The players who started Snook's basketball dynasty weren't thinking about championships or records back in the early 1960s. They were only concerned about the next drill.

That approach helped the program win 10 state titles.

The players who laid the foundation put together a record-setting 90-game winning streak from Dec. 12, 1964, until Nov. 26, 1966, a stretch that included the school's first two state championships. The school honored those players during Friday night's game against Normangee.

"We just had a great amount of confidence," said Ervin See who played on all three teams that were part of the streak. "It wasn't like we felt that we were unbeatable, but we thought we could play with anyone."

Snook played in Class B then which is currently Class A. The Bluejays played nondistrict games against all comers. Snook's loss before starting the streak was 51-39 to Houston Jones, the defending Class 4A state champion at the time. A&M Consolidated lays claim to stopping the winning streak, but Snook also beat the Tigers five times during the run along with victories over Friendswood, Livingston, Brenham and Laredo United.

Snook's rise to prominence coincided with the hiring of coach Jimmy Horn, who had been an assistant at Buna under legendary coach Cotton Robinson.

"I give all the credit to Mr. Horn," said Larry Kovar, Snook's point guard on the 1964-65 and '65-'66 teams that won state and went a combined 102-1. "I was a freshman when he came. He kind of developed everyone. To me, he changed the way small school basketball was played. He stressed a lot of things, like defense."

Most of all, Horn stressed the team.

"We worked as a unit," said former Snook post Cedric Nix. "It wasn't about being this or that but rather what we could be [together]."

No one understands that better than Nix who was Snook's first African-American player. He transferred from Snook Jones for academics, but he also wanted a chance to play against the state's best. He had to sit out the 1965-66 season as a transfer, but his daily practices against all-state postman Calvin Gerke were intense.

Clarence Junek, the team's manager, said the first thing the 5-foot-9 Nix did at practice was dunk, which certainly got Gerke's attention. Junek said Nix made Gerke work just that much harder. Gerke capped the 52-0 season with 35 points in the 64-40 victory over Channing -- the 35 points is still a Class A state record.

"It was kind of disappointing not playing [that year], but everything worked out," Nix said. "I felt like I still made a contribution to the team."

That was a gift Horn had, getting the most from every player.

"Everyone had a job," Kovar said. "We played as a team and not just the five starters. The others had to play just as hard. And we practiced as hard as we played."

Kovar said Horn got the most possible out of a "bunch of country boys."

Of the 22 players who played for Snook during the winning streak, all are alive and 16 attended Friday's game. The majority of them still live in Snook or close by.

Kovar also gives a lot of credit to former Snook superintendent Waldo Dalchau who hired Horn.

"He supported us all the way," said Kovar, adding that academics came first because Snook had a strict no-pass, no-play rule before it ever became a state law.

Kovar thinks there might have been only one player who missed a game because of grades during the winning streak. That's because everyone knew their role and didn't want to disappoint the team.

"They just wanted to win," Horn told the Citizen Tribune of those players. "They were extremely hard workers. Whatever you asked them to do they did it. And they played awfully good defense. They just didn't believe in letting the other team score. A man just can't score without the ball."

And back then once Snook got a lead, the game was over, but times change.

The players from the honor teams were introduced at halftime of Friday's game with the Bluejays up 30-22. The players took a few pictures and returned to watch Normangee rally to tie the game at 48, then hit the game-winning basket.

It was a sad ending to a great night, but a friendly reminder that winning 90 straight games is truly remarkable, a state record that may never be duplicated.