Forget the 3-point line. The 1969-70 Mars boys basketball team didn't need it.

That Planet squad — anchored by senior center Bill Cress — averaged 86.8 points per game and simply ran opponents into the ground.

"We subscribed to the John Wooden theory of basketball,"Cress said. "Grab the rebound, hit the outlet man and push the ball.

"There was no 3-point line back then. I doubt we would have used it anyway. We always took high-percentage shots."

Cress is one of eight members of the Class of 2006 who will be inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame April 29 at the Butler Days Inn.

Cress scored 1,098 points in his high school basketball career and was Mars' all-time leading scorer until Tim Frye eclipsed that mark this season. Cress remains the school record holder with 1,001 career rebounds.

After completing his playing career at Westminster College, Cress has spent 20 years coaching various levels of basketball in the Mars area, from junior high to high school varsity.

"I preach rebounding to this day,"he said. "I think it's the most important part of the game. You can't accomplish much in basketball if you can't rebound."

Cress should know.

He joins Tom Purvis as the only Mars players ever to score 30 points and record 30 rebounds in the same game. He helped the Planets achieve an 18-4 record in 1969-70 — best record in school history — and helped the team score 122 points in one game.

"We had 48 points in the first quarter alone that night,"Cress said. "We scored 111 points during a road game. I'm proud to be part of those numbers because those records will probably stand forever.

"It wasn't rare to see five or six guys hit double figures in a game for us."

Cress was a three-year letterman in basketball under coach Mike Crist. Other prime players on the squad were John Sontag, Rex Hurd, Mike Grubbs, Dave Kiley and Ira Baumgartel.

"I was far from alone,"Cress said.

Basketball wasn't his lone sport, either.

Cress ran the 220-yard dash in 22.9 seconds and ran a leg of the 880-yard relay that placed sixth in the state meet in consecutive years.

His fondest memory on the basketball court was playing against rival Knoch at home.

"The noise was so deafening and they were classic games," he said. "One year we played them, we sold out the gym, another 300 to 400 people watched the game on closed-circuit TVfrom the cafeteria and still another 300 were turned away at the door.

"It was like a scene out of the movie "Hoosiers." I'll never forget it."

At Westminster, Cress averaged 16 points per game. He averaged 16 rebounds and five blocked shots per game his senior year, when he was team MVPand co-captain with current Seneca Valley schools superintendent Don Tylinski.

"We played Pitt every year because (then Pitt coach)Buzz Ridl used to coach at Westminster,"Cress said. "That was a lot of fun."

Cress was invited to a free agent tryout with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975 and made it to the final cut. He also was invited to a tryout with the ABA's Utah Stars, but opted not to go.

"You had to pay your own way to get to those things back then and I was out of money,"Cress said. "The 76ers were looking for a 6-foot-9 or 6-10 guy. I was only 6-5."

Cress went on to a career as a self-employed contractor.

"This is a real honor going into the Hall,"he said. "I was fortunate to have played ball with a lot of good guys. I'm more proud of our team records than any individual ones.

"Basketball is a team game and that's the way we played."

Here are the Mars individual and team boys basketball records involving 1970 graduate Bill Cress:<b>Team</b>• Most points in one game: 122• Best won-loss record: 18-4• Most points per game, season: 86.8<b>Individual</b>• Most points per game, season: 22• Most rebounds, career: 1,001• Most rebounds, game: 30The Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet is April 29 at the Butler Days Inn. Ticket information will be announced.