‘They just kept working away’: Success of Fohey-led Palmyra girls basketball teams leads to induction into Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

PALMYRA, Mo. — Robert Fohey didn’t have some secret formula. He didn’t have some magical play that worked every time.

Yes, he coached the Palmyra girls basketball teams to five final fours from 1981 to 1986. Yes, the Panthers reached the state championship game all five times they reached the final four and won three state titles during that span. Yes, those teams were inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Columbia, Mo., on Oct. 20.

But that success stemmed from the simple yet salient values Fohey instilled in his players.

“I just instilled hard work, and they took it and ran with it. That was it,” Fohey said. “They thought they were in every game, it didn’t matter who we played. Sometimes we lost, most of the time we won, but their attitude never changed. It was the same all the way through whether we were up or we were down. They just kept working away.”

Belief and trust were paramount to Fohey’s coaching philosophy.

“You get on them sometimes, but you turn right around, pat them on the back and away you go. You have to believe in them,” Fohey said. “You can’t harm their ego because that’s what keeps them going. You can get on them and chew on them all you want, but in the end, you have to pat them on the shoulders and forget about it.”

Fohey began coaching the Palmyra junior high boys basketball teams in 1974 and was hired as the high school girls coach prior to the 1980-81 season. Right away, Fohey infused that belief in his players.

“The years before I took over, it just seemed like the girls weren’t getting over the hump,” Fohey said. “They’d lose games by one or two baskets. Honestly all I did was get them to believe in themselves, and those close ballgames that they were losing before, they started winning by one or two baskets. It just turned itself around.”

That season, the Panthers’ magical run through the postseason ended at the pinnacle when they beat perennial power Scott County Central 66-62 to capture the Class 2A state title.

“Unbelievable,” Fohey said of the feeling when the final buzzer sounded. “We weren’t supposed to be there. Then all of a sudden we’re there on the big stage and it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ It really never did set in as far as what we had accomplished.”

The following season, Palmyra lost to Monroe City in heartbreaking fashion in the district championship game, and the frustration of that loss still lingers with Fohey to this day.

With Palmyra trailing by a point in the final seconds, all they needed was one basket to keep their season alive. Palmyra’s Julie Johnson, who led the team with 18 points that day, took the final shot.

“The ball goes up and rolls around the rim and falls out instead of falling in, and that’s how close it was,” Fohey said. “It felt like it was in the air forever.”

The ensuing rebound haunts Fohey even more.

“The sad thing about it is we got the rebound and put it back in but the buzzer went off and it was still in her hand,” Fohey said. “Jackie Thornburg jumped up and put it in, but as she was releasing it, the horn went off. It was close, it really was. If we would have had even a second, we would have had it.”

The root of Fohey’s frustration lies not with Thornburg, but with himself.

“I was really upset with myself because I didn’t go over rebounding the ball and putting it back in without coming down with it,” Fohey said. “If I would have done that, Jackie would have jumped up, caught it and put it back in before coming down. She jumped up, came down, went right back up just like we always did. I was really hard on myself because I hadn’t gone over that part of the game with Jackie.”

Scott County Central avenged their loss to the Panthers in the ‘81 state championship by going 31-0 and defeating Salisbury 85-49 in the ‘82 title game.

“As good as Scott County Central was, they might have beaten us by 30 if we would have made it down there,” Fohey said.

In 1983, Palmyra began a string of four consecutive state championship game appearances. The Panthers finished as the runners-up that season after falling 54-51 to Bishop LeBlond in the title game.

In 1984, Palmyra crossed paths with Brentwood for the first of what would be three times in as many final fours. In their first meeting, which came in the ‘84 state championship tilt, the Panthers defeated the Eagles 67-44. 

The two met again in the 1985 title game, but Brentwood got the better of Palmyra 56-48 that time around. 

The 1986 clash came in the semifinals. The Panthers won the rubber match en route to their third state championship, which they won 48-35 over Diamond.

“They were like playing a junior college,” Fohey said of those Brentwood teams. “They were so big. Their center was 6-4. She had a very good touch with the ball. In the halfcourt, you could forget it because they were going to dominate. You couldn’t stop her. The only way we managed to get by her was to beat her down the floor.

“That’s not something we were used to doing because we didn’t run and gun or fullcourt press or anything like that. We were very deliberate with the ball, but sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve got to do.”

The Panthers’ strategy against Diamond was much different.

“We were bigger and taller, but Diamond was a state champion track team, so you’ve got a bunch of girls fullcourt pressing you and quicker than all get out, and now what are you going to do?” Fohey said. “I had a good ballclub and I could run and gun, but that game, we didn’t run and gun because we couldn’t outrun those girls. We were slow and deliberate. They couldn’t play halfcourt with us.”

The Panthers lost to Putnam County in the 1987 district championship game. Following that season, Fohey began a career in administration.

He couldn’t stay away from coaching for long, though. While also serving as the principal and athletic director at Marion County High School, he became the head softball coach in 1988. 

“The softball coach left, and I told the board I’d give them time to find somebody, and in the meantime I would coach the girls,” Fohey said.

Fohey wasted no time making a promise to his players that they would be competing for a state title in short order.

“At the first practice, I told the freshmen and sophomores, ‘In three years, we’re going to Columbia. You can be with me or you can walk out the door, but in three years, we’re going to Columbia,’” Fohey said. 

Lo and behold, the Mustangs finished third in Class 1A-2A in 1990.

“I’ll be darned in three years, we’re down in Columbia,” Fohey said.

It wasn’t fortune that allowed Fohey to reach six Final Fours within 10 years of coaching two different sports.

It was belief.

“You’ve got to believe in the kids, believe in what you’re doing,” Fohey said. “I just more or less demanded and accepted no less than what I would have from myself if I was playing. I don’t consider it luck. I demanded no less than their best. Some were more skilled than others, but they could always give you their best.”

Fohey demanded the best from his players, and that’s what he got.