Inductees

Thumb through an old scrapbook that Dennis Cornish kept from his days coaching the Lockwood Basketball Tigers, and it’s hard not to shake your head in awe.

See the headlines from the mid-1990s? They scream, “Tigers quickly learn how to enjoy state a title” and “The Tigers did the impossible” and “Lockwood has reloaded for state title run” – with each newspaper clipping naturally fading.

Ultimately, anyone dusting off those pages would reach the same conclusion: One of the best basketball stories in the state at that time could be found right in Dade County of southwest Missouri.

That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 1993-1996 Lockwood High School Boys Basketball Final Four Teams with the Class of 2021. In order, Lockwood was a third-place finisher, state champion and then back-to-back state runner-up.

Those teams were a combined 115-10, with the 1994 Tigers still the only ones to beat Scott County Central (MSHOF 2016) in Scott County’s 19 state championship game appearances.

Overall, it’s a story of a town, a team and a dream.

“It all started with youth basketball,” Cornish said. “Mike Shorter, Brad and Chris’ dad, coached them as they played a lot of youth games in the area. Mike worked hard with them in the fundamentals of the game of basketball.”

Between 1986 and 1992, Lockwood’s varsity had enjoyed success and inspired the boys coming up the pipeline. The 1986 team reached the Final Four and placed fourth. The 1989 team (27-1) advanced to the regional. The 1990 team finished as a district runner-up, and the 1992 Tigers (22-5) reached the sectionals.

And so the stage was set.

The 1993 Tigers (29-1) featured a starting lineup of 6-foot-6 center J.J. Huckin, 6-3 forwards Wade Lilienkamp and Chris Shorter, and 5-9 guards Brad Shorter and Travis Shaw. Guard David Muncy and forward Jarid Weimer were key parts of the rotation.

Lockwood nearly reached the finals before Green City scored a 61-59 win in the semifinal.

The 1994 team (30-1) featured the Shorters, Lilienkamp, Muncy and Weimer and added Adam Lilienkamp and Jason Coose.

Incredibly, those Tigers overcame a 12-point, first-quarter deficit against Scott County Central in the finals and won 64-60. Scott County Central had not lost in 12 previous state championship games.

Chris Shorter scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in that game, with Brad Shorter (11), Muncy (10) and Coose (10) also in double figures. The team was 7-of-10 shooting at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, a year after a 5-of-19 showing on free throws in the 1993 semifinal.

The 1995 team (30-2) was called “The Iron 5” because most of the minutes went to Chris Shorter, Adam Lilienkamp, Brad Taylor – all seniors – and Coose, a junior, and sophomore guard Shawn Watson. Cornish dialed it back with a half-court offense and zone defense.

A 66-62 regional victory against No. 1-ranked Appleton City keyed the postseason. Lockwood beat South Iron 55-42 in the semifinal. In the championship, Barstow won 74-64 after Lockwood cut a 17-point deficit to five points in the fourth quarter. Chris Shorter finished his career with a school-record 2,409 points.

Only two starters, Coose and Watson, returned for the 1996 team (26-6), which opened the season 4-2. Yet those Tigers meshed as the schedule pushed deeper into the winter.

Senior center Derek White, senior guard Devon Eggerman and junior forward Ryan Brunner filled the starting lineup, while senior Adam Whitesell and sophomores Erin Shaw and Butch Hunt came off the bench.

“This was to be the season that everyone thought the run of Final Fours would come to an end except for the team members of ’96,” Cornish said.

In the district championship, the Tigers rallied after losing Coose to a first-half injury. In the sectional, they were behind by 11 points with about 5 minutes left but won 72-65. Coose’s 15-foot jumper with 8 seconds left won the semifinal, but Richland denied the Tigers in the finals.

Cornish remembers the legacy of that era, calling it “one team opening a new door for the next team.”

Other Final Four-era players were Ryan Abbiatti, Jason Abbiatti, Chris Adams, Clint Augusta, Corey Boehne, Steven Brunner, Jay Horton, Derrick Jenkins, Jim Miller, Wes Moss, Robbie Patterson, Mike Pittsenbarger, Dwight Schnelle, Brad Taylor and Mike Thieman.

Assistant coaches were Joe Oswald, Jason Dial, Dan Decker and Mike Shores.

“All four teams had one thing in common,” Cornish said, “and that was that it was not about individual success but about the team’s success.”