On Friday night, January 8, 1965, the 5-1 Churchville-Chili boys’ basketball team hosted Greece Arcadia in the Saints gym at approximately 8 p.m. It was the first game of the new year and would turn out to be school record-breaking as C-C won 101-55. 101 points, WOW! All 14 Saints on the roster played and scored. Ron Johnston, a junior non-starter and the author of this book, became a one-game wonder when he scored a game-high 16 points in almost two quarters of action on the hardwood. He couldn’t miss, draining seven straight perimeter shots in the “pre-3-pointer era.”
Thing is, Ron had a condition known as bronchiectasis that he has never revealed until this narrative now. Only his parents, immediate family, and doctors knew about it. The lung disease which he has had all his life has not hindered in any way his participating in athletics on both the prep and collegiate level. In fact, competing in sports, running, and walking have benefitted him.
Ron never had a prep varsity basketball game like the school record-breaking January 8 one ever again. But this story is more than him being a “one-game wonder.”
(“Better a one-game wonder than not,” he would tell you, laughing.) It’s also kind of a love story back in a time of teenage innocence. It’s about teammates, cheerleaders, classmates, coaches, teachers, soldiers, and…people. GOOD PEOPLE, who have gone on to have families and been successful in life.
Being a newspaper sports editor/writer has been very helpful to Ron on this life journey. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy…and maybe you’d better have a box of Kleenex tissues handy. Because “One-Game Wonder” evokes emotion.
