The Elkhart High School Story - Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

The Elkhart
High School Story
E
By Tom Brunner*
lkhart High School boys played basketball from
1909 to 1972 when the school was split into
Central and Memorial High Schools. Its record
was as follows:
63 Seasons
winning percentage 64.1
49 Sectionals winning percentage 57.1
28 Regionals
winning percentage 50.0
10 Semi-states winning percentage 30.0
This article recounts the story of one of Indiana’s most distinguished, yet forgotten, high school
basketball programs. Elkhart was a finalist in 1954,
the year Milan won, and in 1956, the year Crispus
Attucks with Oscar Robertson became the first undefeated high school champion, and in 1971 when
East Chicago Washington went undefeated and was
arguably the greatest Indiana high school team of
all time.
This article is divided into seven parts.
1. The best teams and their accomplishments.
2. Top players.
3. Top coaches
4. Elkhart 5, South Bend Riley 4, January 18,
1944, and why it was one of Indiana’s most unusual basketball games.
5. Coaches John Wooden and John Longfellow - a “. . . unique rivalry” - both in the Indiana
Basketball Hall of Fame.
6. Garvin Roberson - Elkhart’s last basketball
giant.
7. How Elkhart teams became the “Blue Blazers
*Tom was an Elkhart High School graduate, class of
1955, and an avid Indiana high school basketball
fan from 1947 to 1997. He attended every Indianapolis-played Indiana All Star game from 1963
through 1993.
alone twice. Then two victories over long time rival
South Bend Central, 67-63, in the final game of the
season and 70-61 in the final game of the regional.
Ray Ball scored 55 points in those two games. South
Bend Central was defending state champion. Muncie Central defeated Elkhart 59-50 in the finals.
1953-1954 Elkhart High School Basketball Team
A number of other fine athletes aided the Blue
Blazer cause. Noteworthy was defensive and rebounding stalwart Erich Barnes, a 6-3 forward who
was better known as a football and basketball
player at Purdue, and defensive back for 13 years
in the National Football League where he was all
pro six times for the Bears, Giants, and Browns. He
played in four NFL title games and was known for
standing at the goal post and blocking field goal
attempts, a practice that was later outlawed.
Elkhart’s misfortune was that its first appearance
in the Final Four involved three other storied basketball programs - Milan, Muncie Central, and Terre
Haute Gerstmeyer.
Elkhart’s second best team was probably the
one that went to the final game in 1971.
In spite of regular season victories over Muncie Central and Marion, the record was 14-6 at the
beginning of the sectionals. The team caught fire in
the tourney and won the semi-state by defeating
Oak Hill led by Monte Towe, and Anderson Madison
Heights led by Bobby Wilkerson’s 21 points.
The first game of the state finals in 1971 featured the only triple overtime in Finals history as
Elkhart’s Best Teams
Elkhart’s best team was probably the 19531954 team that went to the Final Four and in the
process overcame many of its bugaboos. The 25-4
record included victories over Lafayette Jeff in their
Holiday Tourney, 76-57, with star Ray Ball scoring 36 points, and again in the semi-state 47-43.
In those days beating a Marion Crowley coached
team once in a year was an accomplishment, let
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13.1944, 20-4, lost to Culver, 34-23, in the regional.
14.1939, 22-6, lost to state champion Frankfort, 43-32, in the semi-state final.
15.1937, 22-4, lost to Mishawaka 28-23, in
the regional.
Top Players
Among Elkhart High School’s best basketball
players are these seven, alphabetized by last name.
Ray Ball, 1954, 6-3 forward-center, led his
team in scoring his junior and senior years with a
combined record of 45-9, including the Final Four
his senior year. Elkhart High School’s second all time
leading scorer. As an Indiana All Star scored 25
points in the second game in Louisville. Silver Anniversary team in 1979. Inducted into the Indiana
Basketball of Fame in 2004.
Paul Likins, 1951, 6-9 center, led his team to the
semi-state final game in his senior year, including
a record of 22-5. Defeated Washington-Clay Twp,
50-39, in the regional final. (Washington Clay was
led by the incomparable Don Schlundt.) Captained
the basketball team at the University of North Carolina.
Ted Luckenbill, 1957, 6-7 center, led his team
to the Final Four in his junior year, and to the regional his senior year, losing to eventual state champion, South Bend Central, with a combined record
of 42-10. Elkhart High School’s third leading scorer.
Indiana All Star. Silver Anniversary team in 1982.
Played for the University of Houston, drafted 15th
overall by the Philadelphia Warriors in the NBA.
