[September 02, 2010] BHC'S BACK IN TIME: Scott Allen was a winner in every sport at Lebanon Tweet Sep 02, 2010 (Bristol Herald Courier - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Scott Allen once stood at center court at University Hall on the campus of the University of Virginia and hoisted the VHSL Group A boys basketball championship trophy. Scott Allen once started in the finals of the VHSL Group A baseball tournament, taking his spot at shortstop and hitting No. 4 in the order at Kiwanis Field in Salem, Va. Scott Allen once threw a touchdown pass in the state football finals. Few high school athletes can match that resume and what makes it more impressive is that Allen did all of those things during a nine-month span in 1991. Lebanon High School produced one of the greatest runs of athletes in Southwest Virginia during the late-1980s and early-1990s. Allen seemed to be at the center of all the successes. Point guard. Shortstop. Quarterback. "Scott competed at a very high level in every sport imaginable," said Aaron Fuller, Allen's former Lebanon teammate. "One of the most complete athletes that I have ever been around. He had great athletic vision that allowed him to stay one step ahead of the competition. It also helps that he's such a fierce competitor." Allen is anything but fierce these days. He's now the principal at Glade Spring Middle School in Washington County and is as low-key and laid back as they come. After school had ended and the halls were quiet last week, he took time to reflect on his glory days. There was no fierce scowl, just a big grin. "The first thing I think about is the group of guys that I played with and how special some of those relationships were," Allen said. "We played ball together -- baseball, basketball, football -- whatever we could play from the time we were 5-years-old and up." That group of guys -- standouts like Fuller, Ben Campbell, Jeff Campbell, Mike Musick, Eric Meadows and Brian Summers -- would collect plenty of hardware in multiple sports. "I think we had an understanding in high school that we played for our town," Allen said. "We realized how special Lebanon was and how special football was to the community and how much it meant to them. We wanted to make them proud." State champion Lebanon High School's 1990-91 basketball team was far from the favorite to win a state championship. Heck, the Pioneers had finished second to George Wythe in both the Hogoheegee District regular-season title race and the Region C tournament. Yet, when play started in the state tournament in Charlottesville, the Pioneers suddenly clicked. "It was just a magical week really," Allen said. "Watching Jeff Campbell and Ben Campbell, who was at the time a sophomore, really step up and Tony Jackson. Those guys really led us that week. They took the lead and our coaches let us believe we could win." First, the Pioneers knocked off Sussex Central, 72-70, in the quarterfinals and followed that up with a 79-66 semifinal triumph over Haysi. That set up a state finals showdown with heavily-favored Cumberland. It didn't help in that game that the Pioneers fell behind 30-13 and Allen battled early foul trouble. However, Lebanon clawed back and finally took the lead when Jeff Campbell connected on a shot with 15 seconds left. Assisting on the shot? You guessed it -- Scott Allen. "In a situation like that, you want to get the ball in Jeff's hands," Allen said. "He wanted the ball. ... He cut down the lane and we just happened to get it to him and he made a great shot." After the buzzer sounded to punctuate the Pioneers' 55-53 victory, Allen and his teammates celebrated amid the cheers of the raucous crowd of 2,000 fans. Many of them had made the long trip from Russell County. "The crowd support from the Lebanon community was unbelievable," Allen said. "That made it that much more special." Allen would finish with 30 assists in the three state tournament games -- including 12 against Haysi -- establishing a Group A tourney record at the time. It would be Allen's first and only state championship, but not his final appearance on the big stage. That June, Lebanon reached the VHSL Group A state title game and dropped a 7-5 decision to J.J. Kelly in the finals. Allen went 1-for-4 and ripped a double in the loss. "We just came up a couple of runs short against a good J.J. Kelly team," Allen said. "That was a very talented group of kids from Kelly. We gave it all that day, we just came up short." Captain Quarterback When Allen pulled his red (or white) No. 10 jersey over his shoulder pads each Friday night he didn't strike fear in the hearts of opponents. However, he did give them nightmares when he lined up under center. "Great athlete, but didn't look like it," said John Adams, Allen's football coach at Lebanon. "He was a little short, but he could do anything." Throw long touchdown passes? He did that numerous times. Run the option to perfection? He could pitch it with the best of them. Pick up yards via the quarterback sneak? All the time. "There really wasn't much that he couldn't do," Adams said. He studied film constantly with assistant coach Sam Blevins. He perfected the nuances of the game. He also earned respect from his teammates, prevalent everytime he talked to his friends in the huddle. "He was an excellent leader and real heady," Adams said. "He pretty much called his own plays while we were out there. He knew the defenses and knew our offense. He was just a real good guy to have out there." Allen gives credit to many people for the success of those football seasons. His coaches, his teammates, the guys from the 1988 team that set in motion Lebanon's run of district and regional titles and countless others. And in '91 it call came together. While one-hit wonders Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch were topping the charts with "Good Vibrations" in the fall of '91, the Allen-led Pioneer bunch was producing No. 1 hits week after week. Opponents like Holston (58-6), Honaker (48-12), Abingdon (41-7) and George Wythe (53-6) were no match as the Pioneers compiled a 10-0 regular-season record. The playoffs were more of the same with Allen leading the way. He gave a lot of credit to Meadows, the team's star running back. "I probably had the best job in the world during football season, being able to hand it off and watching Eric take off," Allen said. The dream season eventually ended in the VHSL Group A, Division 2 finals as the Pioneers suffered a humbling 56-7 loss to Sussex Central. It remains one of the hardest defeats Allen has ever endured. "We ran into a group of guys in Sussex that were just incredible athletes," Allen said. "Having the success we had that year up until that game, we had all the confidence in the world we could win that ballgame. We probably didn't play our best that day, but I don't think you can say anything but hats off to Sussex. On that given day, they outplayed us." Principal Allen Allen's post-high school days included a six-year stint as the head football coach at Abingdon. He's now in administration and enjoying his duties. Few of his students probably realize, however, that 19 years ago he was on top of the Southwest Virginia sports scene. Lebanon fans and his former coaches and teammates certainly haven't forgotten the contributions of the three-sport star. "Scott is a natural born leader, which is something you cannot teach. ... He has a very calm demeanor and as teammates we responded very well to his direction," Fuller said. "We had an incredible run of athletes during my tenure at Lebanon, but talent can only go so far. It was Scott's leadership that pulled us all together." To see more of the Bristol Herald Courier or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tricities.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Bristol Herald Courier, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]