GOSHEN —
This week marks the approximate halfway point of the 2011-12 high school boys basketball regular season.
Years ago, that also meant it was time for the Elkhart County small-school tournament which graced the local sports scene for 31 years.
That mid-January festival featured the Jefferson Tigers, Millersburg Millers, Wakarusa Indians, Concord Minutemen, Bristol Pirates, New Paris Cubs, Middlebury Middies and Jimtown Jimmies — the county’s eight smaller schools at that time.
The bigger school Elkhart Blue Blazers, Nappanee Bulldogs and Goshen Redskins were never participants.
NAPPANEE, New Paris, Elkhart and Goshen were county tournament sites in the early years. Spacious North Side Gym in Elkhart was host from 1955-64 and the final five editions of the event were played at the current Goshen gym.
With a consolidation wave swallowing up the smaller schools, the county tournament was disbanded following the 1969 event.
The same eight-team field was in place from 1939 until 1965 when Concord, with its rapidly growing enrollment, decided to drop out.
Bethany Christian joined the mix in 1967 and the Fairfield Falcons were new in 1968, following the merger of Millersburg and New Paris.
CONCORD won nine Elkhart County tourney championships while New Paris, Middlebury and Wakarusa captured six each, Jefferson two, Jimtown and Fairfield one apiece.
The Wakarusa Indians, coached by Ted Wesolek, won the last county tourney crown with a 61-55 victory over Fairfield at the Goshen gym in 1969.
Steve Neff, now the highly successful coach of girls basketball at NorthWood with over 600 career wins, led the Indians in that championship game with 22 points.
Jack Jamison tallied 18 for the Indians, Dennis McBrier 10, Bob Abel five, Steve George four and Dean Brown two.
A YEAR EARLIER, Fairfield had made its county tourney debut and won the championship with a 50-47 triumph over Wakarusa.
Bob Hollar fired home 14 points for Coach Terry Rickard’s Falcons in that 1968 game. John Leer scored 11, Dave Weybright 10, Mike Miller eight, Jim Pepple six and Doug Smoker one.
In 1967, the Tigers of tiny Jefferson High School defeated Bethany 62-51 in the title contest.
Terry Johns scored 18 points for the Tigers, Merlin Gingerich 13, Gregg Hostetler 10, Don Lechlitner seven, Don Gingerich six, Greg Johns four, Randy Swihart and Vic Grass two each. Coach Wayne Lambright’s team would finish the season with a 16-6 record.
DAN BODIKER was head coach at Bethany Christian in 1967 when the school’s athletic teams were nicknamed the Braves.
Larry Miller scored 13 points for BC in the county tourney finale 45 years ago. Larry Schrock netted 10, John Bontreger and Glen Yoder both eight, Dan King seven, John Miller three and Charlie Steiner two.
After the county tournament disbanded Fairfield, Northridge, Bethany and Jimtown conducted a four-way tournament in mid-January for several years.
There was a true “Hoosier Hysteria” atmosphere at those old Elkhart County tournaments during an era when fans watched all the games and not just those involving their favorite team.
While the Elkhart County tourney is in the distant past, pleasant memories remain among the hundreds of players who participated in the January classic.
Sports
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Stu Swartz
Memories of high schools past
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