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| Shizz
November 23, 2012
5:55:39 PM
Entry #: 4015957
| In the late '50s and early '60s, the 6'3" guard from Paoli High School didn't have the luxury of stepping beyond the three-point arc to increase the rambling Ramblers' tally on the scoreboard.
As Redenbaugh recalls, nearly half of his shots drained from long range likely would have been three-point field goals in his playing days.
Also unheard of in the late '50s in southern Indiana was any high school player seeing much varsity time until his junior and senior seasons thus was true for Redenbaugh. In an 18-5 junior season, Redenbaugh tallied 12.5 points per contest for PHS. However, his senior season would be what caught the eyes of Indiana Hoosiers head coach Branch McCracken.
former paoli star players Steve Redenbaugh on Paoli Basketball
"It was quite a bit of fun. It was really the center piece of the community," Redenbaugh said of Indiana high school basketball. "On Friday nights, the whole community came together, and they would pack those little gyms like they did in Paoli. It was fun. There was a lot of attention, and when we finished the season, we thought we were as good as anybody. In fact, there were two or three sports writers who picked Paoli to win the state. They were taking the dark horse, taking a small school they thought we could make it. Of course, we did too, until we stumbled in the sectional. We were ranked 12th by the media poll."
In the 1960-61 season, the often top-ten ranked Rams were led by Redenbaugh's 25.4 points per game, all the way to a bitter sectional final in Bedford
"I just played two years, junior and senior years," Redenbaugh said. "Up until the early 90's those were the best records. We won 18 games as a junior and 20 as a senior. I think that might have been the first 20-win team in Paoli history."
In his senior season, Redenbaugh's Rams rattled off 15 straight victories.
"We won 15 in a row, but we had lost a game to Shawswick over there that was our first loss," Redenbaugh recalled. "I had sprained an ankle, and I had no business even trying to play, but I tried. We just didn't play very well. We just got on a roll and weren't going to lose any more."
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