Millermen Run, Press Way to 31-1 Pinnacle

.....one of my most memorable years.  -Coach Denver Miller

The Basketball Pioneers went into their 1972 season expecting a great year but nobody knew now great it would be.   Winning the Maplewood Tournament began the round-baller's season.  Drew Rogers, Bill Moulder, and Robert Williams made the tournament all star team.  Williams also was awarded Most Valuable Player.

The Pioneers then won the next four games before entering the Normandy Tournament as the top seeded team.   Victories over Riverview, Pattonville, DuBourg, and SLUH gave the Pioneers the championship.

Moving back into conference play, the Millermen continued the roll over opponents.  They defeated arch rival Webster by an unbelievable score of 96-45.  They then moved on to Ladue to play the second place Rams who trailed Kirkwood by only one game in the Suburban South Conference race.  The Pioneers trounced the Rams, but suffered what appeared to be a crippling loss.   Center Drew Rogers, who had scored a career high 33 points, tore the ligaments in his ankle on a freak play with only seconds left in the game.

In the first game of Suburban Tournament the Pioneers played Webster in coach Denver Miller's 1,000th game as Kirkwood Head Coach.  Mr. Miller was given many gifts for the accomplishment and the crowd honored him with a standing ovation.

written by Sam Weaver

for the Kirkwood Pioneer

1971-1972 Roster

Head Coach: Denver Miller

Team Members: Don Bertram, Tommy Grice, Jesse Jackson, Ken Carnahan, Bill Haley, Bill Moulder, Scott Markle, Jon Breimeier, Dave Rychlewski, Robert Williams, Drew Rogers, Rhein Dabler, Steve Schaper, Scott Smith, Sam Weaver, Dave Cordes

Managers: Clay Slover, Jim Scott

Run to the championship game

Kirkwood, coached by veteran Denver Miller, coming into the meet undefeated at 28-0. St. Charles was a victim of their own poor free throw shooting as they dropped an 83-74 decision to undefeated Kirkwood in a game played at Meramec Community College.   The Pirates missed 19 charity attempts.  Kirkwood was led by Drew Rogers and Tommy Grice with 21 points each. 

Kiel Auditorium hosted a doubleheader or the quarterfinals.  The final quarterfinal was a thriller.  Kirkwood managed to stay unbeaten with a 68-66 win over Northwest (St. Louis) in front of 10,000 fans packed into the auditorium.  The game was decided when Scott Markle, a junior reserve, hit a layup with four seconds left. Following a missed Northwest free throw Kirkwood's Drew Rogers got the rebound and passed down the court to Markle for the winning score.  As Markle made the layup he was fouled and crashed into the basket support and was knocked unconscious for a brief period.  Tommy Grice replaced Markle, who needed stitches, and hit the free throw for the final margin.  Williams had 20 and Bill Moulder 18 to lead Kirkwood.

The other place in the finals went to undefeated Kirkwood with a 73-66 win over Carthage.  Twenty four turnovers did Carthage in.  Full court pressure wore down the Carthage team, who had a decided height advantage.  Carthage shot better, 37% to 33%, rebounded better, 40-33, but lost.  It was 35-28 at halftime behind Bill Moulder and reserve forward Steve Schaper.  It was 58-42 entering the final period.  Three late steals and baskets by Tom Grice broke the back of any Carthage comeback.  Moulder led with 18 points.

Kirkwood's drive for an undefeated season came to a close in the championship game as Raytown South dictated tempo and won the game 52-48.  The game was tied at 38-38 when Kirkwood's Pioneers took the lead on a fielder by Bob Williams and free throws by Rhein Dabler and Bill Moulder.  It looked as if they might be on their way with a 42-38 lead.  The Cardinals had other ideas and scored the next ten points to take charge of the game.  Bob Hall hit two free throws with four seconds left to seal the victory.  Trailing 50-48 the Pioneers missed four straight shots at a tie.  The loss was disappointing for the Pioneers of Coach Denver Miller as they lost not only the state championship but an undefeated season as well.  Drew Rogers took scoring honors in the game with 17 points for Kirkwood.  Kirkwood suffered from making only 12 of 26 free throws in the championship game.

from the From the Beginning, The History of Missouri State Basketball Championships.

If you have individual game scores from the 71-72 season, please send an e-mail to kirkwoodbasketball@yahoo.com