Fifty years of California basketball: Wayne Kasper recounts 50 years ago in Pinto Basketball

The 1964-65 California Pinto's Basketball team.
The 1964-65 California Pinto's Basketball team.

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A pair of swans swim along the shore of Lakewood Lake no: 1, in North Little Rock on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

It's hard to imagine a half-century has passed since the California basketball team played for a state championship. What's harder to believe is the coach who led that team still remembers well what made the Pintos exceptional that season.

"Back in those years the state had three divisions in basketball," coach Rich Maloney said "Small, medium and large. California was in the M division. They pulled for each other, and they worked very hard, pushing each other to achieve success. They never quit."

Only the final game of the season against Buffalo for the championship put a blemish on the phenomenal season. The Pintos won the Tri-County Conference and every game leading up to the title game to finish 29-1.

Only one other California team has matched that record and they were coached by one of the players from the '65 team. Jerry Wells was a six-foot-six-inch giant wizard in the middle for the Pintos as a player, jumping the ball to start the game and dominating the inside most of the season until an ankle injury suffered in the semifinal game against Owensville slowed him down. Wells coached the 1988-"89 California team that ended with an identical record.

"What made the "88-"89 season special was just like "64-"65," Wells said. "Leadership, teamwork, and hard work - school and community spirit - the love of playing the game."

Wells finished his coaching career with the Pintos in 2003.

Along with coach Maloney and Wells, there were a solid group of seniors, led by Kenny Howard, Wayne Ferguson, Mike Miller and Wells' twin brother, Gary Wells.

The vital reserves stood out, too, with a bench that included Jerry Allee, Ronnie Kappelman, Jim Lawson, Steve Liebi, Larry Carpenter, John Hill, David Sparks, Paul Watson, Steve Wise and Dennis Scott.

Maloney had established himself as a winner while at the helm in Bunceton. During his sixth season with the Dragons, the 32-year-old Malone was confronted by California superintendent Dr. George Riley, who had made it his mission to seek the coach out and bring that Maloney Magic to the Tri-County Conference to lead a promising group of players. It was John Bolin who had suggested to Dr. Riley that Maloney be chosen. The coach said Dr. Riley approached him in Bunceton and said "I've come to take you back to California."

It was a different time, and basketball was the main game in town. Football was still in its infancy within Tri-County during the mid-60s. Roundball followers were very much like a frame taken right out of the film "Hoosiers," where the town pretty well shuts down in order to go to the basketball playoff games.

The team prided itself on scoring a certain amount each quarter. The targeted number was 20. The squad topped 100 points seven times and averaged more than 80 points a night. Over the span of 30 games, California scored 2,447 points and shot 50.2 percent from the field, making 1,004 shots out of 2,000 attempts. The Wells twins both shot over 60 percent from the field in "64-"65.

When the scoreboard reached triple digits, most of the time, Sparks would be called on to cap off the century mark. As Howard put it, Sparky was "The Hundred-Point Man," and he was given the honor of flipping the scoreboard over.

"We also had a play on the tip-off, where if we knew we were going to get the tip, I would take off when the ball was tossed up and Jerry would tip it to me for an easy layup to start the game," Howard said.

Howard was also a defensive specialist, and according to Sparks, "the best athlete of his era," playing football while winning state track titles in both the low and high huddles.

"The team had a lot of talent and height," Sparks added.

If the opponents had a hot-shooting guard, Howard drew the assignment of shutting him down, which helped the Pinto size inside wear down the other team's players in the paint. Howard also suffered an injury against the Dutchmen when he was hobbled with a thigh bruise at Brewer Field House. In all, four players were battling injuries in the final.

Leading up to the title tilt, the team experienced some special nights on the hardwood. One such evening came against Fatima in the championship game of the California Tournament. It seemed no matter who tossed the ball up it was going in. The host squad went on to rout the Comets 122-40 to set a school record. And that was before the advent of the 3-point line.

After struggling a bit the season before, the team bounced back with one of the greatest runs in school history. They advanced further in the state playoffs than any other California boys team has ever done.

"You have to be lucky in a long season but we lost some of ours when Jerry Wells and Kenny Howard were slowed down with injuries the night before and we played a very good Buffalo team," Maloney said. "Our kids played hard but we were slowed some from the injuries and we were defeated."

California also earned the Sportsmanship Award, which went to the team with the best attitude on both the bench and in the bleachers.

The rivalry between the Pintos and Tipton reached epic proportion at that time. In the season before, California lost four times to a Cardinal squad led by sharpshooter Glen Arnold. Tipton also placed 4th in state that year. During the championship-run season, Howard had the duty of shutting down Tipton's David Lutz. When the two teams met for the second time, Lutz was coming off a big game and Tipton chose to stall against the Pintos in order to slow their scoring down. Lutz was held to three points with Howard guarding him.

Those Tri-County Conference showdowns with the Cardinals were legendary.

"The games with Tipton in those days were very exciting and you could throw out the records when these two teams met. Bob Powers was the Tipton coach and they were hard fought games all the way. We won the District Championship at Tipton in a very tough game with the host team," Maloney said. "The game against Warrensburg in the first game of the state tournament, where the Pintos were seven points down at the half and came back to win in the second half, was a thriller."

After a few winning seasons with the Pintos, Maloney went on to coach the Jefferson City Jays and then moved to the college ranks as assistant to Ron Coleman at Lincoln University in the MIAA.

Named all-state, Jerry Wells and Miller continued their playing days in college. Gary Wells and Howard also went on to the next level.

From time-to-time the coach can still be found at the California Country Club playing golf with one or two of his former stars. Maloney says he was paid $4,000 a year to coach at California. He is a graduate of Central Missouri State, and also played four sports in the Army, prior to college, including boxing, basketball, football and baseball.

Games and scores

California 82

Smith-Cotton 66

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California 76

Helias 47

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California 92

Osage 63

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California 80

Versailles 62

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California 73

Eldon 44

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California 46

Iberia 38

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California 60

Tipton 51

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California 71

Osage 39

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California 77

Versailles 60

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California 95

Mokane 31

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California 108

Kemper 51

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California 122

Fatima 40

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California 90

Smithton 29

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California 100

Camdenton 59

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California 93

Stover 50

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California 113

Green Ridge 31

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California 84

Smithton 26

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California 103

Northwestern 67

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California 105

Eldon 50

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California 78

Stover 40

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California 81

Eugene 57

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California 37

Tipton 34

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California 82

New Franklin 47

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California 105

Fayette 44

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California 83

Sweet Springs 33

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California 78

Windsor 48

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California 65

Warrensburg 47

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California 70

Concordia 68

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California 69

Owensville 65

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California 49

Buffalo 65