1985 Daleville

     The theory that small schools cannot compete with larger schools was thrown out the window when Daleville, a school with only about 250 students, won the Anderson sectional by beating the host school, Anderson (over 1500 students), in the final game of one of the toughest sectionals in the state.

     The basketball fortunes of Daleville, one of the smallest schools in Delaware county, were at ebb tide before the arrival of veteran coach Everett Gates in 1979.  That first season his Broncos won only two games.  But, led by such Daleville players as Kent Marks, Frank Cox and Don Watters, Daleville won three consecutive Delaware county tourney titles. In 1982, the Broncos won 16 games, and the 1983 Daleville team, led by Barry Hall, Tony Hale, Rick Phillips, Todd Jones, Rick Gates, Troyjones, and David Barber, went 19-2 and won their second county tourney title in a row.

     But, like other Daleville teams, they were routed through the Anderson sectional, and drew top-ranked Anderson Highland in the opening round.  The Broncos led most of the game, before a questionable call and fatigue took them out of the ballgame.  But, it gave the Daleville team the confidence that they could play with the big boys.

    The 1984 Broncos won the school's third straight Delaware county tourney title, but bowed out of the sectional with a 67-66 loss to Pendleton Heights.  Despite all of their regular season success, the Broncos went more than 10 years without winning a single game in the Anderson sectional.   But, the 1985 team would change all of that.

     The 1985 team was made up of three seniors, Troy Jones, David Barber, and Chris Chambers, and two juniors, Tony Trosper, and Brad Schegel.   Two of the players, Jones and Barber,went on to play D1 ball.

    Disaster struck the team before the season ever began, when the 6-6 Trosper was severly injured in an auto accident.  Playing most of the season with him, the Broncos put together a 15-3 regular season, and won their fourth-straight Delaware county tourney.  And, for the first time in recent memory, none of the Anderson teams were state-ranked.

      Chambers was injured toward the end of the season, and did not start until the final game.  The Broncos got by without him, as Jones and Trosper split 42 points and Daleville claimed an opening round 66-59 win over Pendleton Heights. Next up was Highland, and the Broncos, getting a career game from Barber (33 points 13 rebounds), sent the Highlanders packing, 75-65.

     Choking wasn't part of the Daleville vocabulary when the Broncos faced the host Indians in the final game. Shooting 68 percent from the floor and hitting 32 free-throws, the western-Delaware county team claimed their first-ever sectional championship with a 84-77 win.    In the three sectional games Jones and Barber, who both ened their careers with more than 1000 points,  combined for 150 points, with Jones scoring 36 points in the final, and Barber chipping in with 29. 

     The dreamed died the next weekend at the Anderson regional.  Daleville was down just one point at half-time, but Troy Jones was injured right before the half, and with one of their stars missing, the Bronks fell, 75-57.

      Everett Gates left the school a few years later, only to return, but he and the Broncos have not been able to duplicate the magic of that run in the 1980's.