Following a legend can be a daunting assignment. History books are full of names such as Keith Montgomery (who succeeded Herschel Walker at Georgia), George Selkirk (who followed Babe Ruth with the New York Yankees), Ray Perkins (successor to Bear Bryant as football coach at Alabama), Paxton Lynch (who succeeded Peyton Manning as quarterback of the Denver Broncos) and many others. 2020 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Melissa Holler Patton, had her own solution to a similar situation when she succeeded Shannon Dillinger York as starting point guard and team quarterback with the Fannin County High School Lady Rebels basketball team in the late autumn of 1994. She became a legend herself.
Melissa grew up in Morganton, Georgia and began her basketball career in the 4th grade. Robert Craig was her first coach and continued to coach the teams for whom Melissa played through middle school. She cites Craig as a big influence in her development, especially in the areas of conditioning and emphasis on the defensive side of basketball. She is also quick to mention that her parents, Linda and Boots Holler, were enthusiastic supporters of her basketball efforts and seldom missed any of her games.
When she reported for practice as a freshman at Fannin County High School in 1992, Melissa had developed strong fundamental skills and made the Lady Rebel team as a freshman. She began her career at the beginning of a dynasty. The Fannin County girls, under the leadership of Coach Johnny Farmer, won two state titles during the decade of the 1990s and freshman Melissa Patton was a member of the 1992-93 Lady Rebels state championship team. It was the first state championship in any team sport at the high school level in the history of Fannin County. During her four years of competition, the Fannin girls posted the gaudy record of 98 victories and only 13 defeats.
Melissa earned a starting guard spot at the beginning of her sophomore year. Shannon Dillinger was the starting point guard and Melissa was assigned the ‘Number 3 Guard’ position in Coach Farmer’s offense. Her duties were essentially to play strong defense and attempt to work the ball inside to Fannin’s post players, Leslie Jabaley and Suzianne Green. She also helped out with the ball handling duties and one long time observer points out that, with Dillinger and Holler handling the ball, employing a pressing defense was a waste of time and energy for opponents.
With the graduation of Shannon Dillinger, Melissa ascended to the role of point guard for the Lady Rebels for her junior season of 1994-95. She had a banner season leading her team to a 23-5 record advancing to the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Tournament before losing to eventual state champion, Haralson County. For her efforts, Melissa was named as the Team Best Defensive Player and was selected as a member of the Class AA All-State Honorable Mention Team. She scored a then-school-record 7 three-point field goals in a game against Copper Basin that year. She scored a total of 30 points in that game. She continued to add to her highlight film later that season when she dished out 12 assists in a game against East Hall.
The 1995-96 Fannin High Lady Rebels finished the season with a record of 28-1, the best record in the history of the school. With Melissa Patton piloting the ship, Fannin advanced to the semi-finals of the Class AA State Tournament before dropping their only game to Dodge County. Melissa again received many individual honors including a repeat selection on the Class AA All-State Honorable Mention Team. She was named as the team Co-MVP along with fellow FCSHOF member Leslie Jabaley. She was selected as the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club Player of the Month for the month of December, 1995, a month during which she averaged 12.2 points, 3 steals and 7 assists in games played. She was named MVP of the Taco Bell Christmas Tournament in December of 1995.
Johnny Farmer smiles when asked to reminisce about his time coaching Melissa Patton. Farmer says that Melissa “always came ready to play and gave 110% when she stepped on the floor. She was very coachable and was always in the best of shape. She was a race horse and I raced her to win. Best remembered for her ball handling and her tenacious defense. She was given the Best Defensive Player Award one season and I awarded her ‘The Glove Award’ meaning she was on you like a glove”.
Melissa also found time to play softball at Fannin High and earned three varsity letters in that sport. She played in the outfield and generally batted in the leadoff or number two hitter in the lineup.
At the end of her high school career, Melissa was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. She chose not to continue her basketball career, however, and attended the University of North Georgia where she earned a B.S. degree in Finance. She has been a Member Services Representative at Tri-State EMC in Fannin County for the past 12 years.
Melissa married Randy Patton in 2000. They have three children, Morgan, age 19, Brook, age 17 and Sadie, age 9. Melissa enjoys running and coaching Sadie’s Recreation Department basketball team. Sadie’s team won the Rec Department 8U state championship in 2019. Sadie also plays softball and was on the 10U team that were state runners-up in 2019. Who knows? — Sadie might follow in the mother’s footstep and become an athletic legend herself in a few years.
