AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - After an electrifying girls basketball game between Amarillo High and Tascosa, another legendary moment happened before the boys tipped off. The 1986 Sandies boys basketball team took center court and were honored for their historic state championship run.
Almost forty years ago, on March 8, 1986, the Amarillo High basketball team, also known as “The Nothing Team from Nowhere,” put their names in the history books, defeating Dallas Kimball 68-63 and capturing the Class 5A state championship. The victory delivered one of the program’s most memorable trophies in Sandies history.
The championship game was played at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, where the team turned over a halftime deficit to claim the victory. This is the first and only state basketball championship in school history, an accomplishment that united the entire Amarillo community.
Ceremony honors team and coach
During the ceremony, the late head coach Allen Simpson’s wife Gigi Simpson and players from that team took the court to be recognized for their achievement. Ashton Nowak, a junior during the title run, and Lance Perry, the lone sophomore on the team, shared what it meant to be recognized all these years later and reminisced on the moments that would create lifetime memories for all who were a part of this great feat.
“We’re just hoping to be competitive, maybe win district,” Nowak said. “We didn’t even look that far ahead and got hot somehow by luck and being hard headed and hating to lose. We ended up in the state championship game. Still don’t really know how we did it, we did it. It was one of the greatest two and a half, three weeks of all of our lives. And love these guys, love Amarillo High. Thanks to Panhandle to bring us back and acknowledge us 40 years after the fact.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Perry reflected on the unexpected journey to the championship.
“I don’t think any of us had any idea that we would be competing for a state championship at that point,” Perry said. “But the wins just kept coming and we just kept believing in what we were doing. We had an incredible support here in Amarillo and the Sandies community. It was something that’s hard to remember all the details 40 years later, but I know that it was about one of the best times in my life and I know the guys feel that same way too.”
Copyright 2026 KFDA. All rights reserved.