Blast From The Past: The 1985 Team - District Champs

Written by Joe Bogdan


Although the 1985 team would end up in the same place as the 1984 team, they had to get there with different players, and along a different path. As the Hornets continued to play in a Senate League that was rapidly outgrowing them, wins were hard to come by. The team was very competitive in most contests, but ended the regular season at only 10-10. Senior Brian Martin stepped up to take over the offense, scoring 20 points per game, and being named District 4 player of the year, as well as 3rd team All-Ohio. Senior captains and three year letter winners Don Shimek and Mark Wardle added toughness and leadership.

When East Canton dropped down into tournament play, the rigorous Senate League schedule began to pay dividends. The Hornets went largely unchallenged in their first two tournament games, and squeaked by Woodridge 38-36 in the district semis. The team beat Ashtabula St. John’s 54-46 to claim its second straight district crown.

Once again, the Hornets would find themselves in Canton Memorial Field House for the regional tournament. This year’s opponent was Maplewood. With a talented 6’7” big man, Maplewood proved too much for the smaller Hornets. East Canton’s tourney run ended in a 62-45 loss.

Blast From The Past: The 2001 Team

Written By Joe Bogdan

Sandwiched around some mid season frustrations, Jeff Spaulding’s second team played well at the right time to claim the Hornets most recent trip to the sweet sixteen. East Canton was led by second team All-Ohioan Bub Crumrine and Academic All-Ohioan Jarrod Davis. Seniors Lucas Butler, Todd Shadle, John Miller, and Eric John gave the team a veteran cast. Sophomore Kyle Arick was the lone underclassman to start for the Hornets, while fellow sophomore Jake Jacobsen and freshman Pete Foltz were valuable players off the bench.

After an opening night loss to Malvern, East Canton won four in a row. At mid season, the Hornets were 7-3, and in the hunt for the PAC title. Losses at Manchester, Fairless and Sandy Valley in the middle of January took the team out of the league race, but East Canton won several close games down the stretch to finish at 11-9.

The Hornets were seeded third in the Struthers Sectional-District, but almost didn’t make it out of the first round. The team faced a double-digit first quarter deficit against Lowellville. Crumrine scored 32 points, and the team needed every one of them as it was extended into overtime before outscoring Lowellville 17-2 in the extra period for a 72-57 win. Following a familiar pattern for the year, they followed the sub-par performance with a brilliant one. Again trailing early, East Canton stormed into the lead against second seeded Sebring and muscled its way to a 48-44 upset.

East Canton faced top seeded South Range in the district finals. South Range was led by North East Ohio Inland District player of the year Chris Hatch. Hatch was kept under control by the stingy defense of Lucas Butler, and the Hornets built a ten-point lead during the third quarter. South Range mounted a comeback, and took a 53-51 lead during the last minute. With 15 seconds left, Bub Crumrine caught Todd Shadle’s pass and hit a three pointer while coming off two screens. South Range threw up a desperation heave at the buzzer, but it bounced harmlessly off the rim as time expired.

The regional tournament in Canton would see the Hornets as an underdog for the third straight time. They would face state ranked Lutheran East. The Hornets played well throughout the first half, leading 31-20 with a little over a minute remaining. However, Lutheran East went on a late surge and closed the gap to four at the half. The game slowly slipped away as Lutheran East began to go inside, and the Hornets went cold from the field. In the end, the fine tournament run ended with a 59-63 loss. Jarrod Davis summed up the feeling of all involved after the game when he told the media “I’m sure a lot of people didn’t think we could get this far, but everyone on this team knew we had what it took. And we showed we could play with anybody.”

Blast From The Past: The 1971 Team

Written and contributed by Athletic Director Joe Bogdan

The 1970-71 season began with many changes. The 20-2 team from the year before had graduated three starters, and a fourth starter had transferred. Despite the great change, the winning continued at what would become a record pace. The deepest tournament run in school history would end with a heart breaking one point loss to Pleasant in the regional finals at the Columbus Fairgrounds. A single basket is all that separated Coach Bob Jordan’s team from a place in the State semi-finals.