Duane Peterson, 1952, 6-6 center, led his team
to the semi-state his senior year with a record of 234. Scored 23 in a regular season victory over East
Chicago Roosevelt, and 45 points in two regional
games. Played and started for Michigan State University.
Garvin Roberson, 1970, 6-3 forward, Elkhart
High School’s all time leading scorer, led his team
to the regional final in his senior year with a record
of 21-4. Indiana All Star, Silver Anniversary team in
1995. More about Garvin Roberson later.
Ted Reasoner, 1964, 6-6 forward-center, led his
team to the semi-state final game in 1964 losing to
eventual state runner-up Huntington North, 64-58,
including a record of 24-4. Played on the Purdue
University NCAA runner up team in 1969.
Dennis Tepe, 1956, 5-10 guard, led his team
to the Final Four in 1956, with a record of 23-5.
Trester Award winner. Indiana All Star. Silver Anniversary team in 1981.
These players along with the following coaches
1971 Elkhart High School Basketball Team
Elkhart ousted New Castle led by 6-9 sophomore
Kent Benson, 65-60. But playing another game that
night against one of the greatest teams in Indiana
High School history was just too much as the Blue
Blazers dropped the contest to East Chicago Washington 70-60 in the next to the last year of its existence as a school.
East Chicago Washington featured such noted
athletes as Pete Trgovich (leader of UCLA’s 1975
NCAA champion), Tim Stoddard (1974 North Carolina State NCAA champion and 14 year major
league baseball career with the White Sox, Cubs,
Orioles, Padres, Yankees, and Indians), and Ulysses
“Junior” Bridgman (Louisville) who played 12 years
with the NBA’s Bucks, scoring over 11,000 points.
Other nineteen-win teams in order by date.
1. 1970, 21-4, lost to Plymouth, 47-45, in the
regional final.
2. 1964, 24-4, lost to state runner up Huntington, 64-58 in the semi-state final.
3. 1962, 19-8, lost to state finalist Kokomo,
73-70 in the semi-state final.
4. 1961, 20-7, lost to Berne, 66-62, in the
semi-state.
5. 1958, 19-9, lost to state champion Fort
Wayne South, 76-44, in the semi-state.
6. 1957, 20-5, lost to state champion South
Bend Central in the regional.
7. 1956, 23-5, lost to state runner up Lafayette Jeff 54-52, in Final Four.
8. 1953, 20-5, lost to state champion South
Bend Central, 67-53, in the regional.
9. 1952, 23-4, lost to state finalist Lafayette
Jeff, 39-37, in the semi-state.
10.1951, 22-5, lost to state finalist Lafayette
Jeff, 55-50, in semi-state final.
11.1948, 22-4, lost to South Bend Central in
the regional, 40-38.
12.1946, 23-2, lost to Culver 38-35 in the regional.
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led Elkhart High School to 37 winning seasons in its
last 43 campaigns.
of seven points. Elkhart was leading the conference
with a 5-0 mark, and Riley was 1-4. Riley coach
Wayne Wakefield, an innovator, was only one year
away from coaching his team to the runner up position in the IHSAA tourney in 1945. He elected to use
the stall as a weapon to attack the Blue Blazers.
Eight items that made the game very unusual follow.
1. The low score. The Indianapolis Star indicated that the lowest, recent score it had on record was
a 1927 game in which Muncie Central defeated
New Castle 9-7.
2. The winners were credited with three points
and the losers were credited with six in the game as
Riley forward Ernie Kovatch accidentally converted
a missed Elkhart free throw attempt giving the Blazers a 3-2 lead in the second quarter and the final
margin of victory.
3. Although Riley stalled most of the game,
even when behind on the scoreboard, Elkhart ended
up stalling out the last moments of the game to protect its 5-4 lead.
4.
The Elkhart Truth reported that Husvar, a
guard for Riley, was called for an “air dribble”. Ball
possession was given to Elkhart. From 1935-1969
in IHSAA games there was a rule that prohibited
moving the ball from hand to hand either before or
after a dribble. In other words, to over simplify, a
player during one possession could either dribble
the ball on the floor or move it from hand to hand,
but not both. (For followers of the 1954 championship, between Milan and Muncie Central, official
Marvin Todd indicated he was familiar with the rule
and would have called it had it occurred, but was
glad he didn’t have to make the call. For his part,
Bob Plump indicated he was not aware of the rule.*
5. Riley fouled to gain possession of the ball
in the late going, but each time Elkhart elected to
take the ball out of bounds, rather than shooting the
free throw, a practice permitted at that time.
