Lake and Oak Harbor literally played their home basketball games on stages that passed for basketball courts in the early days of the Suburban Lakes League.

Woodmore was still playing on an elevated stage/court at Woodmore Elementary School in Woodville when Jude Meyers took over the Wildcats' boys’ basketball program beginning with the 1989-90 season.

“It sure wasn't your typical full court,” said Meyers, who is now the athletic director at Old Fort High School and interim superintendent for the Old Fort school district.

“I remember the (player) substitutions and sitting on that one end. It was unusual because there was nobody behind you and you were used to having somebody behind you. There were dead spots on the floor. If you dribbled on those spots, the ball wouldn't bounce back up. Our kids knew where those dead spots were, right around half court.”

Fans attending the boys and girls games were treated to theater-style seating that angled down to the base of the stage. Meyers recalled the fans' seating area being called the “pit,” and there wasn't any need for fans to dress warm during games.

“If you sat in the pit,” he said, “it was definitely warm in there. It was always packed in there and it was always loud.”

Needless to say, the Wildcats' basketball teams and their fans – and opposing teams and fans – were happy to see Woodmore build a new 1,700-seat gymnasium at the high school in Elmore. The gym opened for the 1991-92 season.

Former Genoa boys basketball coach Dan Dippman was thrilled to see Woodmore open its sparkling new facility.

“I remember playing Woodmore on that stage,” Dippman said. “That was tough. It was weird, because the benches were on opposite ends and it was difficult to sub and difficult to communicate. Talk about homecourt advantage – and of course the scorer's table was on Woodmore's end.”

Meyers said being able to use the new high school gym made a huge difference in how the Wildcats' boys and girls teams were able to practice.

“You could break up into six baskets and spread out and you could get so much accomplished,” he said. “The first year I ran a camp there we had 44 kids, and by the time I finished (1998) we had 150 kids at camp. We could accommodate and do so many things with that facility that you couldn't do with that stage.

“They did a nice job putting that facility together. The people were good and they treated me well. They let me coach. We tried to do things right. The time I spent there at Woodmore were very good memories.”

Woodmore was one of the charter members of the newly-formed SLL in 1972, but its boys basketball program didn't so much as sniff a league title until the mid-1980s. The Wildcats tied Elmwood for second place behind SLL champion Oak Harbor in 1984, and the 'Cats also finished second to Eastwood in 1991.

Woodmore claimed its first SLL crown in 1993, with players like Greg Sandrock, Todd Throop and Jason Pavlica. The Wildcats, led by Michael Perkins, Wade Weaver and Aaron Dolph, won the title again in 1995 and tied Genoa for the title in '96.

“When I think of those days, you had Paul Gnepper at Lakota and that 1-3-1 they ran,” said Meyers, who coached the Wildcats for nine seasons. “You had to be prepared, because his kids always played hard. With Keith Diebler at Gibsonburg, you better be ready for pressure because they were going to bring it at you. Steve Stoller always ran a good program at Eastwood. He was the hallmark of consistency.

“I always admired Dan Dippman. Talk about somebody who always did things the right way. It was always a battle between us and Genoa. We never lost to Otsego in my nine years.”

Woodmore's last SLL boys title came in 2004, under coach Don Christie. The Wildcats finished second in the league nine times from 1996 through 2005.

The SLL is dissolving at the end of this school year and Woodmore, which has the second-smallest enrollment in the SLL, will compete in the Northern Buckeye Conference beginning in 2011-12. The 'Cats, who lost Lakota as a league rival two years ago – the Raiders moved to the Midland Athletic League – will also lose their league rivalry with Gibsonburg, which is moving to the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

“It's the mark of the times,” Meyers said. “Enrollments change. You're always looking at football and can you make the playoffs within the league you're in. You're looking at revenue and travel time. That's just what's going on in education today. School districts are changing and you have to stay competitive.”

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