The 1971 team is often referred to as the greatest team in East Canton history, and with good reason. The team still holds records for most wins (22), most points (1795), most field goals made (721), and most rebounds (1245). Center Steve Clark still holds a single season record with 375 rebounds, and forward Bruce Hackathorn still holds the record with 218 made field goals. Clark was named first team All-Ohio, and Hackathorn was Honorable Mention.



Senior point guard Glenn Eaton, Sr. forward Vic Garman, and Jr. forward Bob Crable rounded out the usual starting five.

The regular season went very smoothly for the hornets. After an early season loss at home to Garaway, the team won nine straight before losing on the road at Strasburg. There were two close games with Tuslaw that year, both hornet victories, and a close win over Tusky Valley early in the year. East Canton dominated the rest of the schedule, and entered tournament play 16-2.

Double digit wins over United Local, Lowellville, and Lordstown sent the hornets into the district tournament. Resistance in the districts wasn’t much fiercer, as the hornets beat Kent State by nine and McDonald by twenty-two to capture the first district title in school history. The regional tournament was held at the Columbus Fairgrounds. East Canton beat Ridgedale in the semi-finals 70-66, and stood one win away from a birth in the state tournament. Both Clark and Hackathorn were plagued by foul trouble in the game against Pleasant. Both spent significant time on the bench in the middle quarters when Pleasant took control of the game.

Blast From The Past: The 1984 District Champs

By Athletic Director Joe Bogdan



1984: The Arrival Of Coach P

Future all time wins leader Joe Pangrazio arrived at East Canton in the fall of 1983. He inherited a talented team led by senior All-Ohioan Tony Moldovan and senior point guard Tom Crank. This combination produced immediate results, as the Hornets would post a 17-3 regular season and win the first Senate League title since the ’71 team. Coach Pangrazio’s first edition of the Hornets would end the season ranked ninth in the state. They were ranked #1 on January 10th, an East Canton first. Tony Moldovan led the offense by averaging a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. Tom Crank set single season records for assists (215) and steals (84) that still stand today. Tom also graduated as the career leader in those two categories.

Coach Pangrazio subjected his players to twice a day practices as his August hiring had left little time for summer workouts. Moldovan and Crank, along with Lonnie Horton, Rich Tharp, and Don Shimek took to his running style of play very quickly. The Hornets got out of the gate well, losing only a road game to Sebring during the season’s first half. The second half of the season brought similar results, with only a one point loss to Claymont and a four point loss to Minerva blemishing the record.

East Canton clinched the Senate League title on the road at Lake late in the season. Tony Moldovan put an exclamation point on the evening by running a perfect back door play for a slam as time expired.

The Hornets avenged their loss to Sebring in the tournament, and faced a very talented Woodridge team in the district finals. Woodridge came in averaging nearly 90 points per game, but East Canton held them to just 54 points, winning the title 72-54.

The Hornets faced Skyvue at the Canton Field House in the regional semi-finals, falling 63-53.



Pictured above: Tom Crank
Below: Tony Moldovan

Blast From The Past: Bup Crumrine

Bub Crumrine played for the Hornets from 1998-2001. In 63 total varsity games he tallied 706 points, an 11.2 average. He was versatile scorer who could hit the long shot (56 career 3FGs), dribble-drive and beat defenders with post-ups. His 6-2 frame lent itself to this versatility.

He was featured in The Rep on Thursday, March 15, 2001 for his play in the district tournament of that year. He had two solid games at Struthers against the one and two seeds in the tournament. When East Canton defeated Sebring, he had 25 points in the 44-48 victory. Against North Lima South Range in his next game, he made a game winning 3-pointer off of a screen. He scored 25 points while eliminating South Range.

The then head coach, Spaulding said this to The Rep about Crumrine: "He was a phenomenal offensive player who improved his defense. He was focused and really stepped up his senior season."


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In other news, the Hornets are up to 4th in the latest D3 polls. No vote changing, Hive pollsters