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Eugene Blakemore
Class of 1953 Athlete Eugene Blakemore was an all-around athlete at HHS, playing all four years in football, baseball and basketball. “Blake” began his football career as a quarterback, but Coach Warren moved him to halfback because he gave away passing plays by licking his fingers. In baseball Blake pitched and played first base; he once hit 3 home runs and a triple in a game  that he pitched. Basketball was Blake’s best sport. He was the first 1,000 point scorer in HHS history and for many years he held the school record for most points in a game, in a season and scoring average for a season. Blake was a member of the 1952 state championship basketball team. He won all district honors all fours years at HHS and was an All-State selection in 1952. He missed the 1953 season with a broken foot but was awarded an extra year of eligibility for 1954 by the Virginia High School League. Coach Warren called Blake the “best all around basketball player he ever coached.” After high school Blake went to the University of Richmond, then transferred to Shenandoah College. He left college to play for the House of David, a traveling basketball team that played 200 games a year all over the U. S., Canada and Mexico. They competed against the best teams that would play them. The team had only 5 players; if one of them was sick or hurt they picked up a player from the town they were in and went on with the game. |