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The 1950 Taylorville Tornadoes Boys Basketball Team, coached by Dave Miller and assisted by William Rider became only the third team in the school’s history to advance to the state finals in Champaign.

The success of the team was built around the experience of and contribution seniors Ronnie Corzine, Jim Frisina, Don Donnelly, Harold “Kap” Henson and George Zigman. Adding phenomenal sophomore Bill Ridely to the mix provided a chemistry that allowed  the Tornadoes to have a successful 18 and 7 regular season.  Also contributing to thatsuccessful season were juniors Jim Hall, Bob Parrish, Dick Dial, and Bob Fedell as well as freshmen, Ronnie Viskozki and Bill Hauser.

Taylorville opened their season with a solid home court victory over Wheaton.  Mid-State Conference foe Litchfield was the next victim as the Tornadoes beat the Purple Panthers 52-40.  Kincaid was next to fall 48-32.  The first loss of the season came at the hands of rival Pana 51-52.   In the final two games before the holidays, Taylorville collected wins from Springfield Cathedral and the Shelbyville Rams.

The Taylorville Invitational Tournament Championship was won by the Tornadoes with solid victories over Springfield Fietshans 73-36 and Normal Community 58-42.   The East St. Louis Tournament was next on the schedule and Taylorville limped away winning only one of three; beating Benton, but losing to Pekin 45-43 andWood River 45-42.

Following the tournament, a road trip to Hillboro and Vandalia  gave the Tornadoes their third and fourth defeats in five games, losing to the Hilltoppers 51 –46 and the Vandals 48-47.    The season took a brighter turn the following week, as the Tornadoes defeated Charleston 61-30, Greenville 62-34.

Playing what was reported as the best ball of the year, Taylorville was ready to entertain a tall and highly touted team from Quincy.  The Tornadoes rolled over the Blue Devils 66 –36, improving their record to 11 – 5.   The following game, the Tornadoes continued good play with a revenge win over Pana 53-38, then stumbled against East St. Louis, losing 31-28.  Following a 68-32 win over Kincaid, Taylorville lost to the Kahoks of Collinsville 62-53.

With the regional tournament in sight, the Tornadoes gather momentum by dropping Champaign 60-50,  Shelbyville 66-39, and Hillsboro 45 –42.  Then to make a stong statement, Bill Ridley scored 35 points against the Lanphier Lions leading the team to a 60-50 victory and then the eighteenth win came at the hands of Edwardsville.

The Regional Tournament was played at Taylorville and the Tornadoes took care of business quickly, defeating Nokomis 60-41, Moweaqua 93-36 and Stonington 66-42.

The Sectional Tournament provided one of the more exciting games of the year as the Tornadoes held on to a 59 –56 victory over Athens in the first game and then clinched a spot in the Sweet Sixteen with a solid win over Clinton 50 –37.

In the First Round of the State Finals, the Tornadoes drew the Quincy Blue Devils, earlier victims of the Tornadoes.  Quincy entered the game with a 27- 5 record, their biggest loss being the 66 –36 drubbing in Taylorville.   The taller Blue Devils came out for revenge and quickly grabbed a lead they would not relinquish and Taylorville fell 62-42 ending their season with a 23 and 8 record.