Moment: Rouge Ends '60s with 6 Titles

April 16, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

After three years without a championship, River Rouge returned to the Class B Final in 1969 and won its sixth title of the 1960s by defeating Kalamazoo Hackett 83-50.

The Panthers finished 25-2 for the season, and the championship began another string of four straight that concluded in 1972.

Rouge dominated the 1969 Final led by 6-foot-4, 250-pound forward Dwayne Johnson (reaching for the rim in bottom photo), who scored 23 points. Teammate Rod Wimphrey added 16 points, but more importantly held Hackett's Bob Calligton to nine. Calligton had scored 31 points in Hackett's Semifinal win one night earlier.

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