The  2020 Gathering of Eagles will be held in San Diego California!!!

June 18-21, 2020

We hope to see you there!!!

Conference Record: 6 wins – 8 losses

Returning Lettermen from ’72-’73: Sam Buster, Joe Houston, Melvin Bivens, Joe Gilmore, Sparky Strother

Blue Division Tournament: Second Place

The Eagles started the season with two impressive victories over the powerful Wiesbaden Warrions in the big school Blue Division by scores of 69-63 and 54-53 as Ray White hooked in a last second shot.  White and Sam Hutton combined for 72 points in the two games.

In conference play, the final margin of victory was six points or less in seven of the 14 games including three one point wins for Nürnberg.  Defense and rebounding were key components in those exciting contests.

After losing two games to a strong Heidelberg team, and splitting a pair of close games in Bitburg, the Eagles traveled to Stuttgart the following weekend, losing 62-59 on Friday night. On Saturday, down by 5 points with 23 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, Nürnberg scored six unanswered points to win, at the buzzer by a score of 56-55 off. Sam Buster made a free throw.  Melvin Bivens stole the ball, scored on a lay up, was fouled, and added one from the foul line, Buster intercepted another pass and scored as time expired.

The home team swept Kaiserslautern, as Hutton and White dominated with 74 points for the weekend. At that point the Eagles owned a 606 record, but lost two games to Mannheim.  Buster had 15 points in each game.

Sam Hutton led the team in scoring during the season with a 14.3 average and was second in rebounds, while White was the team leader in rebounding and second in scoring at 11.8 ppg.

Sam Buster and Sam Hutton were named to the Blue Division All Conference Second Team.

In the opening round of the tournament, Nürnberg avenged the two early season losses to Heidelberg by upsetting the third seeded Lions 65-51. Hutton, White, and Buster combined for 47 points. In the semi finals, the Eagles surprised the unbeaten Lakenheath Lancers, who were the second seed, by 8 points. Backing up the scoring of Hutton, White, and Buster were Howard Fields, Sam Bailey, Joe Houston and Melvin Bivens with strong defense and rebounding.

Nürnberg had not been in the Blue Division Championship Games since 1963, but earned the right to play Mannheim (13-1) for he title with two stunning victories.  At the half, Mannheim led 26-22 in a closely contested game, but after a disappointing third quarter, the Eagles found themselves down by 13 points. The Bison claimed the First Place Trophy by a score of 62-48.

Sam Buster was selected by the coaches to the All Tournament Team.

Conference Record: 1 win – 13 losses

Returning Letterman from ’71-72: Dieter Bednarski, Sam Buster, Bob Crosby, Joe Houston

Blue Division Tournament: Eight Place

Lack of experience was the main concern as the 1970-1972 season began.  There was one senior among the 4 returning Letterman, and only two had extensive court experience.  Of the eight first year players, only two had junior varsity game time.

In the first weekend of play, Frankfurt had a distinct height advantage, but Joe Houston was fearless in his quest for 16 points on Friday night, Bob Crosby went to the hoop for 18 the next day.

Sam Buster lead the Eagles to their only victory of the year with 17 points en route to a 62-57 come from behind win in Stuttgart.  The Stallions won a see-saw battle the next day by eight points.

Strong Heidelberg and Kaiserslautern teams dominated the next two weekends, handing Nürnberg four consecutive road losses. Isaac Sapp hit 17 on Friday against K-Town while playing with his mouth wired shut as the result of a broken jaw.

Bob Crosby, Sam buster, Joe Houston, and Dieter Bednarski all scored in double figures at  home against Mannheim as the visitors took both close games.  The Bison’s Dave Tuszynski scored with 4 seconds left in their 54-52 victory on Saturday.

After a long trip to Bitburg, the Eagles lost the first night by 6 despite double figure performances from Bednarski, Buster, Houston, and Calvin Palmer.  Bednarski led the team with 13 on Saturday.

Buster led the team in scoring totaling 11.6 points per game for the season, Bednarski was a close second at 10.8 ppg.  Houston and Palmer were the leading re-bounders.

Despite their win-loss record, all twelve players consistently showed courage and character in the face of adversity as displayed in Sapp’s performance in K-Town.  The team continued their improvement with each game, and went to the Blue Division Tournament looking for more game experience and an eye towards next year. The ground work was being lain in terms of dedication and persistence for the successful teams which followed.

