By Tom Ducatte You remember Motown, right? Some of the greatest music ever performed in the 1960s and 70s. Notable quintets like The Temptations, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and others helped escort many of us of that age through those years. There was a fi vesome too out of the Adirondacks that fans of Saranac High School rocked out to for a few years in the early 1970s. Their stage was a gymnasium fl oor and even the great Smokey Robinson and the Miracles couldn’t match this group when it came to encores, three years of them. You may have heard of them, the Chiefs. They were so good fans on a nightly basis fl ocked to see them play. These Chiefs rocked and rolled over their competition winning 56 out of 58 games. One year during the 1974-75 season all three Saranac programs, the freshmen, the jayvees, and the varsity went undefeated. The Saranac varsity basketball coach was a tall soft-spoken man who came from the Green Mountains of Vermont by the name of Morris “Mo” Towne. Towne was a star basketball player at Peoples Academy in Morrisville, Vermont (an hour west of Burlington), leading the team to a State Class B Championship in 1955 beating Black River High School of Ludlow 78-42. The game was played at the Middlebury College Fieldhouse and Towne led all scorers with 25 points. Peoples Academy Varsity Coach Tony Hopkins noticed something before one game. The coach’s star player Morris was wearing Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers that were in rough shape and too tight for his growing feet. Hopkins lent him his. Soon after Coach Hopkins took the young basketball center to a clothing store where he knew the owner. The owner, probably just trying to help the coach and Morris out, said to Tony, “Okay I’ll fl ip you to see who pays for the sneakers, either you or me.” A quarter was fl ipped and Coach Hopkins lost the toss and he paid for Morris’s sneakers. Hopkins with four of his own children on a teacher’s salary was a generous man. Towne also had a vision problem in one eye and was often breaking his glasses while playing. Unfortunately, Towne’s family couldn’t pay to replace them and Towne would end up playing many games without his glasses. After high school and a brief stint at the University of Vermont, Morris spent two years working in the asbestos mines in Lowell and Eden, Vermont. Asbestos, a carcinogen, was a heat-resistant durable material used in making insulation, pipe linings, and brake linings to name a few of its uses. Long bus rides to the site, working various shifts, carrying sacks weighing close to 100 pounds, yearly chest X-rays, and watching people get sick and die from lung disease all signaled to the young man it was time to move on. History MORRIS TOWNE standing top right. Coach Steitz kneeling (Springfi eld Union) “morris was a terrific player, adept at shooting with either hand, mechanically sound and his style of play matched his personality. He played quietly but very effectively and was great offensively with his back to the basket.” Coach Hopkins sensed his ex-player needed a mentoring push and helped give Towne the guidance he needed at this crossroad in his life. Morris went on to be an exceptional basketball player between 1958 and 1961 at Springfi eld College located in Western Massachusetts. Fortunately, the one problem with his eye was corrected by a contact lens and his career took off during the 1958-59 season. Playing for Ed Steitz, considered an authority on the amateur worldwide basketball rules, the 6’4” Springfield Maroon sophomore center was selected to the Eastern Athletic Conference All East Small College first team twice and honorable mention in the 1959 Converse Basketball’s Yearbook. Steitz was infl uential with the college adoption of the 45-second clock in 1986 and the 3-point shot introduced in 1987. Steitz entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. Steitz certainly must have been an influence on Towne’s coaching career. Springfi eld College, the 1891 birthplace of basketball, was one of eight colleges invited to the 1940 NCAA basketball tournament losing to the eventual champions the Hoosiers of Indiana 48-24 in the Eastern Regionals at Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the movie Hoosiers was filmed. Two talented coaches, Moriah’s Head Football Coach Joe Gilbo (121- 58-9) and Plattsburgh High School’s Mike Flynn, Head Basketball (198-60) and Baseball Coach also graduated from Springfield College. Gilbo played quarterback and catcher at that school in the mid-1950s and Flynn played baseball in the early 1970s for the legendary Coach Archie Allen. Springfi eld, with proud coaches and educators’ tradition, inspired many young players to pursue a coaching career and Gilbo and Flynn were two of those. It was a golden time in the North Country with so many great coaches. After college Morris would play with some of the adult teams in the Plattsburgh area. A good friend of Towne’s, Bob Garrow said, “Morris was a terrifi c player, adept at