Bill Kirby Jr.: Fayetteville Academy championship basketball reunion bittersweet
FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Call this a bittersweet reunion.
Tripp Loyd, Brad Inman, Kevin Satisky, Max Weinstein, Murray Duggins Jr., Marc Dedeaux, Scott DeBoer and Billy West will be among those returning tonight to The Fayetteville Academy, where they'll relive their 1991 and 1992 state basketball championship seasons under Coach Chip Bishop.
"It was some of the best times of my life," says Loyd, 43, a home builder in Wake County. "Just being with those guys and doing it with them. We all grew up together."
Loyd, a 6-foot-5 junior center in 1991, scored 18 points as the Eagles upset Parrott Academy, 60-59, in winning their first N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A title.
Loyd connected on five 3-point field goals and scored 28 points in 1992 for a 55-54 victory over High Point Wesleyan.
The reunion is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the New Gym, where the Eagles, 16-5, take on Parrott Academy.
This will be an evening of reminiscing about field goals, free throws, rebounds, fastbreaks and victory celebrations in the locker rooms before they would become businessmen, accountants, lawyers, a physician and a policeman among their careers.
Still, the evening will be bittersweet, as Steve Fincher, Bob Waren and Chris Markham, members of both championship teams, will be absent.
Fincher was 33 when he died Dec. 11, 2008. Waren, 31, died March 2, 2006. Markham, 27, died June 22, 2003.
"They were integral parts of our team concept," Loyd says about those 19-9 and 25-5 seasons, "and it's tough."
West, now the county district attorney who scored the winning free throws with 36 seconds remaining in the '91 title game, fondly remembers Fincher, Waren and Markham.
"And we would not have won those championships," he says, "if not for Bob Waren."
Marshall Waren says he still can see his son converting 3-point field goals and free throws in the final quarters of both championships.
"Bob would say those championships defined his character as a person," he says. "And Bob would be glad to see his old teammates, that's for sure, and say, 'What a ride.'"
Patsy Markham sees her son towering tall and dunking a basketball like no one else could.
"I know if Chris was here, he would be very proud that he was part of something important for his school," she says. "I am sure all three young men will be with us in spirit."
Carolyn Fincher says her son would cherish being with his teammates.
"He would think it is so 'cool,'" she says. "It was just a good time in his life. It really was."
Bishop, the coach, remembers every one of his players, to include Patrick Drose and Perry Ratliff on the '91 team and David Murray, Chris Locey and John Gudauskas in '92.
"When we won it, we were ecstatic," Bishop, 64, says of the 1991 title. " The next year, we were expected to win it. When we did, it was a relief. But it is disturbing to lose three players off those teams."
Tonight, Steve Fincher, Bob Waren and Chris Markham will be in their old coach's heart, and their teammates', too.
"They will," Loyd says, "definitely be with us."
FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Call this a bittersweet reunion.
Tripp Loyd, Brad Inman, Kevin Satisky, Max Weinstein, Murray Duggins Jr., Marc Dedeaux, Scott DeBoer and Billy West will be among those returning tonight to The Fayetteville Academy, where they'll relive their 1991 and 1992 state basketball championship seasons under Coach Chip Bishop.
"It was some of the best times of my life," says Loyd, 43, a home builder in Wake County. "Just being with those guys and doing it with them. We all grew up together."
Loyd, a 6-foot-5 junior center in 1991, scored 18 points as the Eagles upset Parrott Academy, 60-59, in winning their first N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A title.
Loyd connected on five 3-point field goals and scored 28 points in 1992 for a 55-54 victory over High Point Wesleyan.
The reunion is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the New Gym, where the Eagles, 16-5, take on Parrott Academy.
This will be an evening of reminiscing about field goals, free throws, rebounds, fastbreaks and victory celebrations in the locker rooms before they would become businessmen, accountants, lawyers, a physician and a policeman among their careers.
Still, the evening will be bittersweet, as Steve Fincher, Bob Waren and Chris Markham, members of both championship teams, will be absent.
Fincher was 33 when he died Dec. 11, 2008. Waren, 31, died March 2, 2006. Markham, 27, died June 22, 2003.
"They were integral parts of our team concept," Loyd says about those 19-9 and 25-5 seasons, "and it's tough."
West, now the county district attorney who scored the winning free throws with 36 seconds remaining in the '91 title game, fondly remembers Fincher, Waren and Markham.
"And we would not have won those championships," he says, "if not for Bob Waren."
Marshall Waren says he still can see his son converting 3-point field goals and free throws in the final quarters of both championships.
"Bob would say those championships defined his character as a person," he says. "And Bob would be glad to see his old teammates, that's for sure, and say, 'What a ride.'"
Patsy Markham sees her son towering tall and dunking a basketball like no one else could.
"I know if Chris was here, he would be very proud that he was part of something important for his school," she says. "I am sure all three young men will be with us in spirit."
Carolyn Fincher says her son would cherish being with his teammates.
"He would think it is so 'cool,'" she says. "It was just a good time in his life. It really was."
Bishop, the coach, remembers every one of his players, to include Patrick Drose and Perry Ratliff on the '91 team and David Murray, Chris Locey and John Gudauskas in '92.
"When we won it, we were ecstatic," Bishop, 64, says of the 1991 title. " The next year, we were expected to win it. When we did, it was a relief. But it is disturbing to lose three players off those teams."
Tonight, Steve Fincher, Bob Waren and Chris Markham will be in their old coach's heart, and their teammates', too.
"They will," Loyd says, "definitely be with us."
