Parkview High School’s famed Jolly Green Giants, Missouri State’s 1952 and 1953 NAIA national championship men’s basketball teams and two notable basketball figures – coach Gary Stanfield and former Missouri State Lady Bear Karen Rapier – are now inductees of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
All were honored during the Basketball Tipoff Luncheon sponsored by Mercy on Thursday, Dec. 10 at the University Plaza Convention Center. President and Executive Director Jerald Andrews led the ceremony, which drew a crowd of almost 700.
Additionally, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame recognized the Filbert Five, a group of former high school, college and professional players. The award is named after the late Gary Filbert, a longtime high school and college basketball coach. He was a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee who, in 2011, was bestowed the Hall’s highest honor with the Missouri Sports Legend award.
The Filbert Five carries a theme each year, and this year’s theme was focused on centers. The Filbert Five men’s team featured Chris Harville (Rogersville/Missouri State), Steven Hill (Branson/Arkansas), Sam Singh (Ozark/Bradley), Mark Sparks (Neosho/Mizzou/Drury) and Kevin Williams (Nevada/Mizzou). The Filbert Five women’s team consisted of Sara Bos Barnhart (Billings/Drury), Laura Granzow Buetow (Kickapoo/Denver/Canisius), Terianne Wolford Brown (Nixa/Mizzou), Alyson Young Hooten (Rogersville/Avila) and Anita Rank Oplotnik (Lincoln/Missouri Southern).
Parkview’s Jolly Green Giants
The Parkview Vikings enjoyed a golden era of basketball in Springfield in the mid-1960s, highlighted by the 1965 Class L state championship as coach Bill Harding team’s beat Center High School of Kansas City, 67-50.
The Jolly Green Giants, so named by News-Leader sports writer Marty Eddlemon because of their height and green warm-ups, were 81-4 in a three-year stretch from November 1963 to 1966. They also placed second in Class L in 1964 under Harding and second again in 1966 under coach Bob Brown.
The 1965 team won its final 25 games. Gail Fredrick was team captain, and the team included Bert Park, Neil Pittman, Steve Hutchinson, Larry Shertz, K.G. Wells, Jack Cox, Virgle Fredrick, Rick Davis, Ray Snelling, Tom Bollinger, Larry Carpenter, John Weston, assistant coach Edsel Matthews and managers Kenny Morris and Tom Moore.
Within two years of coach Harding’s arrival, the Vikings played for the 1964 state championship. That team included Steve Grace, Jim McAlear, Larry O’Reilly, Gail Fredrick, Steve Cash, Larry Carpenter and Virgle Fredrick. The also roster included Jack Cox, Bert Park, David Calloway, David Wade, Steve Hutchinson and John Weston.
The 1966 team, whose only loss was in the state championship game, featured Virgle Fredrick, Ray Snelling, Steve Hutchinson, K.G. Wells, Tom Bollinger, Bud Rice, Bob Hurt and Doug Bloch. The roster included David O’Reilly, Mike Pottenger, Rusty Hale, Richard Cunningham and Greg Nicholson.
Missouri State: 1952, 1953 NAIA
The Bob Vanatta-coached Bears won the 1952 NAIA championship in beating Murray State (Ky.) 73-64. The Bears finished 27-5 and qualified for the national tournament after rallying to win a three-game, play-in series against Missouri Valley. The postseason roster consisted of Bill Thomas, Bill Lea, Jerry Lumpe, Don Duckworth, Forrest Hamilton, Norm Siebern, Ray Birdsong, Fred Stephens, Jerry Anderson and Jim Julian. The regular-season roster included Bill Price, Bob Reed, Kenny Foster, Jim Murphy, Jack Trogdon and team manager Jim Moulder.
The 1953 Bears beat Hamline 79-71 to win the NAIA championship under Vanatta and finished 24-4, winning 22 of their final 23 games. They rallied to beat Indiana State in the national semifinal with the “Fabulous Four” of Thomas, Duckworth, Price and Birdsong – the only players left on the roster in the final three minutes. Five other Bears fouled out, and the team was already without Lumpe and Siebern because they were required to report to the New York Yankees’ spring training just days before.
The 1953 team included Forrest Hamilton, Larry Anderson, Don Anielak, Art Helms, John Grimm, Larry Giboney, Bob Tubert, Leland Brown, Charles Comiskey and Dale Harbaugh.