shooting with either hand, mechanically sound and his style of play matched his personality. He played quietly but very effectively and was great offensively with his back to the basket.” Morris, a Health and Physical Education and Recreation major, took over the basketball reins at Saranac right after college in 1961 and worked as that school’s athletic director for many years. Wayne Chase played for Coach Towne in the 1960s, and after college returned to teach social studies at the Saranac Middle School. When Chase began his basketball coaching career he gradually became Morris’s invaluable and dedicated right-hand man all those years. In 1968 Wayne and Morris started an intramural basketball program at the middle school during lunchtime. Every other week Chase and some of the younger teachers would help the cafeteria ladies and older custodians unload the heavy boxes of government cans of food. The ladies in the cafeteria reciprocated allowing players in the intramural program to be fi rst in line for lunch and that would allow them to get to the court more quickly. Of course, many would play in their school pants and some would have their shorts underneath those pants ready to go after a quick lunch. Preparation was an early trademark of the Saranac teams. Wayne went on, “We had 7 or 8 teams in a league. We would get many students from lunch to sit in the stands and watch the games while Morris and I o¦ciated.” All the while middle school players were getting exposure to playing in front of larger groups of people. Vicki Yeager, a physical education teacher, and wife of Saranac’s Baseball Coach Lee Yeager liked the idea so much she started up a girls’ intramural program. Tom Ryan mentioned that in the early years of Saranac basketball the smaller Catholic schools in the Saranac system did their part not only in education but also promoting basketball in the elementary schools. St Joseph’s of Dannemora, St Alexander’s of Morrisonville, and Assumption of Mary out of Redford served as early feeder programs. SARANAC LAKE BASKETBALL PLAYER Worth mentioning, Wayne Chase, along with his coaching duties, was an exceptional seventh-grade New York State social studies teacher who took his students and their active involvement seriously. For one study in the early 1970s, Chase had his students take a fl otilla of canoes, kayaks, and boats and navigate the Saranac River and count the illegal septic pipes from homes dumping raw sewage into the river. Thirty-two homes and a local prison were reported to the board of health. Chase had taught an important lesson in teaching the students the value of involvement, care for the environment, and community action in getting things done. Chase was one example of the type of people Morris surrounded himself with during those years. The elementary and middle school basketball preparation gradually started to pay off in the late 1960s. Towne had one of his better teams with names like Roger Long, Bob Murphy, Roger Dubray, Chris Cringle, and Jim Sears. Unfortunately, this excellent Saranac team came around the time when the Peru brothers Billy and Bobby Finney were showcasing their talents. Roger Long’s wife Darlene recently noted one of Coach Towne’s pregame rules was no sitting with your girlfriends and also praised the head coach for his steady hand and calm demeanor over the years. After the above team graduated Saranac went on a 23-game losing streak in the early 1970s. Going through this trying period surely must have made Towne hungrier to set the program again on its winning ways. Help was on the way. Towne knew he had three young warriors on the horizon primed and ready to go. The coach had two brothers Tom and Mike Ryan ready to take the bit that hailed from a Saranac farm and a wonderful athlete by the name of Butch Butchino who did it all on the court. Tom at 6’5 patrolled the area around the basket often called the paint and he loved to play defense. Mike at 6’3” was a sharpshooter and if there had been a three-point line back then could have done more damage. Butch a 6’2” jumping jack was probably the best athlete that could play both inside and outside. Mike and Butch, now freshmen, were both brought up to the varsity during their freshmen years in the 1971-72 season. The fi rst to go up to the varsity was Butch. John Gratto a 5’11” senior starter at the center position on that team recalled the 6’2” Butch coming up fi rst and taking his spot at that position. Gratto then moved to the guard spot and later that season Mike Ryan was brought up and he took Gratto’s guard spot and relegated the senior to the bench. Gratto graciously now says, “I knew those two were better than me, but I drew the line when Mike asked me for my number.” The senior probably thought, earn your stripes freshman. Gratto after graduation went on to Plattsburgh State and was that school’s starting shortstop and pitched during the 1973 and 1974 seasons. Mike, right after replacing Gratto that year, played his fi rst varsity game against PHS. The