6. Then there is the mysterious paragraph that
was reported in the Elkhart Truth the next day. “As if
there wasn’t enough delay, timekeeper Edgar Gordon was obliged by the rules to call an automatic
timeout the first time the ball was declared ‘dead’
after four minutes of the last period had elapsed which came with only 1:12 to go in the game.”
7. Elkhart fans showed their displeasure at Riley’s tactics by throwing items on the floor, and verbally addressing the Riley team and coaches. Extra
police protection was summoned and protected the
Riley team and coaches on their journey back to the
bus station.
Top Coaches
The last four Elkhart head coaches combined for
713 wins and only 337 losses a .679 winning percentage, including 10 Northern Indiana High School
Conference championships. They are listed in chronological order.
John L. Longfellow, 19291948, 299 wins and 136 losses,
.688 percentage. 19 seasons, five
conference championships, nine
sectional and two regional titles.
More about his high school coaching rivalry with John Wooden
later. Inducted into Indiana High
School, Indiana State and NAIA
Halls of Fame.
Bill Milliner, 1949-1954,
112 wins and 39 losses, .742 winJohn L.
ning percentage. six seasons, two
Longfellow
conference championships, five
sectional, three regional and one
semi-state title.
Max Bell, 1955-1968, 230 wins and 124 losses, .649 winning percentage. 14 seasons, three conference championships, eight sectional, six regional
and one semi-state title.
Keith Dougherty, 1969-1972, 72 wins and 28
losses, .720 winning percentage. Four seasons, two
sectional, one regional, and one semi-state title.
Special note: John Longfellow, son of John L.
Longfellow, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball
Hall of Fame in 1998. He played basketball for his
father at Elkhart High School, graduating in 1944.
After furthering his education at Indiana University
he coached at Kewanna, Jimtown, Sullivan, Mishawaka, and Muncie Central, 238-108, .687 winning percentage. His teams won seven sectional, six
regional and one semi-state title. Most notably, in
five years, he coached Muncie Central to a 121-19
record, .864 winning percentage, and to the final
game in 1960 before retiring due to health reasons.
Elkhart 5 South Bend Riley 4
On January 18, 1944, at the sold-out 1800
seat Elkhart gym one of the most unusual games in
Indiana High School history unfolded. The previously mentioned John Longfellows, father and son,
coached and played in this game. Young John failed
to score, or be credited with, any points.
Riley had lost four conference games by a total
*Somebody Stole the Pea Out of My Whistle, Max Knight, page
33, 1995, Guild Press of Indiana.
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8. Northwest Indiana basketball fans will remember the name Bill Frink, well-respected long
time sports anchor at Chicago’s Channel 7. Bill was
a senior at Elkhart High School and the broadcaster
of its games over WTRC, Elkhart, in 1944.
The Chicago Tribune, the next day, reported
that this was one of the most unusual games in Indiana basketball history.
in 1939 that, due to high demand, was moved from
the South Bend Armory to the Notre Dame Fieldhouse. Both schools were undefeated in the conference. Central won a hard fought game, 31-26.
The schools ultimately shared the conference crown.
Elkhart got a measure of revenge by winning the regional, eventually losing to state champion Frankfort
in the round of eight.
From that point, South Bend Central began to
dominate the conference proceedings. But along
the way there were some exciting games. In 1943,
Wooden’s last before entering the service, the Bears
were ranked number one entering the tournament.
Elkhart defeated South Bend Central in the regional, 47-43.
In 1946 they met on the high school court for
the last time, after John Wooden returned from the
military service during the season. Elkhart won the
regular season game, 28-25 on the way to its best
regular season ever, 19-1, and a number one ranking entering the state tourney. Elkhart also won the
regional matchup, 37-33.
Tom Stephenson reports that one of the games
between the rivals was so exciting that Mrs. Wooden
fainted. He also noted that coach Longfellow went
to scout Central during the 1945-1946 season and
was accidentally locked in the officials’ locker room
at half time and not released until after the game.
John Longfellow’s reaction to the rivalry of the
coaches is not available, but John Wooden’s is. Vince
Turner, WTRC, Elkhart, sportscaster, interviewed
John Wooden in the 1980’s for his “Hoosier Memories” feature. “’John and I had what you might consider a unique rivalry,’ Wooden explained. ‘There
was no animosity, no problems after the game, or
no problems during the game itself. John and I were
good friends, our wives were good friends, and I
think the players picked up on that feeling.’”
When he left Indiana State, coach Wooden recommended John Longfellow as his successor. Under
Longfellow, the Sycamores promptly went to the
NAIA final four in 1949 and won the championship
in 1950, and returned to the Final Four in 1953. In
1960 coach Longfellow was inducted into the NAIA
Hall of Fame.
