Lewellen Holds Court At MG Hoop Reunion

Mel Lewellen made a rare appearance at Maple Grove High School Sunday evening.

Now 71 and living in Venice, Florida, he hasn't been able to return to the gym very much since he retired as Red Dragons' basketball coach 16 years ago.

So it was understandable why he was somewhat awed by what he saw on the court he helped make famous: More than 70 former players turned out for a shoot-around and dinner honoring their mentor. They came from 21 states and Ontario, including some from as far away as California, Georgia, Florida and Montana.

"I'd never believed that this could have been pulled off," said Lewellen, who compiled a 387-152 record in 28 years at Bemus Point and later Maple Grove.

It was like taking a walk down memory lane.

At one basket were several members of Lewellen's 1976 Section VI championship team, a squad that finished 22-1.

At another hoop, six players from his unbeaten 1965 squad congregated.

And the rest of the Red Dragons alumni who played for Lewellen tried to show their former coach that they hadn't lost the touch as they fired away from the 3-point arc.

"They still love the sport," Lewellen said.

Of course, what he didn't say was that he had a lot to do with their hoop infatuation. In a career that included nine Chautauqua County league championships, four sectional titles and three unbeaten seasons, Lewellen passed along his passion for the game to his players, a legacy that has bridged generations.

Later, at a dinner at Davey's Restaurant, Mark Sleggs, class of '76 and now the varsity boys' coach at Southwestern, paid tribute to his former coach.

"He didn't have to motivate you very hard," he said. "You wanted to play for him. They were the best days of my life, next to having kids and a wife."

High praise?

Well, that was the theme for the evening.

Thirteen people stood up and talked about the man who made such things as the "screen and roll" and the "shuffle set" famous.

In fact, current Maple Grove coach Wally Carlson, who led this year's team to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D championship, said many of Lewellen's tactics are still being used today.

"We still run some of the old plays," said Carlson, Class of '61.

And to some it seems as if they were run yesterday.

Dave Woodfield, Class of '59, recalled the sectional championship game his senior year against Barker, a game the Red Dragons won in sudden-death overtime.

"In the first half, we couldn't throw it in the ocean," recalled Woodfield, one of six brothers who played for Lewellen.

Meanwhile, a Barker player poured in 18 first-half points, helping his team to an 18-point lead at intermission.

In the locker room, the Bemus point players "were sitting there with our heads hanging," Woodfield said.

But Lewellen counseled his team, reminding them there was still a half to play. And when the Red Dragons returned to the court, he had Gene Heil blanket Barker's hot-shooting guard.

It worked.

Heil held him to one point in the second half and Bemus Point went on to win the game and the sectional championship.

"Mel would always have something to counteract the other team," Woodfield said.

But Woodfield said there was something else he learned from Lewellen.

"He taught you discipline," Woodfield said. It's helped me the last 35 years since I've been out of school."

And that was just one of the many values the alumni have gleaned from Lewellen, who still considers his former players "family."

"I still think of you as my kids," Lewellen said in his post-dinner remarks. "I don't know how some of you got to be 60 because I'm not 60 yet."

He smiled at the thought of turning back the clock.

Then again, that was what the whole evening was about anyway.