In part one of our three part series on Texas Hall of Fame coach Johnny Carter, we dove into the story of “The First Season”. That is, his first season as a high school coach at Class B Kennard High in Kennard, Texas. Amazingly, at the young age of 24, Carter led the Tigers to their first ever state title. Along the way, he and his team forged lifelong friendships, a competitive nature and simultaneously helped bring the community together during the high school’s first year of integration. To this day, Carter still thanks “the good Lord” for the unreal opportunity in just his first season. Obviously, as the defending state champs, he and his team headed into the 1968 season with a target on their backs. Knowing this, Carter was determined to not let his team become complacent, or let the statewide fame they had earned go to their heads.
That is why less than a week later, the Tigers were back in the gym, preparing for the first game of the ‘68 season which was set to tip off just under eight months later. As the saying goes, “hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard”. That was certainly the case, as Kennard’s hard work and senior leadership proved key early on in their quest to defend their spot as Class B’s best team. In fact, Carter returned four of his five starters from the previous season; Roy Harrison, Haywood Henderson, James Pilkington, and Herman Myers. Each had their own talents that fused with the others to make Kennard a powerhouse program.
Implementing the Press
Late in the 1967 Regional Championship, Kennard was losing to Avinger and desperately needed a change of pace for the final few minutes. Quickly, Carter drew up a full court press attack during a timeout, hoping it could generate turnovers and result in much-needed points for the Tigers. The only problem was they had not practiced anything remotely similar to it all season.
Basically, the press is a defensive play featuring four players from the defense “pressuring” the offensive players who are trying to get the ball past half court after the inbounds pass. The fifth player acts as a safety man, the last line of defense before the basket.
Nervously, he watched his players step out onto the floor. Much to his surprise, they began to pull the game closer and closer with a stingy defense led by James Pilkington to eventually win the game 60-59. Carter was overjoyed, and at the same time, a light bulb went off in his head. He saw the damage it caused to Avinger’s offense for two minutes, how about implementing the press 100% of the time? After all, having played years at the point guard position, he loved the quickness and agility along with the strategy involved in successfully running a pressing defense.
“It fit me like a glove,” he told 360 Sports.
From that point on, the decision was made. Starting in 1968, Kennard would transform their defense into one that took on the mantra, “run, press, and forget the rest.”
However, many of the die hard fans raised questions as to why Carter would change their entire style of play after having just won a state title.
“I faced a lot of adversity with the fans at that point, but that wasn’t going to keep me from doing what I wanted to do,” said Carter.
Herman Myers, the team’s best shooter, was not too keen about the idea at first. He had his reservations about how much running he could take during a game and if he would be able to put up as many shots as he had done in prior years.
“But when I told him how many more shots he’d get per game with the pressing defense his eyes got as big as baseballs and said ‘I’ll do it coach’,” said Carter.
Carter remembers how quickly it began to work, as he put his teams through quick-paced drills to get them conditioned for 32 minutes of action in which they would sprint all over the floor. Just as it had in the previous year’s regional semifinal, it clicked for Kennard just prior to the opening game of the 1968 season. Thanks to the new style of play, Carter was more than satisfied as they convincingly beat New Summerfield High, 79-39. The first real test of the season was just around the corner, though. In their next game, versus nearby Woden High, a team that was battle-tested and well-prepared for this showdown with the defending state champs, played their hearts out, and edged out the 61-55 victory as Carter’s squad shot just 28%.
Late in the game, Butch Walker, who was the fifth man on the full court press, went for a steal against Carter’s direction, thinking he could get the ball and help Kennard hold on for the victory. Unfortunately for him, despite incredible speed, he missed the steal as a Woden player drove right past him for an easy bucket.
“Look, we forced plenty of turnovers-enough to win this game,” Carter told his team after the game. “However, we only shot 28%! Hey, there will be other games when we don’t shoot well and this takes away full court press opportunities.”
As Carter said this, Walker looked straight into his eyes, and feeling guilty for allowing the game to slip away by going against his coach’s instructions, said, “I thought I could get the ball, coach”.
Without missing a beat, Carter replied, “I don’t want you to Think you can get the ball...I want you to Know that you can get the ball!”
He would go on to tell Walker that he would be a key player for them in the future, and not dwell on the mistakes. A long season loomed ahead.
One positive did come out of that loss, as Carter decided to implement a half-court trap on a missed shot, only running the full court press after a made shot. It dramatically changed the Tigers’ fortunes the next time they faced Woden. Kennard got revenge, taking down Woden by 20-plus points.
