Introduction

On March 12, 1995, a stunned and disheartened group of players sat in the small locker room at Pershing Auditorium.  The Wahoo basketball team had suffered a rare defeat.  The 1995 team had lost in the first round of the state tournament – it would not join the six previous Warrior teams that had won state championships.  The cover of the 1995 team booklet expressed the team’s motivation for the next season:  “We have the tradition; we will be on a mission in 1996.”

A year later, the 1996 Warriors were once again at Pershing Auditorium awaiting a first round contest at the state tournament.  The season had not been as successful as had been hoped.  There were some blemishes.  Perhaps the weight of the mission was too much to bear.  Coach Mark Watton would comment, “It (desire to regain state title) was part of the trouble.  Maybe they were thinking about the state tournament already.” Whatever the reason, the 1996 Warriors would find themselves in need of a miracle.  In 1995 there had been no miracle to save the Warriors’ hopes for a championship.  It remained to be seen if the 1996 Warriors could pull off a miracle and successfully complete their mission.