You can read the full story here. It's a great article, and talks about not only The Untouchables, but also the culture of basketball in Lawrence County.When the Fairland Dragons, from Proctorville, Ohio, a Division III representative from Lawrence County, shows up to play Villa Angela St. Joseph in Friday’s semi-final round, it’ll mark the first time that Fairland has made a state tourney appearance in 67 years – and only their second time in the 95 year history of the boys state tournament! That’s a long, long time. The old Rome High School (predecessor to Fairland), where my dad played in the 40’s, made appearances in 1924 and ’26, but there’s no one around who remembers that.
I’m not going to lie; I’ll be pulling for the Dragons, and here’s why. I grew up in that community, outside Chesapeake, on the Ohio River. And my mother, Leona Fulks, actually taught at Fairland in the late 50’s with people like Thelma Eaton, Lavina Church, and principal Nick Visnick. Fairland High School is located on Ohio route 7, and a lot of people in the community who read this will remember those names immediately.
Back then the school had a great tradition for high school basketball, coached by a man named Carl York, who played prep basketball in Mullens, West Virginia, for a coach named Lewis D’Antoni. If that name sounds familiar D’Antoni is the father of current Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni and Houston Rockets coach, Mike D’Antoni. York later played his college basketball at Marshall for the legendary Cam Henderson, who also coached NBA great Hal Greer during his days for the Thundering Herd (then called The Big Green).
I wanted to share one more quote from the article, because it seems to sum up Coach Carl York's legacy at FHS very well
"Well, I learned how important disappointment is in your life if you ever want to appreciate being happy,” he said. “I had a good life in coaching. I had wonderful players that went on to be good men, dads, husbands, and community leaders. That day was probably my worst in coaching, but I’ll never forget how quickly those boys got back to being good people after the state tournament. I’ll always believe that their priorities in life were shaped by the outcome of that basketball game.” - Carl York (on the 1961 OHSAA Semifinals Game, FHS v. Ayersville)