In 1936, the Alderson Broaddus men's basketball team won their first WVIAC championship by defeating the Concord Mountain Lions by a score of 59-37. The tournament was held in Clarksburg, WV. The Battlers had defeated Potomac State in the quarterfinal round by a score of 36-30. A-B would advance to the championship game by defeating Glenville State 49-37 in the semifinal round. The Battlers placed two players on the all-tournament team. Both Don Kelley and Neil Sappington received all-tournament honors for their effort in leading A-B to the championship.
An interesting twist to this 1936 WVIAC tournament comes from the Concord Mountain Lion team that Alderson Broaddus beat in that championship game. One of their players is still alive today at the age of 103. Lewis D'Antoni played both football and basketball for Concord during this era. He was also selected to the all-tournament team that year. D'Antoni would graduate from Concord and begin a 35-year teaching/coaching career in Mullens, WV where he would accumulate over 450 wins as a head coach including a 1955 state championship. He is the father of two sons: Mike D'Antoni, current head basketball coach of the Houston Rockets and Dan D'Antoni, current head basketball coach at Marshall University. Mike's team is currently in the NBA playoffs squaring off against the San Antonion Spurs. Dan's Thundering Herd team finished as runner up this past season in the Conference USA men's basketball tournament.
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