Reprinted from 39th Annual Induction Ceremony program booklet. October 7, 2025Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025Era of Excellence Award: Central High School 1961-1963 Coach Jim Ball’s Central Bulldogs in the early 1960s were the talk of the town with a fast-paced club with great fire-power and stellar defense. The 1961-62 club clicked off a21-game winning streak and carried a 28-1 record into the state Class L final four in St. Louis before setbacks to Columbia Hickman in the semifinals and St. Louis Hadley Tech in the third-place game. Danny Bolden, Manny Oliver and Carl Gardner were the front line inside muscle while brothers Bevo and Mike Looney ran the backcourt. Central’s only regular season loss was to Ozark Conference foe Fayetteville after CHS had beaten the Arkansas school at Central two weeks earlier. Central won the Marshfield Tournament, the Blue and Gold and the CHS Tournament of Champions before prevailing in the regional at Joplin and then beating Buffalo and Maplewood to reach the final four.
A year later, Bolden anchored the inside game with a much smaller front line which included transfer Lyman Behrens and Denny Whayne at forwards while Mike Looney paired with David Menzies at guard. The Bulldogs again rolled in the Marshfield Tournament but slipped against Buffalo in the Blue and Gold finals and suffered a home loss to a powerful Republic club. CHS won its own tournament and the Parkview Regional and knocked off Cape Girardeau Central for the right to play in the final four in Kansas City, where the Bulldogs suffered narrow setbacks to St. Louis CBC and Kansas City Central to again finish in fourth place. Bolden led the way in honors on several all-tournament teams plus the all-state team as he poured in 1,101 points over three seasons with the Bulldogs.
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