Butler County Finally Did It

The Butler County Bears (Ky.) basketball team has had its share of ups and downs, near misses, and heartbreaks in its 60 plus years of existence. In three straight years (1961, 62, and 63) they were runners-up in the Fourth Regional Tournament. During this three year run, Butler County was led by a father/son combination: Coach Bill Warren and guard Billy Warren.

A strong Beaver Dam team defeated the heavily underdog Bears in 1961 but only by seven points. Butler County probably considered it a moral victory considering the overall strength of the Beavers and the fact that the game was played at Beaver Dam.

In the 1962 finals, Butler County had the ball and was tied with Caneyville with three seconds left in overtime. At half court, Eddie Majors of Caneyville stole the ball and went in for a lay-up to seal the victory. The Bears of Butler County did not take the loss lying down. They protested that there had been a foul and that the ball went in after the buzzer. Coach Warren refused to accept the runner-up trophy as did the school principal. Finally, after most everyone had left the gym, an assistant principal reluctantly received the hardware. Billy Warren was by far the best player on the court that night as he pumped in 25 points; no one on either team came close to matching his performance.

If 1962 was a heartbreak, 1963 was a true tragedy. Warren hit a 25 footer with 30 seconds left to send the game against the Hancock County Hornets into overtime. In the first overtime, Butler County center David Cannon rebounded and scored on a rare Warren miss to tie the score with no time left. Hancock County did not think the basket should have counted and actually started cutting down the nets. However the basket was later ruled good and new nets were installed. In overtime number two, Warren hit a last second mid-court shot to tie the score. There were no heroics in the third overtime as the Bears finally fell 65-63. Warren finished the night with 27 points but fouled out before the game ended. After high school he signed to play with Western Kentucky University along with basketball greats Clem Haskins of Taylor County and Dwight Smith of Princeton Dodson. While Haskins and Smith went on to fame and glory, Warren quit the team after his freshman year.

After 1963, the Butler County basketball program sunk into mediocrity. Beginning in 1971, however, the Bears were once again legitimate contenders for a state tournament berth. They were now competing in the Third Region, having left the Fourth Region in 1965. During a three year stretch from 1971-74, the team was anchored by the Wallace brothers. Both were super athletic; possessing strength, speed, and incredible jumping ability. In addition to their athleticism, the brothers displayed poise and confidence on the court. Mike was a 6-3 forward while his younger brother Gary was a 6-5 center. Mike and Gary were ably assisted by guard Randy Burden and forward Kevin Phelps. Burden played college ball at Ole Miss and later came back to coach the Bears in the 1990’s.

The high point of their career was a rare undefeated regular season in 1973-74. In the first game of the district tournament, Butler County faced Edmonson County, their bitterest rival. The two had met earlier at Diddle Arena (the home court of Western Kentucky University) in Bowling Green. Edmonson featured Greg Key, the leading scorer in the state. In that regular season match-up, Butler used a four man zone defense with a chaser on Key. It worked, as Key was held to 16 points, well below his 30 points per game average. The Bears led most of the way, but Edmonson caught fire near the end to cut the final margin to two. Mike Wallace led all scorers with 30 points.

One week before their loss to Butler County, Edmonson County had achieved one of their biggest victories ever. They defeated the Owensboro High School Red Devils (a perennial power in the Third Region) by two points on a last second shot. The Red Devils featured Kenny Higgs and Greg Webster, two of the more talented players to ever come out of the Third Region. Both were significant cogs in Owensboro’s 1972 State Championship team. Higgs would later star at LSU and play briefly in the NBA.

Like the regular season game, the district contest between Butler and Edmonson was played in Diddle Arena to accommodate the expected large crowd. This time, however, Edmonson County would be without it star player, Greg Key. He suffered a leg injury in the final game of the regular season. Even without Key, Edmonson led most of the way. Led by Randy Burden who tallied 24 points, the Bears fought back and tied the score with 12 seconds left. At that point Butler County pressed full court, but Edmonson threw over it for a lay-up to win 62-60. It should be noted that two years later Edmonson County, then in the Fourth Region and without Key and its other star, Gary Meredith, would win the State Championship in Kentucky.

For the next 50 years, Butler County would be absolutely no threat to win a regional championship. From time to time they had some excellent players with at least one leading the region in scoring. Winning records, however, would be few and far between. For a few years the Bears competed in the Class “A” tournament because of dwindling school enrollment. Even here they never came close to advancing to a state tournament.

In January, 2024 I attended a Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Trinity High School. An old friend told me that the people at Butler County thought they had the best team in the Third Region. I hadn’t been following basketball too closely so I thought he was joking. I later discovered that the 2023-24 version of the Butler County Bears was for real.

Basketball has changed a lot since 1974. In the NBA and college, the three point shot is now critical. Several players on various teams are capable of consistently knocking down three pointers. If a team doesn’t have someone who can do this, it is in serious trouble. High school has been slow to react to this change, but it is now showing signs of adjusting. In the 2023-24 season, Butler County had just what the doctor ordered. Junior guard Ty Price was blessed with speed and an uncanny ability to hit the three point shot. He was second in scoring in the state of Kentucky, behind only Travis Perry of Lyon County. Perry, who signed with the University of Kentucky, is the all-time leading high school scorer in the commonwealth. Price had help on the inside from 6-7 Lawson Rice. Both players were surrounded by more than adequate role players.

In the regional tournament Butler County had to defeat its three toughest competitors: Daviess County, Ohio County, and Owensboro Catholic. They did it with relative ease. In the Ohio County game, their large lead resulted in a running clock for much of the second half. Price put on a spectacular show. He scored 38 against Daviess County, 35 against Ohio County, and 36 against Catholic. It was a long time coming, but the Bears finally achieved what once seemed impossible.