I love it when I get to sit in on events like I had the opportunity on Monday at Hartselle High School.

Several members of the 1971 Class 3A basketball state championship of Morgan County High School got back together Monday night to reminisce about their team.

As you probably guess, they exchanged “war” stories of some of the tougher games and gyms that they played in.

One of my favorites was when started talking about playing Sparkman High School for the first time in a regional final game.

Allen Ross said they were given bad directions of how to find the high school. They showed up more than an hour late for the tip time. The team had to get dressed on the bus. They had no time to even warm up in their gym.

And once they walked on the floor, the referees issued them a technical foul because the team showed up late.

As the basketball fan that I am, that should classify as the definition of home cooking.

Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on the other team to tell us how to get to their schools. We can get Google directions on our smartphones – most of which still work when we get out in the sticks.

Those are the stories that I love to hear about.

It reminds me of a story told to me of retired referee Bob Hunt, who I met in Alexander City. He was working a basketball game in Mississippi back in the 1970s that went in to a fifth overtime.

As he said, it just appeared like the game was going to go on forever and the tie was never going to be broken. So he called a meeting between the two coaches and captains.

He said he was going to throw the ball up and the first team to score wins. Both coaches agreed.

He threw the ball up, a team recovered the tip, drove the ball and laid it in.

And that’s the first ever sudden death overtime in basketball I’ve ever heard about.

Of course, Superintendent Vic Wilson has also talked about playing in some of the old gyms that would have dead spots. He’d dribble the ball one way and the ball bounces another way.

Man, do I love to hear a good story about sports events and championships. Sometimes, they do tend to grow with each time that they are told, but that’s the beauty of those stories.

The kids that are coming through high school now are writing those stories that they will tell their kids and grandkids in a few years.

Brent Maze is the managing editor of the Hartselle Enquirer.