That loss put a fire inside the Tigers as they rattled off seven straight wins before playing in the Madisonville Tournament.
“When you have a good team and someone beats them, that motivates them and the practice the next day is great,” said Carter. “Those guys did not like to lose.”
Being the tournament was played in Carter’s hometown, it had special meaning to him. And being that in the previous year, Kennard had fallen to Snook in the championship game.
With revenge and an unstoppable press fueling Kennard, the Tigers easily made it through the first two games of the tournament, earning a spot in the championship game against none other than Snook.
The game had significance to Carter and his team, not only because of the previous year’s loss, but because Snook abruptly canceled two games that were scheduled in 1968 for no apparent reason. It would be their only chance to take down a team that had been regarded as the heavyweight of Class B for so many seasons.
Like all showdowns, the ballgame went back and forth, neither team allowing the other to score very much or very often. Thanks to their new press, Kennard made just enough plays to hold Snook off and take the victory 35-31, and win the Madisonville Tournament Title as well. Carter’s team clearly understood what he meant when he told them before tip off, “Keep your head in the game and do not let up on defense!” The Tigers put on a show in Carter’s hometown, but that wouldn’t be the last time they felt a taste of victory in Madisonville.
After winning district rather easily, it was playoff time. Would the Tigers once again reclaim the Class B state title? It would be a true test of Carter’s coaching with so many talented teams contending for a few coveted spots in Austin.
The next time they rolled into Madisonville, it was under very different circumstances. After all, the Madisonville Tournament had meant a lot, but was not a matter of win or go home. This next matchup was. It was playoff time and they would be facing Iola High in the first round. Iola was 20-5 and had a deep history of basketball tradition, even producing NBA champion Chris Anderson, who graduated from the school of around 200 students in 1996.
As his teams always did prior to a game in Madisonville, Carter and his players stopped by at his parent's house for a cup of hot tea with honey. For whatever the reason, the hot tea with honey boosted his players’ energy, something that would be critical in such a key game. Behind a raucous Kennard fanbase, Iola crumpled before the first quarter had even elapsed. It was clear the Tigers were more experienced, outscoring their opponent 23-6, and winning the game 91-52. They were onto the regional tournament. As the team drove down the road back to Kennard, Carter remembers one of his stars, Haywood Henderson, saying “You know...I don’t know if we can play better than that.” Carter responded seriously, “We can ALWAYS play better than that!”
Defending the state title
Following a crucial victory in the regional final that saw sophomore Lester Hutcherson score eight points off the bench in the final four minutes in a comeback win over Frankson, Carter’s Tigers were once again headed for Austin and the state tournament.
That showdown with Frankston in the regional final was Kennard’s toughest game of the entire season as they were on the ropes all game, especially when Henderson fouled out with just a couple of minutes to play. As Carter frustratedly walked down the sideline looking for the right player to insert into the game, nearly everyone on his bench had their heads down, not wanting to take on the immense pressure. Everyone but Hutcherson, who raised his hand and told Carter “Put me in coach!” In just two minutes, Hutcherson grew up from being a JV player, seldom used in varsity competition, into an offensive threat that guided the Tigers to a spot in the 1968 State Tournament.
According to Carter, two things saved the Tigers in that regional final. The press and Hutcherson.
“Two things saved us,” said Carter. “Our press, we forced so many turnovers, and Lester coming off the bench. It was our biggest game of the season. There's always one team that plays above their capability in the regionals and if you aren’t ready, you’ll be headed home.
Frankston was the ultimate test of full court press.”
Their first matchup at state against Prairie Valley High (Nocona, TX) saw a similar result to the majority of that season’s games: a lot to a little. Despite three double figure scorers for Prairie Valley, Kennard overwhelmed them in a 92-52 victory that saw Butch Walker score 25 points. In addition, their 92 points in a single game were the most ever in a Texas State Tournament game.
Flash forward to the state final, where they would face Friendswood High and have a chance at back-to-back state titles. It was something extremely rare in a state where great teams came from all over, and in a sport where underdogs have just as good a chance as the overwhelming favorites. Under the lights of Gregory Gym, his Tigers were prepared to show the world just how quick defense could result in offense. While Frienswood was extremely young, they were talented, and would go on to win State the following season.
In the first half, the Tigers used a fast-paced offensive attack that saw his team consistently outrunning the defense on the way to the basket. Although they ran, pressed and “forgot the rest”, they clearly didn’t forget their shooting rhythm back in Kennard, as shots fell from all over the floor in a back-and-forth duel that went down to the final minutes. At the same time, Friendswood was matching Kennard basket for basket, and had clearly done some studying before the final test of the season. At the half, Kennard held a mere two point lead after a nice shot by Pilkington towards the end of the half.
