LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — They were placed on a pedestal and honored like the heroes they were. A trophy shined at center court as bright as the day it was won at Rupp Arena in March 1982. Yes these were heroes, but not just for what they accomplished on the basketball court.

There wasn’t a bad apple in the bunch. I know that pretty well because what I saw on the pedestal was not basketball players, but memories.

Let’s start with Paul Andrews, a Kentucky legend for hitting the tournament-winning shot and going on to play for the University of Kentucky. I remember a polite and humble Andrews that never acted like a star. The final play of that tournament began with Andrews circling behind the offense like a football safety. He timed the pass and, aware of the situation, took a few dribbles and launched himself into history. It reminded me of playing backyard football with him. Paul didn’t play football in high school because basketball would be his ticket. But there were many passes that ended up in the hands of Andrews because he was faster and jumped higher than mortals.

I remembered how overlooked his cousin, Charlie Andrews, was as a basketball player. Charlie also went on to play college basketball. He may have been harder to guard than Paul with his long reach and arsenal of playground moves. I remembered playing intramural football at Sue Bennett and losing to a team I thought we should beat. I don’t remember who played quarterback that day, just that I thought I was better. The quarterback finally told me if I thought I was that good to see what I could do. The first play I dropped back and heaved a pass as far as I could down the sideline. It wasn’t a great pass, but when you had Charlie Andrews galloping down the sideline it didn’t have to be. I retired with a perfect quarterback rating, one pass and one touchdown.

I spent many nights at Craig Fisher’s house playing basketball all night in the summer and electric football in the winter. This wasn’t Xbox, but the football where you had 11 plastic men on each side and the board vibrated to make the players hopefully go where you intended. Craig had the first bicycle I ever saw with a speedometer. At Halloween, we knocked on every door in Rolling Acres. Our rule was you had to chew every piece of gum you got.

Robbie Hatcher lived just across a stand of trees, a creek and a field from me. We spent a lot of time exploring those woods by foot and by bike. We mostly had great times, although I keep thinking of a time we got in a brawl and went our separate ways. Instead of just walking home we turned and started to throw rocks at each other. We ducked behind trees as golf-ball size gravels tore off bark like gunshots. We were just being boys I guess.

I didn’t see Robbie for years until he sold me a live 6-foot Christmas tree in 1995. It was in that tree I hung a metal box holding an engagement ring and asked the prettiest girl I ever saw to marry me. That tree still stands in the lawn of the barber shop as you pull into Sasser School Road off 229. It has grown taller than the house.

There is not enough room to tell all the stories and all the friendships. I played basketball with Todd Bearup the day before my senior portraits and went to the session with my lip split from one side to the other by a big Bearup elbow. I tried to guard Darren Hale when he was still a few years away from earning a scholarship to Morehead, but I would have had better luck guarding Anthony Davis. Hale is still the hardest player I ever guarded.

Norm Bowling remains one of the best guards I have seen at the high school level. If there had been a three-point shot, they would still be trying to count all his points. I played a lot of softball against Jamie Maxey and found few players that hated to lose as much. That was one of the things that made him a winner. In eighth grade I thought Randall Jackson was the best basketball player I had ever seen. Joe Karr, Jamie Rose and Rick Bowling were older than me and always seemed mythical.

This team deserved to be honored and South Laurel coach Jeff Davis did a great thing when he set the idea in motion. But when I looked at the guys standing up there, I saw good friends and some of the best people I ever met.

mhoward@sentinel-echo.com