Shelby senior Alex Bruskotter erupted for 53 points on Saturday night at Ashland High School in the biggest scoring spree seen around these parts in years.
The Whippets’ 6-foot-6 sharpshooter bagged 12 treys to bolster his scoring total. It was a fine performance, and evoked memories of former Shelby superstar Larry Siegfried.
But it also got me to thinking about a project we turned at the News Journal almost a quarter century ago.
It was called the All-Century team, and included a vote from readers as well as our sports staff’s picks. Among the players honored on that squad were Siegfried, Lexington’s Jamie Feick, St. Peter’s standouts Milt Pitts and Leo Brown, Mansfield Senior legend Ken McCally, Madison’s Joe Jakubick, and Savannah’s Larry Huston.
Huston, a 6-8 tower of power, might be the name unfamiliar to some folks.
I got to interview him, and learning about Huston’s career (and even better getting to know him) ranked as the highlight of the project for me.
Larry Huston has to be one of the most intelligent individuals I’ve met — must be something in the first name.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy in 1960 and served as Senior Class President. In 1974 he earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kansas.
Huston passed the state Pharmacy Board exams in both Ohio and Florida with the highest scores. In his spare time, he studied law by extension from LaSalle University and gained his degree in that, too.
No surprise, those academic accolades merely followed his valedictorian achievement at Savannah for the Class of 1955.
Athletically, the Adario native was also a three-year starter on the Ohio State basketball squad and served as the Buckeyes’ team captain in 1959.
Huston tipped off the first game at St. John Arena in 1957, and presumably the only reason he didn’t start as a freshman is they weren’t eligible for varsity competition in 1956.
I assume Larry could’ve started for the Buckeyes, and coach Floyd Stahl, as a true freshman based on his incredible high school exploits.
It was pure pleasure going back through yearbooks, old newspaper clippings in Mansfield and Ashland and verifying some of the numbers that seemed other-worldly then — and now.
Huston averaged 22.5 points per game as a sophomore at Savannah, 32.8 as a junior, and 45.2 as a senior for a career total of 2,469 points in 81 games (a 30.4 points per game career average).
I alerted the OHSAA, which was just beginning to compile a state record book at the time. They were flabbergasted by Huston’s previously unreported records.
He quickly rewrote their record book.
Remember, these totals were without the luxury of a 3-point line.
Huston scored 81 points against Perrysville in a 124-73 pounding on Feb. 11, 1955. He had 69 points in a 92-78 victory over Homersville on Dec. 29, 1954. There was a 68-point outburst in a 97-64 beating of Hayesville on Jan. 29, 1955.
For a single season, Huston’s 1,221 points in 1954-55 is the second-best total by an Ohio high school basketball player, trailing only the 1,266 racked up by Rex Leach, of Vienna Mathews, that very same season.
For a career, Huston ranks 12th all-time among Ohio’s boys basketball players — albeit Larry’s total was accumulated in three years.
Huston is by far the state’s single-season rebounding champion, with 683 rebounds in 1954-55. Mansfield St. Peter’s Steve Wake grabbed 553 in 1969-70 to claim second place on this list.
When we honored Huston, and the rest of the All-Century team at the News Journal’s annual all-star game and banquet, he was truly moved to be remembered after all those years.
Had we afforded him the opportunity, Larry let it be known he would bring his accordion, or could entertain at the piano, too.
He was a charter member of the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.
Huston died at his home on July 30, 2007, at the age of 69.
But his memories live on for those who knew him.