SCOTT COUNTY'S BASKETBALL DYNASTY BEGAN WITH COOKSON

The best of times were frequent times in a small Southeast Missouri town called Morley.

For two decades, the Scott County Central Braves were often -- no, usually -- the best.

The Class 1A school holds the state record for most basketball state titles by a boys team (12) and the most consecutive state championships (7).

And it wasn't just the boys who basked in the basketball spotlight. Scott Central's girls teams have won seven state championships, including three in a row in the early 90s.

So what's the secret to Scott Central's success?

There are many factors to consider, of course. But logic points to Ron Cookson as the coach who sparked the basketball interest and helped give Morley the most impressive bragging rights in the history of Missouri high school basketball.

Now retired and a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Cookson led the Braves to all 12 titles, the first coming in 197X and the latest coming in 199X. Cookson retired with a career record of 631-132 in 25 years as a varsity coach.

Cookson was a young lad when the Puxico Indians were reshaping the way the game was played in the state during the late 1940s and the early 1950s.

He applied what he learned in Puxico and passed on to the Braves of Scott County Central.

Cookson's coaching career began in 1966 at Advance, coaching junior high basketball.

Cookson admitted that many factors played into his success, but ultimately, he said, it was the players who won the titles.

"I just had a lot of good kids and we worked awful hard," Cookson said.

Cookson said the first state title was the most difficult to get, but winning the crown seven straight years was no picnic.

"There's so much that has to fall into place," he said. "It's difficult year after year after year. You really have to stay on top of it. It was a lot of hard work."

Once the Braves collected their first trophy, the tradition began. Suddenly, basketball was up there with eating and sleeping among the Scott Central students.

"The work was the same, but I guess it was the enthusiasm of the kids (that carried the tradition)," Cookson said. "It wasn't any easier to get them to work. It was probably a little easier after the first two or three times, but it wasn't any piece of cake. But tradition probably played a big part in it and the success that was handed down.

"What we did, was very, very difficult. You'd run into schools, who would have three or four in a row, but that's it. It was an unusual thing (winning so many titles). The longer I'm away from it, the more I realize how unusual it was. While it was going on, it was just something going on."

Cookson has a hard time putting his finger on exactly why his teams were so dominant.

"In having a successful program, there are so many things that you stress," Cookson said. "Discipline is certainly up there. You've got to have offense and defense. Most of my teams were offensive teams, but most of the coaches we played against underestimated our defense. We beat people by 40, but that was because they only scored 30."

Cookson said he doesn't really know which of his teams were the best. He only said that each team was different.

"I had teams who could shoot better than others, I had teams who were more athletic and I had teams who were better defensively," Cookson said. "It all depends on what you look at. As far as the best overall team, I couldn't pick one."

There's no question that Cookson drew from a deep well of talent at Morley. But two particular players stood out in his mind as the best he's ever coached.

"Marcus Timmons and Otto Porter were the two top players that I've ever coached talent-wise," Cookson said. "They were super athletes and super kids. But I had so many. I just enjoyed working with all of them."

Cookson goes back to his days at Puxico where he learned to love the game.

"That's what got me interested in coaching and playing," he said. "That's where it all came from.

"Back then, that was just part of your life. You did that all the time."

Now, thanks in part to Cookson, the same can be said at Morley.