When anyone emntions Paoli Basketball one of the first names to pop into their heads is Scott Combs. And the reason for that was Scott is considered to be the best post man to ever come through Paoli Basketball. When Scott first laced up his shoes for the Rams there were expectations from the beginning. Not only from him but for The Rams joined with the person he would be remembered with for the rest of his life from people from Paoli and surrounding areas. And the player would be Joe Sibbitt It started on a Fall Night when Scott would show his dominance in a contest against County Rival Orleans. Scott with help form the passing of Sibbitt and other teammates carried the load in a big 86-53 win With Scott's driving and jumping and ball handling ability . With that win he and the rest of the Rams would set a P.L.A.C. record that stil stands today with winning 18 consecutive conference games (19 overall). The Rams would blitz through their first 9 games before being defeated by Floyd Central 60-59. With that close of a loss Combs and The Rams were set out on a mission to dominate the remaining schedule. And they did as they ran roughshot over every opponent in claiming the P.L.A.C. Conference Championship and finishing with one loss during the regular season. As Sectional Time rolled around the Rams were the overwhelming favorites to win sectional as Combs and the Rams would roll on through the sectional winnign each game by at least 15 points. When Regional time rolled around The Rams would face a tough Southridge team that would try and use their quickness on Combs and The Rams to try and detain them. But that wasn't to be as Combs was a force inside and outside as he would knock down a couple of baseline jumpers and drive the lane to go onto score nearly 30 points and pull down 11 rebounds. In the second Regional contest The Rams would take on a tough Corydon Panther team. The Rams who defeated the Panthers earlier in the year by a score of 68-58 knew that Corydon would bring all they had and all they had was what they gave the Rams the Panthers led by star player Jake Biddle would battle and battle as the Rams with help from role players defeated Corydon 69-55. With That victory The Rams set their sites onto Semi-State and the mini big stage against a really talented Jeffersonville squad. which featured fututre Indiana player Sherron Wilkerson. the athleticism was too much as The Rams could use all the could use in fdalling to The Red Devils 85-60 after the season ended Combs was honored as an AP All-State Selection.

As the 1992-1993 Season rolled around much like the previous year a lot was expected from the Rams. Combs along with Sibbitt and Joel Stroud would kinda become a 3-headed monster throughout the season. The Rams would cruise through their first few games until they ran into a feisty Northeast Dubois team the Jeeps would pull out the win with a 51-49 victory. That would kind of be a wake up call for the Rams as they would roll through Pekin 63-38 before heading North to Indianapolis and the Coca-Cola-Shootout. The saying stars will shine brightly when on a big stage was in fact that as Combs and the Rams would take on Chicago Westinghouse Combs would dominate the first 3 quarters but the Rams were still trailing. As Combs hit foul trouble Role players would step up and try to make a "Traditional Paoli Run". But all was for not as a much better and more athletic team beat the Rams 60-50. That loss would light a fire underneath the Rams and Combs throughout the next few games as they demolished their opponents. Which lead into a matchuo with another feisty team that tema would be Floyd Central Combs would agains shine pouring in 23 points grabbing 1o rebounds and assisting the defense with 3 blocks . But Floyd Central managed to squeak out a win 56-55 the next tough opponent for the Rams would be White River Valley. led by the graves brothers the Wolverines were as tough as nails and they proved it against the Rams as both Graves would take Paoli to the wood shed by winning 76-38 although Combs did have a brightspot as he scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Combs and the Rams would bmostly breeze through the rest of the schedule . And once again were overwhelming favorites to win Sectional and The Rams dominated the Sectional again until the Finals win a scrappy Salem Lions team almost upset the Rams but the Rams pulled out the victory. The Rams would head into Regional knowing they had to face a tough team in that of the Forest Park Rangers. led by Bob Boehman and Gene Boehman the Rangers would give all they had at the Rams. But in the end with help from Stroud and Sibbitt Combs would show his "Refuse to Lose" mentality while going off on a run of his own to seal the victory. with that win and momentum of beating a god team Combs would keep rolling by helping The Rams dominate over a Tell City Team 61-33 in which Combs had 28 points and 14 rebounds. The Rams would run onto a tough White river Valley team again in Semi-State but unlike their first meeting the Rams battled tough and on the shoulders of Scott Combs came within a shot of winning the Semi-State crown.

