1929-30 Men's Basketball Team, 2006
Although no records exist for the earliest years of Greenbrier High School basketball, many family members and fans remember those who participated during the early 1920's. Records for boys' basketball begin with the 1929-30 team, but teams probably played several years before this time. A large,frame gymnasium was completed between 1925 and 1927, and the 1929-30 team was said to be the first to play in the new gym. Prior to the completion of the gym, games and practices were held on an outside court, located at the back of the school. It is believed the team played on a dirt floor prior to the building of the gym.
The Voice, the GHS student newspaper, referred to Joe Henry Carter as "the first regular coach Greenbrier ever had." However, there are indications that A. G. Capps and a Mr. Smith coached the team before Mr. Carter. According to The Voice, "the first year Mr. Carter was here GHS saw one of her strongest seasons, winning 24 games and losing three in the season of 1929-1930. They defeated the powerful Coopertown team for the district championship." |
Coach Carter led this 1929-30 team to the Tennessee State Tournament in Knoxville and the trip was very exciting for a bunch of young boys from Greenbrier. The members of the team who went to the State Tournament were: W. Savage Phillips (center), Robert Crawford (forward), Clint Charles (guard), Joe Hackney (guard), George Crawford (forward), Larry Fisher (guard), Wilburn Shannon, and Ernest (Toad) West. Ross Dowden and Vance McMurtry were also members of the team but did not make the trip to Knowxville.
Arrangements were made for the L&N train to stop in Greenbrier to pick up the team. There was a large crowd of students gathered at the depot to see the team off. They rode to Chattanooga where they changed to a Southern Railway train to take them to Knoxville.
Coach Carter often spoke of the wide-eyed expressions of his team members when they first saw the large gymnasium at the University of Tennessee.
The team lost only one game in the tournament, and that was to a very powerful Lenoir City team that eventually won the state championship. Greenbrier finished third in the state and received a trophy with the following inscription:
Tennessee State
Consolation Champs
1929-30
Won By
Greenbrier High
-- the above derived from information compiled by Mrs. Doris Moss Hill
Arrangements were made for the L&N train to stop in Greenbrier to pick up the team. There was a large crowd of students gathered at the depot to see the team off. They rode to Chattanooga where they changed to a Southern Railway train to take them to Knoxville.
Coach Carter often spoke of the wide-eyed expressions of his team members when they first saw the large gymnasium at the University of Tennessee.
The team lost only one game in the tournament, and that was to a very powerful Lenoir City team that eventually won the state championship. Greenbrier finished third in the state and received a trophy with the following inscription:
Tennessee State
Consolation Champs
1929-30
Won By
Greenbrier High
-- the above derived from information compiled by Mrs. Doris Moss Hill