GRAHAM, N.C. (WGHP) — Players from the Central High School Ladie's Basketball Team from 1962 to 1965 will be inducted into the Graham Sports Hall of Fame on April 9.
Central is the former name of Graham High School before it was integrated. Sisters Ethel Horton and Nettie Guy remember their days on the team fondly.
“Ethel and I are just one year apart in age so we’ve spent a lot of time together," Guy said.
The sisters played during the mid-1960s when schools were segregated. Neither of them had former basketball experience.
"Coach Hopper came by and he said do you play basketball, I said no, I’ve never played any type of organized sport. He said how would you like to play basketball. I said well I guess I could," Guy said
Both were able to anticipate each other's movements on the court. The sisters eventually went on to win "most athletic" and M.V.P.
"When you play together that much you know each other and you know their moves, so it was very easy to play with her," Guy said.
Horton and Guy played in the area's first basketball game against an all-white school.
“Obviously we won that game that afternoon, so I think that was the talk of the neighborhood for a while," Horton said.
From 1963 to 1965, the Central High Ladies' Team won 61 out of 62 games played. The team had a 41-game winning streak at one point.
"We sort of gelled, we were the perfect team," Horton said.
That team will join countless other local athletes in the Graham Sports Hall of Fame.
"Well, my first reaction was what took so long because we’ve lost some of our members. And that’s one of the things I think about is I wish they would’ve been here to experience this," Guy said.
The induction banquet is scheduled for April 9. at the Graham Recreation Center at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20. After the ceremony, a plaque will go on the wall in the Hall of Fame to remember the team forever.
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