Hall-Of-Fame Night Provides Springboard for Starke County Matchup!

Once again, Knox Community High School provided a first-class presentation of their Athletic Hall-of-Fame, as well as the new inductees. The 2021 inductees included 1956 graduate Jack Ross, who lettered three years in football, where he was a three-time All-Conference running back, two years in basketball, and four years in track where he excelled in the broad jump, low hurdles, 880 relay, as well as the dashes. Following his graduation, Jack served four years in the Navy, after which he was employed at Napa for 48 years, while also serving, part-time, as a police officer.

Joining this year’s inductees were 1978 graduates Larry Mullins and John Salyer. Larry participated in football, basketball, and baseball throughout his time at Knox. In his Junior and Senior years, he would play a significant role as a member of the Conference Championship football team, while also being named to the All-Conference team as well. Following his successful high school career, Mullins would attend Glen Oaks College, where he competed as a member of the baseball team, before transferring to Manchester College, where he was able to compete as a member of the Spartans football team. Following his college career, Larry would spend multiple decades as a coach in the sports of baseball, basketball, football, softball, and track at Knox at the Junior High as well as High School levels. During his coaching career at Knox, Mullins was involved in over twenty Championships with Junior High and High school teams.

John earned four varsity letters in baseball, three in football, and two in basketball. In his sophomore year, Salyer was named the MVP of the baseball team. Between his sophomore and junior seasons, he set thirteen school records for hits, batting average, RBIs, steals, doubles, and triples. As a senior, Salyer was one of the football captains, while being named All-Conference as an offensive and defensive lineman, was All-State Honorable Mention as a linebacker, Starke County Leader All-Area Team as an offensive guard and linebacker, and was given Indiana Football Coaches Association All-Star Recognition. John’s record of 142 tackles in a single season still remains a Knox Community High School football record after forty-two years! As a baseball player, John was a Co-Captain, Co-MVP, and was named All-Conference as both a pitcher and shortstop. Following high school, John received a scholarship to play baseball at Glen Oaks College in Michigan, where in his sophomore year, was named the team MVP. John then transferred to Ancilla College where he played basketball, averaging 14.2ppg. Following college, he began playing semi-professional baseball with the Indiana Rangers and the Michigan City Stars. In 1982, John was offered a minor league contract to play for the Kansas City Royals, but a knee injury forced his career to end prematurely.

The fourth member of the Knox Hall-of-Fame class for 2021 would be one of the most well known athletes in the history of Knox Athletics. Les Mullins embodied the heart and soul of what a Knox football player should be. He played football with an incredible desire, grit, and toughness that was admired by his teammates as well as opponents. In his first varsity game, Mullins rushed for 355 yards and six touchdowns. in his second game, playing against arch-rival North Judson, Mullins would rush for 305 yards and five touchdowns! Les’ short career was derailed when he was diagnosed with Leukemia after just a couple of games in his Freshman year. Les passed away on August 5th, 1982. For the past thirty-eight years, the Redskin Football MVP is named the “Les Mullins MVP”, the only MVP Award at Knox High School named after another person.

By the time the Hall-Of-Fame Ceremony wrapped up, fans for both Knox, as well as Oregon-Davis were ready to watch the exciting Starke County matchup! To add to the excitement and the drama, this game would be the first opportunity for O-D Head Coach Larry Sennert to return to Knox as an opposing coach. Sennert had spent his entire coaching career, prior to taking over at Oregon-Davis, at Knox where he coached boys basketball at the junior high and high school levels, and was alongside Knox Head Coach Rob Krueger as an assistant for many years at the high school level. The energy at Weinberg gym was electrifying as the two teams tipped off. It would be a night that would belong to Knox from the start, as the Redskins would outscore the Bobcats 15-8 in the first quarter, forcing the Bobcats into four turnovers. O-D would make things a little closer in the second as they increased their defensive intensity, forcing Knox into four turnovers as they topped their first quarter scoring total, putting up nine in the second. The Redskins would still outscore the Bobcats in the second quarter, putting up eleven points of their own, on their way to a 26-17 lead at the half. Knox Senior Cade Short would be the most consistent scoring force in the game, as he scored eleven of his game-high twenty-three points in the first half.

The Redskins’ consistency would carry through the the third quarter, as Knox was able to outscore O-D 16-8 to take a 42-25 lead into the final quarter. The last eight minutes of the game would see the Redskins pull away, outscoring the Bobcats 17-6, on their way to a 59-31 victory. Throughout the game Oregon-Davis would be able to rely on consistent scoring from two familiar players, as Jared Bryan and Dylan Murphy would combine for eighteen points, scoring nine apiece. Murphy would also provide a major spark in the rebounding category as he was able to pull down a game-high eight boards in the effort.

The Starke County Co-Op Play of the Game on WKVI came in the second quarter, when Knox Sophomore shooting guard Owen Binkley knocked down a three-point shot to give his Redskins a double-digit lead at 20-10.

The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game on WKVI went to Knox’s Cade Short, who led all scorers with twenty-three points, including nine-for-thirteen at the free-throw line, while also logging seven rebounds and three steals in the win.

Game Statistics

Scoring

Knox(59): Gunner Wagner-15, Cade Short-23, Cohen Watson-2, Owen Binkley-5, Trent Messer-4, Declan Austin-8, Alex Wakal-2

Oregon-Davis(31): Ethan Huitt-1, Gavin Sibo-2, Cam Taylor-3, Nolan Green-2, Layne Fisher-3, Jared Bryan-9, Conner Danford-2, Dylan Murphy-9

Made 3-Point Shots

Oregon-Davis(2): Jared Bryan-1, Dylan Murphy-1

Knox(1): Owen Binkley

Free Throw Shooting

Knox: 18-26 69%

Oregon-Davis: 9-20 45%

Rebounding

Knox(35): Gunner Wagner-7, Cade hort-7, Owen Binkley-4, Ethan Wakal-3, Ethen Cole-1, Trent Messer-4, Declan Austin-6, Alex Wakal-3

Oregon-Davis(20): Gavin Sibo-1, Cam Taylor-2, Nolan Green-2, Layne Fisher-4, Jared Bryan-2, Caleb Seese-1, Dylan Murphy-8

Steals

Knox(7): Gunner Wagner-2, Cade Short-3, Cohen Watson-1, Owen Binkley-1

Oregon-Davis(4): Cam Taylor-1, Layne Fisher-2, Jared Bryan-1

*Statistical Information In This Article Provided By Kankakee Valley Broadcasting Staff. These Are Not Official Game Statistics*