Fruitland won area's first basketball title

The first basketball state championship for Southeast Missouri was won by a school that no longer exists.

Fruitland High School, which closed its doors in 1939, made two final four appearances in the decade before its closing and came away with the region's first state title -- in 1932.

Elliott McDowell, considered the region's finest player that season, and his brother, Lloyd, led the Greyhounds to a 17-1 regular-season mark.

After finishing as the subdistrict runner-up to University High and advancing to the next round, Ell McDowell scored 36 points in four games to lead Fruitland to the regional title. The Greyhounds finished off the regional by beating the University High Preps 24-22.

Both teams advanced to the Class A state tournament in Columbia, Mo., and met for the state championship. Fruitland, the smallest school in the tournament field, made the outcome more decisive this time, winning 21-14. James Whitledge was the leading scorer with eight points while the McDowell brothers each scored four. Phillip Craft, Harry McDowell and Harvey Cotner rounded out Fruitland's participants in the title game.

The local newspaper reported: "With players slightly older, and possessing great strength, gained in trotting around the hills of their community, the Greyhounds were rarely winded in any game."