This picture from the estate of the late Bob Hodson shows some of the players and the cheerleaders from the Lynchburg Bobcats 1943-44 Highland County Tournament champions. There was no ID found to go with the picture.
Submitted photo
This picture appears to show the entire 1943-44 Lynchburg Bobcats basketball team, along with the coach and managers. Both pictures with this story come from the estate of the late Bob Hodson, but there was no information identifying those pictured. If anyone has information on the pictures, please contact The Times-Gazette at 937-402-2522. If the pictures are identified, they will be published again in the newspaper.
Submitted photo
In Ohio, a state boys basketball champion has been determined by a tournament since 1909.
The original tournament, sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, was called the Inter-High School Basketball Series and ran 1909 to 1922. There were no separate divisions for teams. The first tournament drew seven teams, but by 1921 the number of teams had grown to 160.
The year 1923 marked the beginning of Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) sponsored basketball tournaments. Originally, there were two classes — A and B — with A schools being those with larger numbers of students.
The classes were renamed in 1957 as A and AA (bigger schools) with AAA (biggest schools) added in 1971. In 1988, the classifications were reconfigured to Divisions I, II, III and IV, with Division I being the largest schools.
From 1927 through 1964, smaller schools in Highland County (the exceptions being Hillsboro and McClain) participated in double-elimination postseason county basketball tournaments with the winners advancing further along the sectional/state postseason trail.
Below is a list of the Highland County Tournament winners from each year:
1927 — Marshall
1928 — Marshall
1929 — Marshall
1930 — Leesburg
1931 — Leesburg
1932 — Leeseburg
1933 — Leesburg
1934 — Highland
1935 — Highland
1936 — Leesburg
1937 — Highland
1938 — Fairfield
1939 — Lynchburg
1940 — Lynchburg
1941 — Lynchburg
1942 — Fairfield
1943 — Fairfield
1944 — Lynchburg
1945 — Fairfield
1946 — Marshall
1947 — Fairfield
1948 — Fairfield
1949 — Whiteoak
1950 — Marshall
1951 — Marshall
1952 — Buford
1953 — Lynchburg
1954 — Lynchburg
1955 — Fairfield
1956 — Buford
1957 — Lynchburg
1958 — Lynchburg
1959 — Lynchburg
1960 — Marshall
1961 — Sinking Spring
1962 — Whiteoak
1963 — Lynchburg
1964 — Lynchburg
Listed below are the years each school won the county tournament:
Lynchburg (11 titles) 1939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1964
Fairfield (7 titles) 1938, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1955
Marshall (7 titles) 1927, 1928, 1929, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1960
Leesburg (5 titles) 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936
Highland (3 titles) 1934, 1935, 1937
Buford (2 titles) 1952, 1956
Whiteoak (2 titles) 1949, 1962
Sinking Spring (1 title) 1961
The list of winners for the county tournaments was provided by Bob Pittser, a 1965 Lynchburg graduate who played on the school’s last county championship team.
