After beating National Trail, Dixie, East Clinton, Twin Valley South, Cincinnati Madiera and Versailles, the Rams went to Columbus to face Lima Central Catholic in the state semifinals.
Behind 19 points from Gregg Haines, they topped the Thunderbirds 51-50, but one big challenge remained in the championship game: undefeated Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The Fighting Irish finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll with a lineup featuring senior forward Maverick Carter, the state’s player of the year in Division III, and a freshman forward named LeBron James, who made the All-Ohio second team.
While Carter scored only six points in the state championship game, James made 10 of his 12 shots and finished with 25 points.
That turned out to be one of the early memorable moments in a career that has taken James to the height of the sport and will eventually land him in the hall of fame.
Another freshman, 5-foot-2 Dru Joyce III, came off the bench to score 21 points — making seven of seven 3-pointers in just 10 minutes — as the Fighting Irish prevailed 73-55 in front of more than 13,000 fans at Value City Arena, which had opened less than two years earlier.
This weekend director of athletics Mark Rinehart said Greeneview plans to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of that memorable March, a celebration that will include a post-game party for all members of the team and cheerleaders who are able to attend.
Joining Haines on that 1999-2000 Greeneview team were Berman Mathews, Josh Carter, Joe McClure, Trevor Thomas, Brent Gill, Marty Willis, Jeff Cardwell, Chris Bailey, Joe Pauley, Justin Earley and Jeremy Crosswhite.
Those Rams were coached by long-time mentor Bill Green, and Rocky Rockhold was among the assistants.
Rockhold went on to a successful career as a head coach himself, including leading Trotwood-Madison to the 2019 state championship as head coach of his own team of Rams.
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