When basketball fans in the Wyoming Valley discuss the greatest teams in the past century, the talks generally rests on the 1961 PIAA champion Nanticoke Rams - but more commonly referred to in print and on radio and TV as the Nans.
Perhaps no other team captured the imagination of a community like those Nans did over a three-year period, 1959-61.
Consider:
Three straight Wyoming Valley League championships.
Two straight District 2 Class A (Class A at the time represented schools with the largest student populations).
Two straight trips to the PIAA Eastern finals.
One state Class A championship.
Senior members of the team along with their classmates got a chance to recall those glory days over the weekend as the Class of 1961 from Nanticoke High School celebrated its 50th reunion.
"Magical," is how one member of that team - forward Bill James, described the Nans three-year run which culminated in that state championship. "We were the toast of the town. Everybody loved us. We played before packed houses. I think our gym held about 1,000. But every game, they packed in about 1500."
Coached by the legendary Syl "Stretch" Bozinski, the team that would win the title began to take shape in 1958-59 when a group of sophomores led by 6-foot-4 center Ken Legins, who had gone unbeaten as freshmen, joined an already talented team. By the time that sophomore class graduated, history had been made.
"Kenny was just a terrific player," said classmate James. "He started as a sophomore and I was the sixth man. We lost our only game in the Wyoming Valley League that year to Kingston and we had to play them again for the overall league title and we got our revenge . . . beat 'em pretty bad."
The following year, the Nans were the overwhelming favorite to win the WV League and they didn't disappoint.
"Stretch" had us ready for anything," James said. "Every day we worked 20 minutes on pressing defense. We never had to use it - until we played Reading and we needed it to win. That's how prepared he had us.
James also praised Bozinski for never wanting to embarrass his opponent. "Our senior year, he played everyone, everybody on the team earned a letter," James said.
As word spread, WILK radio jumped on the Nans' bandwagon and began broadcasting their games with the late Johnny Sobal, letting the rest of the Wyoming Valley in on the excitement.
That team, with Legins and James joined by the likes of Rich Kiewlak, Jim Shepela and George Dudrick, tore through the Wyoming Valley League and District 2 and took a 26-0 record to the Eastern final where the Rams were stunned by York, 62-47 at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg.
"That was a tough loss," said James, "but it made us more determined for next year."
James noted that Bozinski wanted to have his team ready for the state playoffs the next year by entering the Johnstown Tournament, going against bigger teams like Sharon and Chester.
"That was the thing many people forget," James said. "We were really a "C" team by enrollment and Stretch elected to play us in "A" against the bigger teams. We really were like the team in 'Hoosiers' - small school taking on the bigger schools."
The strategy seemed to backfire when the Rams lost the opener to Sharon, 55-38, but bounced back the following night to stop Chester - then as now, a perennial state power, 69-57.
"There was no stopping us then," said James. "We just knew we were not going to lose."
And they didn't, ripping off a 20-game win streak which culminated in a 56-46 victory over Hickory Township in the championship game.
Over the course of the year, the Rams averaged nearly 73 points per game while limiting their opponents to just 48 ppg., winning by an average of 25 ppg. Their toughest game again came in the Eastern final against Reading where the Rams squeezed out a 51-47 victory,
More than 8,000 fans made the trek from Nanticoke to Harrisburg as the basketball fever engulfed the town.
"It was a crazy time," recalled Les Williams, a 1961 grad who joined his classmates over the weekend for the reunion. "Even in school, the teachers were caught up. Our advanced algebra teacher even made up formulas on game days to show us how we were going to win. It really was a lot of fun."
Williams also recalled how the caravan from Nanticoke to Harrisburg stretched along Route 11 for as far as the eye could see. "We had somewhere between 45 and 60 buses filled."
James said when he looked at the crowd from the court floor, he thought the whole town was there.
When the game was over - it was televised locally - the town erupted with cars taking to the streets and blowing their horns.
The players did not return until Saturday and, as James recalled, the Nanticoke bus was stopped in several of the smaller towns along the way, including Berwick, where fans congratulated them.
When the bus reached West Nanticoke, the players were taken off the bus and rode on the back of convertibles where fans lined the streets.
At what is now Patriot Square, it was estimated 20,000 fans turned out for a rally and the players each got to say a few words.
Nanticoke basketball had captured previous state championships in 1923 and 1926 but nothing captured the imagination of not just a town, but a whole valley, as the 1961 teams.
As James said, it was "magical."