John Wooden and
John Longfellow
“. . . A Unique Rivalry”
By now you have read a great deal in this publication about John Wooden and his years at South
Bend Central. (See the Fall 2010 issue.) What you
may not know about is the rivalry between Elkhart
and South Bend Central during the years when both
were leading coaches in
the same conference. This
rivalry may have led John
Wooden to recommend
John Longfellow as his replacement at Indiana State
when he went to UCLA.
John Wooden was head
coach seven full seasons
between 1937 and 1943.
After returning from the
military service in 1946
John Longfellow
he completed the season
before resigning to accept
the head coaching position at Indiana State. John
Longfellow, 14 years his senior, coached all during
the World War II era.
During the years they were both head coaches
at their respective schools: Wooden, eight seasons,
148 wins and 49 losses, .751 winning percentage,
four conference championships, four sectional and
two regional title.
Longfellow, the same eight seasons, 128 wins
and 59 losses, .684 winning percentage, four conference championships, five sectional and one regional title.
The teams shared the conference championship
in 1938-1939. In his last five years at Elkhart, Longfellow’s coaching record was 102-20, .836 winning
percentage.
Long time Elkhart Truth sports writer Tom Stephenson wrote two articles about the rivalry in
1946, its last year. To summarize he said that in the
early years Elkhart and Longfellow had their way,
but as Wooden put in his high scoring, fast break
offense, South Bend Central began to take control.
The turning point was an end of the season game
Garvin Roberson
Elkhart’s Last Basketball Giant
Garvin Roberson, 1970 graduate, is Elkhart’s
all-time leading scorer. During his senior year he averaged 25 points per game and led his team to the
regional final.
In his senior year he scored 51 against South
Bend Riley and 43 against South Bend Central. He
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also collected 24 rebounds and four assists in the
Riley game. He also totaled 34 against Muncie Central and 31 against Kokomo that year. He was an
Indiana All Star in 1970, and on the Silver Anniversary team 1995.
In the first Indiana All
Star basketball game he
scored nine points, and
had six rebounds and
four assists. He stole the
ball and made an assist
on a basket near the end
of the game for an 8079 win. In the second All
Star game he also scored
nine points, had 10 rebounds, and eight assists,
as Indiana again beat
Kentucky by a 108-97
margin.
Garvin Roberson
Garvin Roberson then
played in the North-South
All Star football game. He was All American in both
high school basketball and football and played
both sports at the University of Illinois, where he was
All Big 10 in football in 1973.
He was inducted into the Indiana High School
Football Hall of Fame, June 24, 2000.
different connotation today. The tennis team became known in the newspaper as the “Blue Racketeers”, the author reports - another name with a
different connotation.
Starting in 1935 the basketball team became
known as the “Blue Blazers” as they gained prominence under coach John Longfellow. In 1955 the
Elkhart Truth started calling all teams by that name,
which has been the case ever since.
For the record, my friend Emerson Houck reports there are currently no other “Blue Blazers” in
Indiana. There are two “Blazers”, however: Eastside
in Butler, Indiana, and Michigan City Marquette. In
former days there were the Lizton “Blue Blazers”.
Consolidation into the Tri West Bruins, however, ended that.
So the next time someone wants to include
Elkhart High School with its consolidated cousin in
the class basketball era, you can say, “. . . Not so
fast”.
Credits and Thanks
(alphabetically by last name)
1. Jim Brunner
2. Joan Brunner
3. The Elkhart Public Library
4. The Elkhart Truth
5. Max Knight, Somebody Stole the Pea Out of My
Whistle
6. Emerson Houck, Hoosiers All
7. Greg Humnicky, Northern Indiana Conference
Records
8. Dennis Kraft, The Elkhart Truth
9. Lester McCuen, Elkhart County Basketball Records
10.Jerome Solomon, The Houston Chronicle
11.Tom Stephenson, The Elkhart Truth
12.John Stinespring, 100 Years of Elkhart High
School
13.Paul Thomas, Time Was Museum
How the “Blue Blazers”
Came To Be
In his book, 100 Years of Elkhart High School,
John Stinespring reports that the Elkhart Truth had
more to do with the name than anything or anybody
else. Elkhart teams were all known as “The Blue and
White” in the newspaper until 1922. In that year
the football team was called “The Avalanche”. A
mythical state champion in 1924 produced the
name “The Big Blue Avalanche”. Thereafter ”The
Blue Avalanche”. Interestingly this name lasted until
1955 - for the football team only.
Other teams had their own names; for example,
the track team was known as the “Streaks”, with a
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