Occasionally, members of Mustang’s first-ever state championship team get together for lunch or coffee.
They reminisce about practice, walking the halls at MHS, former coaches and teammates, life as high school students. It’s a ritual they take part in quite often even 40-plus years after graduating.
On Saturday, they will be together once again, only this meeting will be a tad more special.
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team, the school’s first state title winner, is being inducted into the MHS Athletics Hall of Fame as the only team inductee of the 2024 class.
Led by legendary head coach Bob Pigg (2018 Hall of Fame) and assistant Kay Davis, the team’s members included Cheryl Nation, Dana Reusser, Karen Coffman, Darla Stone, Teresa Null, Kim Warren, Jill Ball, Cheryl Terrett, 2022 Hall of Fame inductee Lori Ross, Christi Jones, Dianna Waldron, Joy Heiliger, Carla Taggart, Libby Scott, and Julie Revel.
They hung the first banner at MHS and started a historic run for the girls basketball program. It was the first of four state championships in the 1980s and first of five overall.
“It was very exciting and such a big honor,” Karen (Coffman) Ellison said of finding out the squad was going into the Hall of Fame. She played point guard on the same end as Ross and Revel. “We just had a great group of girls and we made a lot of good memories.”
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
The 1980 Broncos captured the Class 4A state title with a 23-4 record, defeating Claremore 65-61 in the state championship game at the Big House in Oklahoma City. They beat Woodward 54-40 in the semifinals and Bartlesville 46-43 in the quarterfinals.
Ellison led the team with 24 points against Claremore, including 18 in the first half. However, if it weren’t for her dad, those 24 points may have never been.
“I remember getting into the locker room and unsnapping my warmup top only to realize I didn’t have my jersey with me. When I told coach Pigg, it seemed like he exploded eight inches into the air,” she said with a laugh. “I had to interrupt him and say ‘Coach Pigg, I know you’re mad, but I have to go find my dad and get my jersey.’”
Ellison somehow found her dad inside the jam-packed arena, and he sped all the way from the State Fairgrounds to Mustang and back, retrieving the uniform top just in time for the team’s eventual victory over Claremore.
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
“Luckily he could whistle really loud and he recognized me when I stepped onto the concourse out of the locker room. He must have drove 100 miles per hour to get back in time. I had the biggest adrenaline rush of my life to start that game.”
A junior guard in 1980, Carla (Taggart) Buck also has fond memories of the team’s state title run.
“We all just wanted to win, honestly that’s what it was,” she said. “I’ve never seen a group of girls that wanted to win as much as every single girl on that team. It didn’t matter what it took. We practiced hard and coach Pigg pushed us to be the best we could be. I can still remember our chant when we got off the bus for the championship game.
“Jumping jive, man alive, the Mustang Broncos have just arrived.”
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
Buck remembers the MHS gym being packed for every game and also checking the local newspapers to see where the team ranked throughout the season.
“We just kept winning,” she said. “I don’t think very many people considered us championship contenders, but our senior class was special, and we knew we had a great group of girls that could get it done. Other teams didn’t really know it yet, so it was fun to show them.”
After defeating Claremore, the players performed a daunting task. They described Pigg as a “stern” coach who took the game very serious. But they got a laugh out of him in the end.
“We threw him in the shower after we won the championship,” Buck said. “If you knew coach Pigg, that wasn’t something you could imagine. But we did it and didn’t even get in trouble. He laughed and at that point we knew he couldn’t make us run.”
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
Pigg was at the center of four state championships in the 80s, as well as three runner-up finishes. He finished his career with a 359-83 record while coaching 19 All-State selectees. His players credit him not just for his coaching prowess, but also for the life lessons they learned while playing for the former Master Sergeant in the United State Air Force.
“He was a legend,” Ellison said. “We knew that if anyone could get a team prepared for a state championship, it was him. I can’t imagine any team working harder than he did. He was a man of faith who was true to his God, true to his family, and true to us. He always had our back and just left a lasting impression on all of us.”
There were no days off under Pigg. Even when school was out for a snow day during the season, Ellison and Buck remember him driving around Mustang in his Cadillac, which they described to be “as big as a boat” to pick up and drop off each player for practice.
“He was special because he could read the team as a whole and all of us as individuals,” Buck said. “He would get after me because he knew that would motivate me and there were players like Lori (Ross) who he knew he didn’t have to raise his voice. He would study the game and out-coach everybody.
The 1980 Mustang Bronco girls basketball team is being inducted into the MHS Hall of Fame on Saturday. They captured the school’s first state championship with a 65-61 win over Claremore in the 1980 Class 4A state championship game. (Photo provided)
“When we were sophomores, he took us to the Big House as a team and sat with us to watch the state championship game. He said, ‘this is where you could be,’ which he knew would motivate us to get there the next season. That’s where it all started for our team.”
Following the season, Julie Revel was selected as an All-State forward while Darla Stone was named Big All-City Guard of the Year. The Broncos repeated as state champions in 1981 before capturing two more titles in 1986 and 1988. They reached the title game in 1982 and 1984.
The next time the members of the 1980 squad get together, they can call it a Hall of Fame meeting.
“We still to this day have a great comradery among us,” Ellison said. “It’s just an honor to say I played with those girls and on that team. Those were some of the best years of our lives.”