Gary Stanfield, high school & college coach
Gary Stanfield achieved success both in high school and college basketball over four decades. Stanfield earned 569 victories combined in the high school and college ranks. He compiled a 330-198 record in Missouri boys basketball at Weaubleau (1969-1973), Willow Springs (1973-1981), Hillcrest (1981-1984) and Republic (2008-2012). At the state tournament, his 1980 and 1981 Willow Springs teams placed third and second, respectively; his 1984 Hillcrest Hornets won the Class 4 state championship; and his 2010 Republic team placed fourth in Class 4 in addition to winning the Blue and Gold Tournament in 2012. Stanfield was 239-131 (.646) at Drury University between 1990 and 2004. His final team reached the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. He also guided teams to the 2000 D-II Tournament, the 1994 NAIA Tournament quarterfinals and the 1993 NAIA Tournament.
Karen Rapier, Missouri State Lady Bears
Jefferson City native Karen Rapier led the Missouri State Lady Bears to an 83-26 record in four seasons, including Gateway Conference Championships and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 1991 with a 26-5 record. Then, in her senior year of 1991-1992, MSU upset top-seeded Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and beat UCLA and Mississippi to reach the Final Four in Los Angeles. SMS was beaten by Western Kentucky in the semifinals, finishing with a school-best record of 31-3. When she graduated, Rapier was the Lady Bears’ all-time leader in games played (118), ranked fifth in both career rebounds (666) and points scored (1,365) and sixth in both steals (123) and field goal accuracy (.513). Additionally, Rapier was a team co-captain her senior year in 1992 and a preseason Street and Smith’s All-America honorable mention. She earned all-conference honors, was named to the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament team and was selected to the Gateway Conference All-Decade Team. Rapier returned to SMS in 1994 as an assistant coach. The Lady Bears reached six additional NCAA Tournaments, including the 2001 Final Four.
FILBERT FIVE – WOMEN
Sara (Bos) Barnhart (Billings/Drury): When Barnhart graduated from Billings High School in 2005, she was the school record holder in almost every category, including points scored (2,016). The 6-foot-1 center was a four-year starter, a two-time first team All-State selection, an All-Ozarks pick as a senior and the Southwest Central League MVP. She also was all-conference first team all four years. Additionally, Barnhart was a nominee for both the McDonald’s High School All-America and Miss Show-Me Basketball. Billings, which won three district championships in her time there, has since retired her jersey. Barnhart went on to NCAA Division II powerhouse Drury. The team reached the Elite Eight during her freshman year. She also started 32 games as a junior on the Lady Panthers 2008 team that reached the D-II Tournament regional semifinal and finished 28-4.
Terianne (Wolford) Brown (Nixa/Mizzou): Brown holds Nixa’s career scoring record (2,267 points) and single-season scoring record (663). She was named Miss Show-Me Basketball in 2000, scoring 22 points a game and leading Nixa to the 2000 Class 4 state championship and a 31-1 record. Brown was a three-time, first team All-Central Ozark Conference selection and was named the AAU Missouri Player of the Year as a sophomore. Additionally, Brown, who was a four-year letter-winner in basketball and volleyball, also was named a USA Today honorable mention All-American during her high school career. She played collegiately at Missouri, where she was a letter winner from 2000 to 2002 and an academic All-Big 12 Conference in 2003.
Laura (Granzow) Buetow (Kickapoo/Denver/Canisius): A 6-foot-3 center, Buetow won Miss Show-Me Basketball in 2003 and was a key member of the Lady Chiefs’ 2001 and 2003 Class 5 state championship teams. She was All-State, All-Ozark Conference, all-district, was nominated for the Gatorade Player of the Year award and the McDonald’s High School All-American game. She eventually signed with the University of Denver, where she made five starts as a freshman. Buetow played her final three collegiate seasons at Canisius College (N.Y.), where she still ranks in the top 10 in career blocked shots after leading the team in blocks all three seasons.
Alyson (Young) Hooten (Rogersville/Avila): A 6-foot center, Hooten scored 1,649 points from 2003 to 2007 at Rogersville, where she also is the all-time leading rebounder (890) and holds the single-season scoring record (550). She earned All-State in Class 4 in 2007 as well as All-Ozarks by the News-Leader and was a Miss Show-Me Basketball nominee. At Avila, she became the all-time leading scorer before graduating in 2011. She led the Heart of America Athletic Conference in scoring in her junior and senior seasons and was also a two-time NAIA All-American honorable mention. In 2011, Hooten led Avila to its first NAIA Division I Tournament and earned All-HAAC for a fourth consecutive year.
