Hyndman 1964 Basketball Team

The coaching tandem of head coach John Keller and his assistant Charles Close
helped spawn what some would say was a small school basketball dynasty at
Hyndman Jr./Sr. High School.
At the southern end of Bedford County, Keller, who is a member of the Bedford
Count Sports Hall of Fame, has had many outstanding roundball teams over his
coaching career. When asked what he considered to be his greatest team, he
said that there were probably 3 or 4 that could possibly fit the description.
However, Keller considered the most overall pure talent from top to bottom, and
he selected the 1963-64 Hornet team. Although that team of outstanding athletes
may not have matched the postseason play of future teams, including those of
the 1980s, the achievements of the starting 5 players for the 1963-64 team are
amazing.
The Hornets went 10-0 in the Bedford County League (BCL) that season and
won the title at time when Tussey Mountain was riding a victory string of its own.
Many prognosticators were unsure which teams between Hyndman, Tussey,
Bedford, and Everett would win the league that year.
It was an era before the 3-point shot and the team made 689 field goals on its
way to an 18-6 record. They scored 77 points per game, the highest ever at
Hyndman, and they shot 75.8% from the free throw line.
In the previous season, the Hornets had lost to the eventual state champion,
Rothrock, by a 57-54 score. Rothrock later became part of Lewistown High
School. Keller had the bulk of that team returning and was anticipating a special
season in 63-64. The starting 5 was made up of seniors Steven Stouffer, Bob
Fichtner, and Don Logue, while the other starters were juniors Rick Conner and
Les Wise. Some of the depth came from sophomore Larry “HAP” Price and
freshman Johnny Miller, who is also a Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
member, so with all this talent, it was no surprise that this was a special team.
The season did not start of well for the Hornets as they went 1-4 for start the
season with 2 losses to Meyersdale as well as losses to Berlin and Mt. Savage.
The locals followed that with a 14-game winning streak and became the first
Pennsylvania team to win at LaSalle High School (later became Bishop Walsh).
Mt. Savage ended the winning streak before the Hornets topped Everett and
LaSalle to end the regular season with a 17-5 record.
Keller remarked that his team fell twice to Mt. Savage, who featured future
Pittsburgh Pirate Bob Robertson.
Stouffer, Fichtner, Logue, and Conner all averaged scoring in double figures with
Stouffer averaging 19, Fichtner at 16, Logue at 15, and Conner at 13. They all
shot over 60% from the free throw line with Stouffer at 63.3%, Fichtner at 60.8%,
Logue at 65%, and Conner at 77.6%.
Stouffer went over the 1,000-point plateau that season and finished his career
with 1,163 points.
After soundly defeating Southern Fulton in the semifinals of the District 5 Class C
Tournament, the Hornets went to Boswell to play Forbes High, which went on to
become part of the North Star School District. Keller says that he regretted
changing his usual postseason routine before that game. He stopped to eat at a
restaurant on Route 30 up on the mountain, which is something that he had
never done before.
Hyndman fell to Forbes, 72-67.

.