Meade Memorial
The 1938-39 season was the first at the school for Coach Dan Gambill. They finished 8-16. In the ten team 59th District Tournament they defeated Clifford 33-21 but fell to Louisa in a semifinal game 35-16.
The 1939-40 season proved to be a much more successful season for the Red Devils as they finished 26-8. In the 11 team District Tournament they defeated Webville 47-24, Oil Springs 53-19, Blaine 56-31, and Paintsville 49-24 before falling to Inez in the final, 59-29. That’s five games in a District Tournament! In the 15th Regional Tournament they lost to Belfry in an opening round game 35-33 in overtime.
The 1940-1941 season for Coach Gambell’s Meade Memorial team found them with an outstanding record of 36-2. They won the district tournament by defeating Clifford 65-13, Van Lear 45-30, and Inez 51-37. In the regional, played at Prestonsburg, they were defeated by Prestonsburg in an opening game round, 40-31. This was their second defeat of the season. In that same 1940-41 season Inez went 40-5 and won the State Tournament. Two of these losses were to rival Meade Memorial, once in the regular season and once in the district tournament final game.
In Dan Gambill’s last season as coach at Meade Memorial, the 1941-42 season, they completed the season at 20-12. Hosting the District Tournament that year at Williamsport, Meade Memorial defeated Louisa 30-18 in the opener but fell in the next round to eventual district champs Paintsville 32-30 in overtime.
That ended Dan Gambill’s four year stint as coach of the Red Devils. His record was 90-38.
He had some very talented players over those four years, including Cam Price, Legs Ward (6’9”!), Danny B. Butcher, Paul Butcher, Roma WArd, Charles PRice, Ochel Preston, Dave Stapleton, and a few other Butchers.
