Raytown, Central put on a game for the ages

Editor’s note: Retiring sports writer Dick Puhr is chronicling his top 10 memories of his 48 years at The Examiner over a 10-week period. Here is No. 3.

Former Truman boys basketball coach Steve Broughton, now the girls coach at Grain Valley, called it the greatest high school basketball game he has ever seen.
Many others agreed, including this writer.
A packed crowd – estimated at more than 10,000 and probably the largest ever to watch a high school game in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium – was there. It was Raytown, 27-0 and and ranked No. 1 in the state, vs. No. 3 Kansas City Central.
And, after two overtimes, Central prevailed 80-73 on March 4, 1995 in the Class 4 state quarterfinals.
If not for Derek Hood hitting the only 3-pointer of his high school career, Raytown probably would have triumphed and advanced to the final four.
“There was never a bigger crowd watching a game,” Raytown coach Mark Scanlon said. “You had two Division I players and two great teams. The atmosphere was unbelievable. I think it was the greatest high school basketball game in the history of the state. Even though we lost, I’m proud to be part of that game.”
The 6-foot-8 Hood, who went on to star the University of Arkansas, scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
As the final seconds were ticking off to end regulation play and with Central trailing 60-57, Hood put up a shot. He didn’t know at the time it was a 3-pointer. The ball found nothing but net, and the teams went into the first overtime.
Hood then scored all of Central’s points in the three-minute overtime. The Blue Eagles pulled away in the second overtime for the dramatic win.
“It probably was the most exciting game in my career,” said 84-year-old Jack Bush, who coached for 53 years, including the last 32 at Central. “No other game could top it. It was a barn burner. Everybody was sitting on the edge of their seats. I think there were more people there than should have been allowed.
“It was a great, fabulous win. Raytown did a fantastic job and kept its composure. They took a lead, we took a lead.”
Raytown was led by super quick guard Tyronn Lue, who later started at Nebraska and then for several NBA teams. He scored 30 points, finishing the season with 658 and breaking the school single-season scoring record of 627 set by former Raytown South coach Bud Lathrop during Raytown’s 1953-54 season.
The talented Raytown team also included Terry Nooner, who played at Kansas; Cortez Groves, who started at Kansas State; and Brandon Weis, who played at Northwest Missouri State and is now an assistant coach at Liberty High School.
“It was a long walk to the locker room,” Weis, who scored 19 points, said. “I will never forget that. I remember coach telling us how proud he was of us and the way we played. It was by far the greatest high school game I ever played in, the crowd, the atmosphere, playing in the Municipal Auditorium. Growing up and watching games with my family, I had thought of playing in such a game. I wish the outcome would have come the other way. They still show it on TV quite a bit.”
It was a good thing Central won because 6-foot-7 center JoVonn Jefferson predicted a Central win.
“Who have they played?” he asked in an Examiner article at the time. “Can you tell me who they’ve played? Winnetonka? Liberty? Come on. We’re the No. 1 team in the city. We went to state last year.”
But Hood, who now resides in Texas, and Jefferson both praised the Raytown team and its effort following the game.
For Scanlon’s greatest team, it was a case of what could have been.
Central, however, lost to St. Charles West 64-63 in the semifinals and rebounded to stop Sikeston 68-66 in the third-place game.