The Graves County Boys: A Tale of Kentucky Basketball, Perseverance, and the Unlikely Championship of the Cuba Cubs

2. The Little Crossroads Team

2 The little Crossroads Team nothing is achieved before it is thoroughly attempted. —sir Philip sidney With their diligent daily practice and with the guidance of their coach, the Cubs—by the time they were juniors—had quite a wonderful reputation in western Kentucky and West Tennessee. Known as the Cuba Cubs from little Cuba, Kentucky, they were a popular and respected team, well grounded in the fundamentals. They played uniquely, with a flair that resembled the harlem Globetrotters , and everywhere they played, the gyms were packed with spectators . as juniors, they had already earned their right to compete in the state tournament to be held in Memorial Coliseum in lexington , Kentucky, in mid-March 1951. Two days before the coach and the team left for lexington in 1951 to compete in the state tournament, Jack story had a telephone interview with edd Kellow, sportswriter for the Paducah SunDemocrat . he talked about his team’s successful record for the season (33-2), noting that in thirty-five ball games, the Cubs had hit an The little Crossroads Team 7 amazing 45 percent of their shots from the field and 68 percent from the free-throw line. he added that he and the boys planned to keep that pace up in lexington. Then he stammered, “you can’t believe it—you won’t believe it—this place has gone state tournament crazy. and i want you to see for yourself. i believe that everyone from Cuba is going to lexington. and from the number of requests for tickets, i’m not sure that all Graves and Fulton counties aren’t going to be there with us.” The old school buses were in no shape to make the long trip, so everyone who had a car or truck offered to take someone who had no ride. Getting ready for the trip was a joyful communal effort. By 4:00 that blustery, cold, dark Wednesday morning of March 14, 1951, all of Graves County was awake and hurrying about. in Mayfield, Pilot oak, and Cuba, trucks and cars were already parked outside of the stores where people were to meet to share rides. Cuba supporters from all the little neighboring places, including lynnville, Water valley, sedalia, dukedom, and Fulton, gathered at their stores and schools to form their own caravans and car pools. in other parts of western Kentucky similar car pools were organized . it was a merry pilgrimage starting out early that morning. at one point, the heavy traffic on highway 31W headed east made it look as if all of western Kentucky were being evacuated. Graves County alone accounted for forty automobiles making up the long motorcade to lexington. The story the newspapers put out was that everybody in Cuba went to the state tournament except harry McClain. he stayed home because he had agreed to milk everybody’s cows and to do so had rigged up a mechanical milking device on his pickup truck. harry did stay to look after things for others, but he was not the only person who remained. aside from those too old or ill to go were doodle’s, howie’s, and Jimmie Webb’s parents. They had not attended any of their sons’ games, even the 8 The Graves County Boys ones played in Cuba. Perhaps it was not just their lack of interest this time, but also their lack of money to travel that kept them at home. Jack story never placed any value on cheerleaders, as important as they were to the school and to the team. To him, those girls were a nuisance, a major distraction for the players. he never even assigned a faculty advisor to them, so they managed their own little organization. he made no arrangements for them to go to the tournament, so they rode with their families or friends and made their own hotel reservations. yet he had to approve all their routines. Just before the trip to lexington, he had condemned their latest cheer when he found them practicing this little hip-grinding, handwaving strutting dance while they chanted: Roosters chew tobacco. Hens dip snuff. Come on Cuba, strut your stuff! Strut! Strut! Strut! Come on, Cuba, strut your stuff! Those in Graves County who did not own a radio frantically tried to buy one once they learned that Cuba had won the regional tournament by beating the formidable Paducah Tilghman 61-46...