Anita (Rank) Oplotnik (Lincoln/Missouri Southern): Oplotnik is a 1984 graduate of Lincoln High School, which was a Class 1 state runner-up her senior year and a quarterfinalist her junior year. She was a third team All-American by USA Today in 1984, when she was also All-State. Oplotnik was a first team all-district in her junior and senior years and all-conference her final three seasons. She also was the first Lincoln girls player to score more than 1,000 points in a career and averaged 16.7 points. Her teams were a combined 75-10 in high school, including an 11-0 record on her freshman team. A four-year letter-winner at Missouri Southern State University, Oplotnik was a two-time All-American selection and a two-time first team NAIA All-District selection. Additionally, she was the conference Player of the Year in 1987 as well as a three-time, first team all-conference selection. Oplotnik twice led the Lady Lions in scoring and led the team in rebounding for three seasons. She is still the all-time leading scorer in school history (1,842 points) and holds 10 other records: points in a game (42); career field-goal percentage (.564); free throws made in a game (17), career (476), consecutively (15-for-15 in 1987); free throw attempts in a game (21) and career (600); free-throw percentage in a game (1.000); personal fouls in a career (376); and single-season games started (32).
FILBERT FIVE – MEN
Steven Hill (Branson/Arkansas/Thunder): At Branson, Hill was a Class 4 All-State selection in both 2003 and 2004 in addition to All-Ozarks and All-Central Ozark Conference. His 616 career blocked shots are second in state high school history, and his 5.87 blocked shots per game still rank fourth. At Arkansas, Hill was a three-time selection to the All-Southeastern Conference Defensive Team and was voted the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in his junior season. He also was a three-time academic All-SEC. Hill’s 54 blocks were second-most by a freshman, to the 60 set by then-freshman Oliver Miller. A year later, Hill had 91 blocks, passing Miller’s single-season record of 85. Hill played one game in the NBA, in 2009 for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and played on NBA Developmental League affiliates for the Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings.
Chris Harville (Rogersville/Missouri State): Harville is the all-time leading scorer at Rogersville High School, with 1,532 points in 120 games played. The 6-foot-9 center was All-State two years, All-Central Ozark Conference three years as well as all-district and All-Ozarks by the News-Leader. Harville went on to earn four letters for coach Charlie Spoonhour’s Missouri State Bears from 1987 to 1990. He was on the roster for all four of those Bears’ NCAA Tournament teams.
Sam Singh (Ozark/Bradley): Singh helped the Ozark Tigers to the Class 4 state championship in 2003 as well as third-place finishes in 2001 and 2004. Singh was All-State and All-Ozarks as a senior in the 2003-2004 season, when he averaged 20.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 blocked shots a game. The school has since inducted Singh into its hall of fame. Singh went on to play for Bradley, where he played in four postseason tournaments, including the Sweet 16 run in 2006. He overcome five surgeries and helped the Braves to a 21-win season in 2009, when the team played in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Mark Sparks (Neosho/Mizzou/Drury): Sparks was a 6-foot-8 standout at Neosho High School. Before graduating in 1981, he was a McDonald’s All-American honorable mention as a senior, All-State as a junior and senior as well as all-district, all-conference and All-Ozarks by the News-Leader. Sparks played at Mizzou from the fall of 1981 to 1984, lettering on the team’s Big 8 Conference championship teams of ’82 and ’83. He finished his career at Drury, where he tied Jim Williams’ single-season rebounding record (347) in 1985. Sparks was an NAIA All-American honorable mention on the 1985 team that reached the NAIA Elite Eight.
Kevin Williams (Nevada/Mizzou): Williams is a 1977 Nevada High School graduate who was a McDonald’s High School All-American as a senior, plus All-State as a junior and senior. In addition, he was an All-Big 8 Conference selection in southwest Missouri, all-district and still holds the state high school record for most blocked shots in a single game, with 20, set against Mount Vernon on Feb. 15, 1977. Williams went on to play at Mizzou from 1977 to 1979.
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