Not just back but way back: Sardis Ladies, basketball, 101 years ago

Let’s rewind the clock, may I say way way back, to March of 1922.

To put his time frame in perspective, consider, Dr James Naismith placed the first peach basket on the wall in the winter of 1891. Thirty-one years later, a group of ladies from Sardis High School took the game of basketball to the big city and came home with a state runner up trophy.

The 1922 team was coached by Dave Hopkins, and they had a record of 20 wins and one loss, and that loss was to Ashland in the state finals. The team practiced on the farm of W.A. Simons in an old barn of his.

The Sardis team breezed through the district and regional play as they had their sights set on the big prize in the Armory gym in Lexington.

The Sardis team wanted to look good in the big city, so they borrowed uniforms from the girls of the Maysville High team. One little problem with the uniforms they had borrowed from Maysville was the light gold color of the pantaloons. The parents of the Sardis ladies did not want them to wear nothing more revealing than black pantaloons. The Sardis girls had a great idea as they cleaned the floor with them to make them think they had worn their own uniform.

In the state tourney in Lexington, they beat West Louisville Lady Indians by the score of 17 to 12. West Louisville was a school in Daviess County. The ladies then beat the Glendale Lady Thoroughbreds by the score of 14 to 8. Glendale was in Hardin County. The Lady Tomcats from Ashland beat the Sardis girls in the finals by the score of 39 to 7.

The team represented our area well as they returned to Mason County with the Kentucky High School State runner-up trophy. The members of the team were Ada Fowler Cracraft, Ruby Crockett Orme, Elizabeth Fowler Brierley, Mabel Dye Worthington, Clara Brieley Tatman, Dora White Buckler, Clarine Mullikin Cracraft and Aldora Cracraft Ray. Mrs. Ada Fowler Cracraft was named to the all-state team as she led the team in scoring.

This team overcame many obstacles to finish as the state runner-up in 1922. We sometimes forget about the girl’s teams place in local basketball history as the Maysville girls won the state tourney in 1926. The 1922 Sardis girls’ team deserves to be mentioned as one of the great teams of our area.