Conference Record: 7 wins – 7 losses

Returning Letterman from ’70-’71: None

Letterman from ’70-’71 Junior Varsity: Rodney Blackman, Rob Crosby, Larry Flowers, Wally Knight

Blue Division Tournament: Sixth Place

In a year filled with highs and lows, the Nürnberg Eagles defeated the Kaiserslautern Red Raiders 60-56 and 44-37 to begin the season.  K-Town, a perennial powerhouse, had their potent offense disrupted by the harassing full court defense of the home team.  Larry Flowers, Howard Williams, Wally Knight, and Stan Hatcher all scored in double figures.

It was, however the last game played by leading scorer, Larry Flowers, as he and his family returned home to the states.

The Eagles continued their winning ways in Munich by downing the Mustangs twice the following weekend in Southern Bavaria. Sam Buster scored 17 points, and Bob Crosby pulled down 13 rebounds.  On Saturday, Buster dropped in 15 points, while Stan Hatcher added 14 to go along with his 14 rebounds.

Nürnberg’s winning streak was extended to five games in Stuttgart by mid January, but the Stallions prevailed in Saturday’s contest handing the Green and White their first loss.  Wally Knight lead the way on Friday with 20 points.  Stan JHatcher added 17, Rodney Blackman 15, and Howard Williams 11.  On Saturday, Knight had 16, Hatcher 12, Williams 11 and Bernard Davis added 10 points.

In Bitburg, the Green and White split two games with the Barons.  Sam Buster hit a 16 foot shot with 21 seconds to give the Eagles a 52-50 come from behind victory.  Hatcher lead the way with 17 and Williams followed with 12 points.

At home, Rodney Blackman dropped in an eight foot jumper with 11 seconds remaining to steal a 49-48 victory from Wiesbaden w ho prevailed 62-54 on Friday.  The Eagles finished the season by losing close weekend contests to Frankfurt and Mannheim.

Of the 17 games played, 13 were decided by 8 points or less.  Nürnberg won six of those close, exciting contest with a team that started only one senior, three juniors, and a sophomore.

Hatcher lead the team in both scoring and rebounding for the season while Williams was second in both categories.

Stan Hatcher and Howard Williams were nominated for the Stars & Stripes Athlete o the year for their performances during the year. Each athlete represented Nürnberg in three sports.

Conference Record: 12 Wins – 2 Losses   Returning Letterman from 1969-1970: None

Blue Division Conference Champions

The Nürnberg High School Eagles Junior Varsity Basketball Team opened the 1970-71 season by winning nine consecutive games before losing to the Mannheim J.V. 32-30 at home later in the season.  That loss was followed by a 68-56 defeat at the hands of Heidelberg, but the Eagles recovered the next day, posting a 59-48 victory over the Lions.

The Eagles began he season utilizing hot shooting, a relentless pressing defense, and strong rebounding to take a pair of games from Frankfurt.  Larry Flowers scored 20 of the Eagles 60 points on Friday, and Wally Knight led the team effort with 25 on Saturday.  

The following weekend, Larry Flowers scored 23 points on Friday and 28 on Saturday as the Kaiserslautern Red Raiders fell victim to a hot Eagle team that as gaining confidence with each victory.  Wally Knight contributed 14 points in the first game.

Nürnberg then rolled over Stuttgart twice at home before traveling to Wiesbaden, who was not able to slow down the Big Green Machine.  Flowers and Knight combined for 67 points against the J.V. Warriors.  John Covington and Mike Graf dominated the boards.  

After beating Mannheim at home Friday night, and running their win streak to nine games, the Nürnberg J.V. lost their first game of the season to the Mannheim Bison on Saturday by two points as mentioned above. The Green and White J.V. concluded the schedule with two wins in Munich to clinch the Blue Division Conference Title with a 12 win, 2 loss effort.

Flowers averaged 16.7 points per game with Knight adding 121. ppg during the season.

Expectations were high for the following campaign as the J.V. Eagles put together one of the most exciting and successful basketball seasons in the history of the school just outside of historic Nürnberg Germany.

NHS Lobby Mosaic which is still there.  Donald Lawhon Brewer ‘1960 said that their senior class trip was cancelled (apparently due to something that happened during 1959s Senior trip) and they used the funds to have the mosaic installed in the lobby.  The Germans did not remove it when they converted NHS to a trade school in the late 1990’s.