youngster got a little over-excited during one timeout. While Coach Towne was talking to the team, Mike bent over and grabbed Coach Towne’s necktie, and proceeded to wipe the sweat off his arms and face with the coach’s tie. Morris besides digging out his old bow ties probably wrote in his postgame notes about his newcomer’s initial game: • The kid looks like a player • Very resourceful • Might need some work with etiquette An incentive for Mike’s future basketball career happened after that PHS game later that night. Coach Towne said no pregame sitting with girls but nothing about post-game. There was a dance at Saranac High School and a beautiful girl who had just watched him play approached Mike to dance and he said yes. “It defi nitely made me work harder in the off -season.” Motivation comes in many ways. The “triangle of terror” Press Republican’s Sportswriter Bob Goetz affectionately called them was now in place to wreak havoc for the next three years over the North Country. With the core in place, Morris would have to fi ll in with other role players for those seasons. Keith Reyell who played the off -guard position was the team’s swiss army knife; whatever you needed on a given night he could supply it. Reyell usually set the tone with hustle and diving for loose balls. Handling the ball and distributing the ball to the scorers was the court-savvy Jay Hamel’s job. Tom Ryan and Butch Butchino both said the bench held its own and often gave the starters a run for their money in practice. Morris knew he had athletes and played to their strengths. The Chiefs wouldn’t be put WAYNE CHASE with 1974-75 Saranac Junior Varsity undefeated 18-0 (Press-Republican) into a set offense with predetermined movements but rather a motion offense that tried to keep the floor balanced. Defensively they played an effective 2-1-2 zone for the most part. The two brothers Tom and Mike on occasion would display just how intense practices could be with some old fashion sibling extracurricular combat. Boys will be boys. Butch remembered his team this way. “We had fun, worked hard and we all got along. We did a lot of running drills in practice so we were in shape. Coach Towne never put pressure on us and the team had a lot of respect for him.” Wayne Chase and the two Ryan brothers all agreed that going to a Saranac game was an event. It must have gotten tiresome for the individual that had to hang the Sold Out sign at the door for Saranac home games those three years to the dismay of loyal fans who had arrived late. If you weren’t there at least for the start of the freshmen game at 5:00 your chances of getting a seat were slim to none. Imagine a young wide-eyed Saranac elementary basketball player sitting at those packed gym games saying to himself, I want to be a part of this someday. Who wouldn’t want to go watch and play in a program that won 56 of its 58 games during a 3-year stretch? After games players and parents would gather at various homes bringing closeness to the team. For that matter, many of the coaches and referees from that age would make a stop at the Roman Gardens off Cornelia Street and a few other establishments, to talk about that night’s game or whatever else but usually sports. It was a different time. Asked about his greatest memory of that time Tom Ryan said, “The fans and all their enthusiasm.” Tom went on to say, Billy Long with his trumpet and charge call from the bleachers was something else he would always remember. Jeff Holmes, a PHS leader and exceptional player from the 1974-75 team, had another opinion on Billy’s trumpet. “We hated that thing.” One of the first hard lessons for Morris’s bright-eyed young group was there was always an opponent ready to knock them off if the team wasn’t ready to play. That first lesson was learned on March 4, 1973. The big three’s initial taste of defeat came as sophomores in a sectional semifinal game during the 1972-73 season against Coach Fuzzy Fesette’s St John’s Academy at the Fieldhouse before a packed house by a score of 71 to 54. St John’s was led by senior Mickey Carpenter’s 22 points (league scoring champion, 24.1 points) and 6’ 0” Terry Barrett’s 21 points, and 10 rebounds along with his outstanding defensive effort holding Butch Butchino to 5 points. Butch was asked recently if the team was overconfident that night. He responded, “We knew we were good and we were probably struttin’ a little bit.” An “aha” moment for this group to learn after the Chiefs manhandled the Irish 77-45 earlier in the year. Mickey Carpenter to this day praised veteran Saranac senior Steve Parker for his leadership on that sophomore dominant team. Butch explained that he and Steve communicated well on the court, especially non-verbally. Butchino went on, “I really looked up to and respected Steve not just as a player but as a person.” Parker, the son of Bobby Parker, an all-time great PHS athlete, was the one player who had experienced some challenging years and was finally part of a special season. Fesette was asked recently if