High school hall of fame announces inductees

• By PHILIP TIMOTHY
• Written for the LHSAA-LHSCA
• Published: Nov 1, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Three student-athletes, a coach with an impressive legacy and an official whose contributions spanned more than 46 years, make up the 2009 induction class for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association/Louisiana High School Coaches Association High School Sports Hall of Fame.

The impact and contributions of Grambling basketball coach Michael Lyons, DeQuincy four-sport letterman Donald Edward Ellis, Ruston High three-sport letterman Stephen Brad Laird, Florien basketball standout Bruce Williams, and Sicily Island’s basketball official, Bennie “Ben” Mahaffey, left lasting impressions.

The induction ceremony-banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Crowne Plaza, in Baton Rouge. The ceremony will be held in conjunction with the LHSAA’s annual convention.

With the addition of five inductees, the LHSAA-LHSCA High School Sports Hall of Fame grows to 240 members.

Lyons compiled a 1,191-211 total record (757-113 record in boys basketball from 1979-2009 and a 434-98 record with girls basketball from 1979-1999) six state championships, 41 district championships and numerous “coach of the year” awards on the district, state and national level.

Ellis but is best known for his football prowess. A four-year letterman in football and basketball, he went on to a standout career at Texas A&M before joining the U.S. Air Force.

Laird, a three-year starter in football, basketball and baseball, set numerous records in leading Ruston High School to state football titles in 1988 and 1990 before heading to Northwestern State University, where he starred for the Demons from 1991-95.

Williams played varsity basketball for Florien for five years. He scored 5,367 points in his career, which ranks second in the NFHS record book and was the first junior to reach 3,600 career points.

Mahaffey, a 1951 Sicily Island High graduate, spent 46 years as a high school official, calling 4,500 games in Louisiana, including 37 in the LHSAA’s boys and girls state tournaments.