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Samuel Moore: 20 seconds to glory

The basketball goal at my grandfather's house sat at the top of a hill next to the garage. This was the scene of spirited games between my cousins and uncles when the family would get together at my grandparent's home in McLeansboro, Illinois. Occasionally, my grandfather Samuel Moore, despite the lingering effects of a stroke, would step in and take a shot or two before things got too crazy. Little did my cousins or me know that it was on a basketball court that my grandfather had one of the singular most spectacular moments in his life, and a day Mt. Olympus would remember for years to come.

Sam Moore made the Mt. Olympus basketball team as a sophomore in 1929. It was a magical season as the team went 29-0, rolling over small neighboring communities and much larger schools from Evansville. Despite not being on the "first five," Sam still managed to finish the regular season as the second highest scorer. Still, when the time came for the sectional tournament, there was no guarantee that he would make the cut as the team could only take eight players. It took the prodding of bus drivers Jake Kolb, Lester Cunningham and Fred Ford, along with trustee Bartlet Turpin to convince coach Charles Robinson to put him on the tournament roster.

The first game was against Fort Branch, a good team with a suffocating defense. With just twenty seconds to go, Mt. Olympus was down 15 to 16. Sam Moore was sitting at the end of the bench, where he had spent the entire game to that point. He must have been as surprised as anyone when coach Robinson told him to take of his sweats and get in the game. Before Sam stepped on the floor Coach Robinson said the words every basketball player loves to hear, "shoot every time you touch the ball."

There is little doubt that the crowd was on its feet as the game resumed and Roy Whitehouse rushed the ball up the floor. The Fort Branch defense was set up to meet the ball at half court and prevent Mt. Olympus from getting off a shot. As Roy approached the defense, and with the seconds ticking off the clock, he turned and handed the ball to Sam Moore. There it was, the Mt. Olympus Mountaineer's perfect season was on the line and in the hands of a sophomore.

Now coach Robinson had said, "shoot every time you touch the ball," but you have to wonder what was going through his mind as Sam Moore took the ball, set and launched a "push" shot from mid court. It must have been like watching a movie. The entire gym goes silent; the ball takes to the air in slow motion as everyone in the stands holds their breath. Their eyes are fixated on the ball as it made a long tall arc through the air and dropped through the hoop causing the net to in his words to "wiggle just a little." Mt. Olympus had the lead 17 to 16!

The referee rushed the ball back to center; in those days they would have a jump ball after each basket. Fort Branch got the tip and just before their player could launch a potential winning shot, Sam Moore lunged and fouled the shooter. With no time on the clock, the game came down to two free throws, one to tie and two to win. The first shot missed! Half the crowd groaned while the Mt. Olympus fans went crazy. With everyone on their feet, bodies tensed, fingers crossed, the Fort Branch player tossed up his second shot and missed again! Mt. Olympus prevailed! The crowd rushed onto the court, my grandfather says the fans liked to beat him to death. Years later he wrote about how he and Ben Thompson crawled on the floor through the crowd to get back to the dressing room.

Mt. Olympus would win its next two sectional games to advance to regionals where it lost to the eventual state champs Vincennes. Those magical twenty seconds against Fort Branch ended up being the only time that my grandfather played the rest of the tournament that year.

As if the victory that day against Fort Branch was not sweet enough, there was one person in the crowd that made it that much more satisfying. Sam Moore's father, Butch, was there to witness his son be the hero. It was the only game Butch ever saw his son play.