In this April 2024 file photo, Jim McElrath Sr. is taking part in an interview at Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame. PJ Photo by Scott Kindberg
Jim McKellart Sr. was sitting in a chair at the Shotuka Sports Hall of Fame one day last spring. The microphone was clipped into a red fleece pullover, as he was interviewed by local sports historian Greg Peterson.
I sat down and listened enthusiastically.
The fascinating questions and answers covered almost every aspect of “Mr. Mac’s” life, from his growing days in Mercer, Pennsylvania, to his days at Westminster College and Grove City College, and ultimately his professional career as a teacher and administrator, and lasted nearly an hour.
His memory, at 89, was sharper than half his age, especially when he talked about basketball, particularly when he discussed his eight years of tenure as head hoop coach at Panama Central School.
From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, McElrath scored a 115-31 record, with the Panthers winning four Section VI Championships, two section semifinals and one section final. But at the time, McKellart’s frustration, who went through that playoff trail while playing at Mercer High in the 1950s, had no state playoff system.
With that in mind, as his beloved Panthers returned from Binghamton on Saturday at the New York State Public High School Athletics Association Class D Championship, I couldn’t wait to connect with the Chutouka Sports Hall of Fame and respond to the school’s first hoop crown.
As expected, McElrath was not disappointed.
“Congratulations to coach Ed Nelson and the players,” he said Sunday afternoon. “They have been following this for a long time. The community deserves a celebration too.”
If you get the idea that McElrath still has a soft spot in his mind for the people of Panama, you’ll be a spot.
“I can’t be more satisfied,” he said. “It’s more than anything else for the community. I’m so excited for them. It’s just amazing. They’re a small town community like (the movie) “Hoosiers.”
“The ‘Hoosiers’ feels that way because (A) teams came out of nowhere… and they won the championship. Panama fans were obsessed with the basketball program and loved the program like the “Hoosiers” fans. ”
Before McKellart arrived at Panama Central during the 1956-57 season, the Panthers never won the title game, but that changed as he called the shots.
Don Wood, who played for McElrath on the 1963 Section VI Championship team, provided the following ratings from his high school coach in a story that appears on the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame website:
The players on the 2025 team are also big winners.
“It was a great year for that school,” McElrath said. “They’re the best.”