Saranac was the best high school team he ever saw. Fuzzy replied, “Hands down, no doubt.” The only other defeat would come the following season by Coach Sherm Chappell’s Moriah Vikings at a sold-out Moriah gymnasium in January of 1974 by a score of 69-60. Mike Ryan gave full credit to the Vikings explaining, “Those guys were good.” That night senior Paul Slattery who averaged 12 points a game dropped in 26 points while standouts Tommy Nels and Mike Shpur contributed in keeping the Chiefs off balance with their zone press defense. Ed Rogoza recruited by Chappell late in his career from the school’s intramural program did his part battling for 16 rebounds in the upset win. Between 1972-75 the team that was the constant to Saranac’s dominance were the Hornets of Plattsburgh High School led by Coach Ray Holmes (130-63). Holmes attended Catholic Central in Troy, NY, then went on to Potsdam State College in 1949 and started as a freshman on both the baseball and basketball teams. As a player, Holmes played in the two- handed set shot generation. The shooting style he had perfected was old school and fun to watch. Holmes’ college career, much like Morris’s, was to say the least circuitous. After year one at Potsdam, he served in the Army for the next three years and then returned to Potsdam to regain his starting positions and starred in both sports and eventually landed in that school’s Hall of Fame. After graduation, he coached successfully at Chateaugay High School for six years and then on to PHS for 10 years. Coach Holmes was well respected by fellow coaches and certainly by his players. Plattsburgh High School like Saranac had a similar characteristic, stability in coaching from their middle school, freshman, and junior varsity programs. Plattsburgh’s elementary schools of Oak Street, Bailey Avenue, Monty Street, and Broad Street also had a program where those schools played in their own league. The Hornets were the model of consistency from 1958 through 2020 and its teams amassed a record of 955 wins and 373 losses. Six coaches, Kimball, Holmes, Flynn, Tolosky, Daugherty, and now Hartmann have led the black and orange during that span and carried on a tradition for six decades of not just winning but also running a class program. RAY HOLMES , 1955 Potsdam College (Pioneer Yearbook) “...Coach Towne never put pressure on us and the team had a lot of respect for him.” Continued on Page 46 Saranac won its fi rst Champlain Valley League Championship on February 25, 1973, with a 56-41 victory over Plattsburgh High School at the Fieldhouse. The red and white’s big three of Tom and Mike Ryan and Butch Butchino were aided by Alan Rock, Tom Tobin, and Steve Parker. A small story within the game saw two childhood Morrisonville basketball best friends, Butch Butchino and Mark Garrow, Bob’s son, pitted against one another. The two would spend endless hours in their early years playing on the Garrow’s outside tarmacked court with a hoop attached to the garage. Butch, was very close to the Garrow family and thought very highly of Bob Garrow. Mark Garrow of PHS was voted the Champlain Valley’s League’s MVP and Coach Towne was awarded the Coach of the Year. In March of 1974, the Chiefs captured their fi rst sectional title at the Fieldhouse beating PHS 90-57 with all 5 starters scoring in double fi gures. Junior Butch Butchino went on to be the CVL’s MVP for the 1973-74 season with Mike Ryan also placed on the fi rst team. Guards Alan Rock and Jay Hamel, both selected second-team All Stars, were big contributors on that team as well. Saranac and Plattsburgh players were friendly off the fl oor but once on the court became big rivals and pride and competitiveness went up a notch when these two squared off. Butchino said, “You could just feel the intensity when we played those guys.” Ray Holmes was a little older and more outgoing than the reserved Towne but the two had mutual respect for one another. The Chiefs and Hornets did have a common thread in their off -season work ethic constantly honing their skills against better competition in the summers sometimes playing at Plattsburgh State’s Memorial gym or wherever they could fi nd a game. Both teams had some two and a few three sport athletes but the round ball game was their fi rst love. Jeff Holmes explained, “During the off -season, we always had Saranac in the back of our minds.” Jeff followed in his father’s footsteps and coached the Shaker High School Boys team for 24 years in Latham, NY, having an excellent career winning 6 Suburban Conference titles at that AAA school. Some new faces emerged at PHS for the 1974-75 campaign. This talented PHS team came around at the wrong time though, much like Towne’s excellent teams of the later 1960s. PHS now had future college-bound basketball players like Jeff Holmes (Plymouth State), Joe Cardany (Union College), Leo Ryan (Canton ATC) Jeff Moskowitz (St Lawrence JV), and Kevin Daugherty (Eisenhower College). The Chiefs beat the Hornets 52-36 in a regular season matchup in January of 1975 