maytown: 35-3 in 1968-69.                           Wayland: 35-7 in 1946-47 and 35-6 in 1955-56.                                       McDowell: 35-6 in 1945-46.                           Wheelwright : 32-4 in 1960-61.         South Floyd: 25-6 in 1999-00.                       Betsy Layne: 32-4 in 1971-72.                        Allen Central : 30-6 in 1979-80.             So the 36 wins Martin won that season was the highest amount of wins ever of all those Floyd County schools. But look at all those big win seasons for each school. And there were more for each. These were just the most wins in a season for each.   Photo of the 1964-65 team from the Floyd County yearbook

MARTIN 1965                                          This group of 1965 Martin Purple Flash boys basketballers won the eight team 58th District Tournament which consisted of all Floyd County teams at the time,  by defeating Garrett, Prestonsburg and Wayland.   Then in the 15th Region Tournament they defeated 59th Region champs Meade Memorial 55-51, 57th District champ Belfry 76-49 and 60th District champs Morgan County 64-51 to claim the 15th Region title and a trip to the Sweet 16.                          In that State Tournament they drew Breckinridge County with their great senior  first team All Stater and future Louisville Cardinal Butch Beard. The Purple Flash had a first team All State player of their own in Larry Hall and All State Honorable Mention selections that year in Stevie Halbert and Tommy Woods.                                                       But this was the year of Breckinridge County as they not only defeated the Purple Flash 73-55 but took out Shelby County, Hazard and Holy Cross to take the State crown.                                       But the Purple Flash had made not only their school proud and their future Hall of Fame coach Denzil “ Hoss” Halbert proud but the entire 15th Region as well. It was a year still talked about today.    The Purple Flash wrapped the season with a 36-3 record. It was  the only season the school ever played in the State Tournament. Martin closed its high school after the 1971-72 school year and consolidated with Garrett, Wayland and Maytown to form Allen Central High School.                                                    Were the 36 wins for Martin the most of any Floyd County boys basketball team in history?  Let’s have a look.   There were a few high schools that had short term basketball teams so we won’t count them here. A quick check shows those teams never had that many wins. They were Bonanza, Weeksbury, Beaver and Lackey. So we will look at the others.  We will include  that season’s won/ lost record for each.         All info comes from the Ky High School Basketball Encyclopedia 100th Anniversary Edition so Floyd Central records weren’t available as it began after the book was published . Prestonsburg: 28-14 in 1940-41.        Garrett: 30-13 in 1947-48.                          Maytown: 35-3 in 1968-69.                           Wayland: 35-7 in 1946-47 and 35-6 in 1955-56.                                       McDowell: 35-6 in 1945-46.                           Wheelwright : 32-4 in 1960-61.         South Floyd: 25-6 in 1999-00.                       Betsy Layne: 32-4 in 1971-72.                        Allen Central : 30-6 in 1979-80.             So the 36 wins Martin won that season was the highest amount of wins ever of all those Floyd County schools. But look at all those big win seasons for each school. And there were more for each. These were just the most wins in a season for each.   Photo of the 1964-65 team from the Floyd County yearbook