SAINTS PRIDE: In Monrovia, high school basketball season always began with Saints Gala Day game. In 1978, this squad had some memorable battles against our most competitive rivals. Saints Basketball Squad 1978 are: Standing from L to R: The Late Coach Alexander Kojo Anderson (Psycho), Kassa Pratt, Patrick Nepay, Arnold Tolbert, Ben Toles, Boakai Kiahon, Othello Ezeagu, George Gbenyon, and Team Manager Brother Williams. Kneeling from L to R: Roosevelt Doe, Earnest Neal, Lami Mason and Jeremiah Mendscole.
YMCA - 1978. In one of our epic Saints battles, center Boakai Kiahon #22 is seen here dunking on a helpless defender. Nowadays we call it getting posterized. This is one for the ages. Kiahon was one of the premier "Bigs" back in da day. Going up against Kiahon in any game was no easy assignment. You had better bring your lunch bucket cause your day was gonna be long. Kiahon was big, strong and tough. As you can see from this picture, you wanted no part of him when he took off for a dunk. On the flip side, you better think twice before finishing at the rim cause he would be there waiting for you. He was our rim protector and leading rebounder. Off the court Kiahon was quiet and unassuming. On it, he was tenacious. He simply put in work. This was classic Saints Basketball.
YMCA - 1978. Saints lay-up line was always a show before the game. Saints that played above the rim used pre-game warm-up to show off their hops. They are basically sending a message to opponents: sleep on me and you'll get dunked on. Saints center Boakai Kiahon #22 is seen here rocking the rim after a monster dunk, while power forward Ben Toles #40 looks on.