and again a little later in March to capture the CVL title 80-62. Sadly for the Hornets, it was the same old song trying to take down the Chiefs. Beekmantown and PHS had another crack at the Chiefs that season when it came time to challenge for the Class A title. Coaches and players from the Eagles and Hornets had to be wondering what changes in their game plan they’d have to make to stop these Chiefs that had been on a roll the past three years. Saranac’s fi rst step in vying for the Class A sectional title would be to derail a streaking and fi red-up Beekmantown Eagles team that played a deliberate type of offense. Saranac won 63-45 and knew they’d been in a fi ght and the score was not indicative of the fi nal outcome. Burnell’s “Cardiac Kids” helped elevate the program to a new level and the talented Burnell walked away with a well-deserved Coach of the Year Award. The next game that stood out between PHS and Saranac was the Class A sectional championship in March of 1975 before an impressive crowd of 4,500 excited fans at the Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse. What a treat it must have been for those players to play in front of so many people. Bob Goetz set the tone for this hoops matchup with his usual great pregame writeup that players, coaches, and fans always appreciated over the years. WIRY radio’s Mike Mannix, was ready at the BJ ADAMS , PHS #50 defends Saranac's Mike Ryan during a 1974-75 regular season matchup. Saranac won 52-36 (Press-Republican) VICTORY WALK . Coach Towne, 1973-74. Saranac defeated PHS 52-37. (Below) BUTCH BUTCHINO (left) defended by Steve Farrell 1973-74 season (Press-Republican) (Left) TOM RYAN and BUTCH BUTCHINO celebrate 90- 57 win over PHS during 1973-74 season. (Right) SARANAC'S ALLEN ROCK vs. Peru, 1974. Saranac 78, Peru 67 (Press-Republican) PHS 197475 TEAM . (Front row) Mike Carter, Joe Cardany, Brian O'Leary, Gary Morrow, Keith Strack, Jeff Carpenter. (Back row) Leo Ryan, Jeff Holmes, Kevin Daugherty, BJ Adams, Mitch Tarr, Jeff Moskowitz, Coach Holmes, Manager Ed Breen (Barker Yearbook) SARANAC 197475 Class A Section 7 CVL Champs undefeated (Press-Republican) mic for this year’s round three. The roots of rivalry were entrenched deeper in those days. Junior varsity Christmas tournaments and league standings were published in the local newspaper regularly along with championship games being broadcasted on the radio. Strong winning traditions between the two schools were on the line. Morris had many interests and one of his pastimes he tinkered with was beekeeping. His experience in that area would be needed on this night in handling these riled- up hornets from Rugar Street that were ready to exit their hive and put a stinging on this team that was always getting in the way of their ultimate goal. Saranac, with a height advantage, fell behind 33 to 26 at the half. The Hornets at the half must have been thinking, just 16 more minutes and we fi nally dethrone our longtime nemesis. The highly competitive 6’5” Towne during intermission, always calm and cool, introduced himself to an innocent blackboard. No truth the board had a hole in its chest as the team exited the locker room for the second half (EMTs later reported just a simple fracture). Bob Garrow, a longtime basketball o¦cial and close friend of Morris’s said, “Morris never gave an o¦cial a hard time and was always a real gentleman on the bench.” The Chiefs coach in the second half switched to a man-to-man defense to get the team moving and running because he thought his team was standing around too much. It paid off. Mike Ryan, playing the game of his life, went off in the second half and fi nished the night exhausted with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Saranac won the title 68- 63. Like many teams, the Chiefs learned how hard it is to beat a very good team a third time in the same season. In February of 1975 and thanks to the persistent efforts of Section 7 Chairman Ray Holmes and others, one of the fi rst intersectional games between Section 7 and Section 10 opponents was now set. This one game at the end of the season between the two sections was part of a two-year experimental program. Saranac polished off Section 10 champion Ogdensburg 75-46 to nail down their dream season running their winning streak to 33 games and a number 5 ranking in the New York State small school poll. The team from Picketts Corner placed four of its players on the fi rst team Champlain Valley All-Star Team. Mike Ryan, Butch Butchino, and Tom Ryan fi nished one, two, and three in scoring. In the end, this group accumulated three Champlain Valley titles and two Section 7 Class A titles for their trophy case. Mike Ryan went on to win the CVAC Most Valuable Player award that year and continued his basketball career at St Anselms of New Hampshire. Saranac fans ended the season on “cloud nine” and a lifetime of memories. The Champlain Valley League fi nally got their chance to say adios to one of the all-time great teams from the North Country’s Adirondack