SMCC honors undefeated 1980 basketball state champs

SANDUSKY — Winning a state championship is a special happening, even 40 years later. St. Mary Central Catholic will honor its 1980 state champion boys basketball team when the current Panthers take on Margaretta on Saturday night in a Sandusky Bay Conference crossover matchup. "I had a parent, who is an alum picking up her student, say to me, 'I saw it's been 40 years, where did all that time go?'" said Geoff Palmer, a starter on the 1980 team and current head of school/president of Sandusky Central Catholic School. "On a daily basis, it's certainly hard to understand, but walking the halls, it also seems a little like it was just yesterday, too." Members of the title team will attend shootaround with the 2019-20 squad and will be introduced during halftime of the varsity game. The group is planning to take the reunion down the street to Cameo Pizza following the game. At least seven members of the 11-man team are set to attend. "It's always great to get back together with the guys and it's great to be back in the gym," said Marty Sennish, a Huron resident who is the owner-operator of Chemical Service and Supply. "Every story gets better with time, but it will be neat to get back together. It's been a while." The Panthers went 28-0 during the 1979-80 season, battling back from a 54-48 deficit with just more than three minutes left in regulation to claim a 62-56 overtime victory against Cincinnati Summit Country Day in the Class A championship game. "I'll never forget, as cold as it was, there was a parade and there was talk that about 15,000 peopled lined the streets for our parade coming back into town," Palmer said. "I don't know that there were 15,000, but I do know there were sure a lot of people and a lot of different schools showing support for what went on." The 1979-80 season was the culmination of a spectacular run for the seniors on that team. They compiled a 100-11 mark during their junior high and high school careers, going 72-9 in high school and 34-6 as varsity players. The toughest season was a 16-6 run through the 1978-79 season that ended with a loss to Mansfield St. Peter's in the district final. "That was a trying year," Sennish said. "I think we grew up a lot between our junior and senior year. We didn't take things seriously enough and I think we all came in focused that senior year." As successful as the senior year was, there also was a sense of finality to the championship game. "Winning (the state championship) was sort of bittersweet because you were leaving that group of guys you grew up with and played so many games with," Sennish said. "Even through we weren't leaving yet, that was it for basketball. I think that made it more bittersweet than the regional championship was." On the other hand, there was a car to be had for Sennish, or so he hoped. "I remember telling my brother that summer before we were going to go undefeated and win a state championship and he said, 'If you do that, I'll buy you a car,' " he said with a chuckle. "The first thing out of my mouth after the game was I think my brother owes me a car. I ended up getting a deal on a car a couple of years later, put it that way." Palmer scored 6.7 points per game, grabbed 168 rebounds and led the team with 115 assists as a starter, while Sennish was the team's second-leading scorer at 14.5 ppg and grabbed 124 rebounds. Bryan Roth, nicknamed Luke after then-Ohio State star center Luke Witte, pumped in 23 points per game and grabbed a team-high 406 rebounds. His brother, Al, a junior on the team, finished with an 11.3 scoring average, 189 rebounds and 88 assists. "Nobody really cared that much about who scored," Sennish said. "We knew nobody could defend Bryan." Phil Bickley was the other starter on the squad, scoring 6.9 ppg and dishing off 79 assists. Bryan Roth passed away suddenly in September 2018. Head coach Wally Amburn died in 2017. "We really gelled," Palmer said. "I think Coach Amburn did a really good job of keeping us focused on the court and didn't let us get caught up in things outside the court. I remember it was really business-like. While we had expectations, I don't know that we felt pressure." Brad Lococo, who currently resides in Findlay, was the other senior on the 1980 squad and is expected to attend with Bickley, Palmer and Sennish. Joe Gundlach of Columbus, and Chris Kromer and Craig Kluding, both of Sandusky, were juniors on the team and are expected to attend. The group is planning to get back together again next month for the 2020 boys state championship weekend. "Fortunately, with the internet and Facebook and cellphones, it's a lot easier to stay in touch now," said Sennish. "Twenty years ago, most of us didn't keep in touch that well, but I've managed to round up everyone's cellphone number, so every once in awhile we'll get a text out and everybody responds." "It was really the camaraderie of the team," Palmer added. "It was a bunch of guys that got along very well. The other part of it was the support and excitement around the school and the community as a whole."