Leave it to Carter, who was well-known for giving motivational, “rah-rah”, Vince Lombardi caliber, halftime speeches to get his squad back into the game. He might not have liked Lomardi’s Packers, whom his Dallas Cowboys had never beaten, but he did learn a thing or two from the hall of fame coach about inspiring a team.
The second half saw an entirely different Kennard group out on the floor, as they exploded out of the gates to annihilate the Friendswood offense with their impenetrable pressing defense. Behind a raucous crowd, the Tigers took down the Mustangs 64-49, reclaiming their title as the best of Texas in Class B.
Not only had they won their second straight state title, making them just the sixth team in the history of Class B boys basketball to do so, but had also eclipsed the scoring record for the state tournament, scoring 238 points over the course of three games. It was quite an accomplishment for the man who had transformed Kennard basketball from good to great in just two seasons, and had done it on a very meager budget.
Carter remembers the five starters from ‘68
As I talked with Carter on a May afternoon, he spoke on how key each member of that 1968 team was, as each played his part in the overall success of such a well-balanced, winning team.
“The thing about that [1968] team is that all the guys stood out in my mind,” Carter told 360 Sports. “We were not a one man team. We were a five-man group.”
There was Haywood Henderson, arguably the Tigers’ best athlete, a skilled rebounder who played on the wing. Roy Harrison was just 5’8, but played the post like he was 6’8. Together, these two were the first black players to represent Kennard as they integrated the team and the school in 1967. Carter called their situation “a Jackie Robinson situation” in reference to the Dodgers great who broke the color barrier in the MLB. Unlike Robinson’s situation however, integration went relatively smooth for the small Texas town, and within three years, four of the team’s five starters were black. Henderson and Harrison paved the way, and their play on the court was key in the Tigers winning its first two state titles. Both were also named to the all-state tournament team in 1968.
“They stood out in my mind because they seemed to adjust to the situation a lot better than a lot of black kids in that time,” said Carter. “They extended their role over the years. It was kind of like a Jackie Robinson situation in some respects. I didn’t notice anything like what Robinson went through when he was trying to be the first black player to play in the major leagues, but I know they may have gone through some of that stuff.
Another player Carter mentioned was Herman Myers, a deep range sharpshooter with precision like no other. He made a key shot with 15 seconds left to win the 1967 Regional Final and was named to the all-tournament team in both 1967 and 1968.
“Herman Myers stood out to me because he was far and away our best shooter,” said Carter. “If we needed a basket in a tight situation, he was always the guy I went to.”
James Pilkington was far and away the team’s best defender, and better known by his nickname,”Nubbin “. Although, Carter noted, he could have been a scorer, his value was more in his play of stopping points than scoring them.
“Nubbin Pilkington was our best defensive player,” said Carter. “He was not much of a scorer, although he could have been. He just extended his role.”
Finally, the lone player who was not a senior that season was Butch Walker, a junior who transferred to Kennard before his junior season. On the full court press, he was the safety man in front of the basket, but on the halfcourt trap, his job was to go after every steal he could.
“He really was a blessing,” Carter noted. “He was quick as a cat, and he really made our press be even more effective than it could have been.”
And to round off a great championship season, Carter was thrilled when he got to deliver the news to his four seniors- Henderson, Harrison, Myers, and Pilkington- all were being offered scholarships by his good friend, Cecil Ferguson, the head basketball coach at Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas. They would go onto be members of just the second basketball team to represent Angelina JC.
Carter would be back in 1969 for his third season at Kennard. However, he’d be without the four players who had led the Tigers to two consecutive state titles and coaching a team led primarily by a group of inexperienced, unproven sophomores. It would truly be a rebuilding project.
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a three part series we’re planning to do on this hall of fame coach, who not only saw success at Kennard but at the college level also. So make sure to be looking for more on Carter’s amazing experiences as he became one of Texas’ most well-known basketball coaches. He authored “The First Season”, which goes into his first season as a high school coach in more detail, with excellent description and anecdotes from that first year as Kennard’s head coach. If you’re interested in a tale of sports, overcoming the odds, and storytelling that will keep you on the edge of your seat, THIS IS IT! In addition, he recently wrote “The Pressing Champions” which covers his next three years in Kennard, leading them to two more state titles. Check it out at http://www.coachjohnnycarter.com/.
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