The 1993-1994 Paoli Rams team is still remembered as being the best Paoli team ever with the leader being Scott Combs with his running buddy Joe Sibbitt not far behind. Combs who throughout that season defined himself as the best Rams post and one of Indiana's best all-around players. The Rams would storm through the season with little competiton but on the few times that they were defeated Combs was one of the leaders on the offensive and defensove side. On the other side The Rams had a lot of wins but one of their biggest wins came against Chicago, Illinois' Chicago Westinghouse team. Who at the time was ranked in the top 10 in the state of Illinois and one of the better team in the U.S. On that Westinghouse team one of the top players was Damian Dantzler who would go on to be one of University of Louisville's top players. That wasn't the only team outside of the state of Indiana that the Rams would play as the Rams would take on a Carbondale,Illinois team lead by future NBA player Troy Hudson. Carbondale would finish the 1993-1994 season 28-4 and was Illinois Class 2A State Runner-Up. with an enrollemnt of 1,122 The Rams and Combs held their own against those power teams. Combs kept on rolling throughout the season. Scott would be named MVP of the Indiana Hall of Fame Classic Tournament as he dominated in wins against Vincennes and New Castle. like the 2 previous years Combs lead the Rams team to the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference (P.L.A.C) Championship and in doing so was named the P.L.A.C. Most Outstanding player. Scott and the rams had no problems going through sectional as he once again was named to the All-Sectional Team and Sectional MVP. Scott once again would lead the Rams to another Regional championship being named to the All-Regional team. but like the previous three seasons the Rams hopes ended with a loss to a talented New Albany team. But Combs nor the Rams didn't go out with a fight as Combs fought all game long. After the 1993-1994 season Scott was named First Team All-State by the Associated Press and was recognized as one of Indiana's best players by being named to the Indiana All-Star team. that summer during the annual Indiana/Kentucky All-Star game Combs dominated as he lead the Indiana squad in scoring throughout the two games. Finally his great High School career Scott went on to play basketball at Missouri on a Basketball Scholarship.

Scott's Freshmen and only season at Missouri was a tough one not use to setting on the bench and not being a starterthroughout high school Scott hardly saw minutes. But the few bright spots for Scott that season was being able to start a game for Missouri and being apart of a team that went to the NCAA Tournament (in which the team would lose to the UCLA Bruins)after his freshmen season scitt decided to transfer schools and when he was looking at a school he went back to his running mate in high school and Scott enrolled at Austin Peay University.




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Scott's College Stats:

1994-1995 (at. Missouri)

Games: 22 Games Started: 1 Minutes: 103 Points: 34 Rebounds: 20 Assists: 5 Turnovers: 5 Steals: 1 (As A Freshman At Missouri Scored 11 points  in a game against Kansas) As A Freshman at Missouri was named Player Of The Game Against Colorado after scoring 11 points and grabbing 6 rebounds

ments:

Indiana All-Star: 1994


Mr. Basketball Runner-Up: 1994


6 Time AAU All American

AAU MVP: 1987

Leading Scorer in Indiana/Kentucky All-Star Game: 1994


Associated Press 1st Team All-State: 1992,1993, 1994


Hall of Fame Classic MVP: 1993


P.L.A.C. All-Conference: 1992, 1993, 1994


P.L.A.C. Most Outstanding Player/MVP: 1992, 1993, 1994


Louisville Courier Journal First Team All-State: 1992, 1993, 1994


All Sectional, Regional Semi-State Teams: 1992, 1993, 1994


Sectional MVP: 1992, 1993, 1994


Street & Smith All-American: 1993, 1994

Street & Smith Preseason All-American 1993-1994


Nike All-American Festival Participant: 1994


Nike All-American: 1993, 1994


Nike All-Star Game MVP: 1993


Parade All-American: 1994


USA Today Honorable Mention All-American: 1994


Illiana Roundball Event Participant: 1994


HBCA All-Star MVP: 1994


Army ROTC High School Academic All-American: 1994


ESPN Sunkist Kids: 1993


Top 100 National High School Basketball Recruit: 1994

AAU Under 19 Indiana State Championship Team Member: 1994

Indiana Gold Team Member That Made It To The AAU National Junior Olympic Sweet Sixteen: 1994

Member of Missouri's NCAA Tournament Team: 1995


One of a few people who has both Coached and Played in both the NCAA Tournament and NIT