Park area. Motown had a song in 1973 titled, “One of a Kind.” Coach Towne and his team were just that. Right after that season area fans got one last glimpse of the Saranac team when Marty Mannix (brother of Mike) of Northern Insuring Agency sponsored the seniors on that team so they could play in the eight-team Police Benevolent Association (PBA) Tournament. The Hornets the following season in 1975-76 won the Section 7 Class A championship with a 66-54 victory over Saranac. They also took the CVAC title and were led by league MVP Joe Cardany and sent their beloved Coach of the Year Ray Holmes off to retirement to end his great career on a high note. The next year the brothers Leigh and Bryan Martin, Tom Jackstadt, Rick McCorry, and Mark Christian, and a strong bench helped the Saranac team continue its winning ways, capturing the 1976-77 CVAC’s and Section A championships with Coach Towne gathering another well-deserved Coach of the Year honor. That season in a 1976 Montpelier Vermont Holiday Tournament, Saranac, Montpelier, Plattsburgh, and Essex Junction were all participants. Pat Keleher, a member of that Saranac team, remembered that when Morris’s name was announced he received a warm standing ovation from fans that hadn’t forgotten him from years earlier. Morris turned over the head coaching reins to Assistant Coach Wayne Chase after the 1982-83 season and his longtime loyal assistant very successfully carried on Saranac’s winning ways through the end of the 1998-99 season. Coach Towne passed away recently and many of his past players were certainly benefi ciaries of learning from their old coach and probably went into the profession because of him. Wayne Chase, Alan Coryer, Keith Tedford, Keith Bombard, Tom Ryan, Butch Butchino, and Tim Newell all became a part of Morris’s Saranac basketball coaching tree, the ultimate tribute. Keleher, also a former Plattsburgh North Stars Head Football Coach from 2007-2014 and a local high school coach for many years, was not only a Saranac basketball player but as a middle schooler, he and Keith Tedford were managers in the mid-1970s for Saranac’s Varsity Basketball. Keleher recently paid his tribute to the coach he admired so much. “After college whenever I saw Coach Towne his conversations weren’t about basketball but life; he had his priorities about things that I still remember to this day. It meant a lot to me.” One of Morris’s loves growing up was spending time and working on his grandfather’s small farm on a Vermont country road. He ended up on another country road at a school where he belonged. A basketball coach and person who led an exemplary life and gave so much to the Saranac community. What a life, what a legacy. You rocked it Morris. Thanks to Jeff Holmes, Tom and Mike Ryan, Wayne Chase, Pat Kelleher, Butch Butchino, Randy Senecal, and the Towne family. Donations for Morris Towne’s shoe charity can be made at: Sports Shoe Fund Saranac Central School Booster Club Attn: Mary Laduke/Dylan Everleth PO Box 102 Saranac NY 12981 2007-2014 and a local high school coach for many years, was not only a Saranac basketball player but as a middle schooler, he and Keith Tedford were managers in the mid-1970s for Saranac’s Varsity Basketball. Keleher recently paid his tribute to the coach he admired so much. “After college whenever I saw Coach Towne his conversations weren’t about basketball but life; he had his priorities about things that I still remember to this day. It meant a lot to me.” One of Morris’s loves growing up was spending time and working on his grandfather’s small farm on a Vermont country road. He ended up on another country road at a school where he belonged. A basketball coach and person who led an exemplary life and gave so much to the Saranac community. What a life, what a legacy. You Tom and Mike Ryan, Wayne Chase, Pat Kelleher, Butch Saranac Central School Booster Club Attn: Mary Laduke/Dylan Everleth PO Box 102 Saranac NY 12981 Keleher, also a former Plattsburgh North Stars Head Football Coach from 2007-2014 and a local high school coach for many years, was not only a Saranac basketball player but as a middle schooler, he and Keith Tedford were managers in the mid-1970s for Saranac’s Varsity Basketball. Keleher recently paid his tribute to the coach he admired so much. “After college whenever I saw Coach Towne his conversations weren’t about basketball but life; he had his priorities about things that I still remember to this day. It meant a lot to me.” One of Morris’s loves growing up was spending time and working on his grandfather’s small farm on a Vermont country road. He ended up on another country road at a school where he belonged. A basketball coach and person who led an exemplary life and gave so much to the Saranac community. What a life, what a legacy. You Saranac Central School Booster Club Attn: Mary Laduke/Dylan Everleth PO Box 102 Saranac NY 12981 SARANAC'S #20 KEITH REYELL defends Beekmantown's Lonnie Cleland in Class A semifi nal 1974-75. Saranac won 63- 45 (Press-Republican)