January 2005                                                           The Megaphone                                                                  Page 4

The Anderson Jinx -- Episode III

by Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen

In 41 years of trying, Elwood was still without a sectional championship or even a victory over the Anderson Indians. The loss in the '56 sectional had been devastating, but hopes began to rise as the new season approached.

Incidentally, in reading these accounts, if any of you are tempted to say, "Wow, what a memory Jane Ann has!" -- no, I don't have such a great memory. But the Elwood Call-Leader did have a great sportswriter back then, Paul Harbaugh, and I have a scrapbook!

Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen '59

Episode III -- The '57 Season

As the warmth of summer came, the pain of the 1956 sectional diminished. As cooler weather signaled the approach of another school year, and thus another basketball season, hope began its annual trek into the hearts of Panther fans. The joke of the spring -- that Elwood's named had been changed to "Ewood" because "Anderson beat the L out of it" -- faded away.  In fact, by the time basketball practice started, Elwood fans had decided that this new team might be pretty good after all in spite of having graduated eight seniors the preceding spring.

There were three reasons for such optimism. First -- the returning players were good, in fact very good. Foremost were Darrell McQuitty, still just a junior, and the other returning starter, Dick Mitchell, a senior. Both would be selected to the Indiana All Star Team: Dick as an alternate in 1957 and Darrell as #6 in 1958. Both later went on to play for Purdue. Supporting them were Tom Phillips, Dave Huntsinger, Ronnie Beasley, Jerry Fouts, and Dave Henn, all pretty decent shooters and ball handlers. Rounding out the top ten were Jerry Fouts, Gordon Hughes, and Mick Hover.

The second reason for excitement was that Elwood had a new coach. Johnny Ward had taken the newly created position of athletic director, and the basketball coaching position had been given to a young man named Carl McNulty. McNulty had gone to a small country school, Washington Township HS, near Logansport , and had later played at Purdue University where he set the single game scoring record. Following college, he had coached at Rochester before taking the Elwood job. McNulty had been quoted as saying he could see no reason why Elwood couldn't beat Anderson and win the sectional -- which led many to think he must be terribly naive.

The third reason for optimism was that Elwood would be playing Anderson before the sectional. For years Anderson had participated in a holiday tourney known as the "Big Four Tourney." This tourney at times had included Anderson , New Castle , Kokomo , Muncie Central, Logansport , and Frankfort , all powers in the North Central Conference. All had pulled out except Anderson and New Castle . The Big Four Tourney looked like it would collapse. Anderson decided to try to keep it alive by hosting it and had invited Elwood and Hammond Tech to play.

The opportunity to play Anderson in a non-sectional game was greeted with enthusiasm. The team would get to play on the Wigwam floor before the sectional. It was thought also that Elwood might do better without the pressure of the sectional's "one loss and you're done" attitude. At least the fans would know by the holidays if there were any real grounds for hope of a sectional championship.

The season could not have opened on a better note. Elwood trounced a good Warsaw team 82-55 and followed by whipping perennial small school power Sheridan 64-58 for the first time in five years. Then came the first "Big Game" of the season -- the Kokomo Wildkats.

The game with Kokomo was always played at the 7,000 seat Memorial Gymnasium in Kokomo . Kokomo did this with several smaller schools, such as Elwood and Tipton, so that Kokomo 's large following would be able to see the Kats play. Kokomo always sent a good supply of tickets to the visitors and gave the visiting school the concession proceeds every other year -- which was more money than Elwood would have made had they played Kokomo in the Panther's gym.

Kokomo was considered such a big game that the Booster Club, Elwood's 100-member cheer block, always went too. In the 50's, most schools had a cheer block, usually just of girls. If the team couldn't win the game, at least the cheer block might win the cheering contest. The cheering went on throughout the game. Many of the "modern" cheers of the last 20 years would have been considered chants in those days. Chants, such as "Beat 'em; beat 'em; that's what we're gonna do," accompanied the action of the game. The cheerleaders were expected to always have something going on. The chants went with the flow of the game. They went on to something new usually every 20-30 seconds. Some chants were for offense (Hey, we want a basket) and some for defense (Get that ball and go, go).

One of the unintentional by-products of this was crowd control. I doubt anyone ever explained it to the cheerleaders or even if very many others in the crowd were aware of it, but if a poor call was made by the officials and the crowd began to boo and get unruly, the cheerleaders would start up a yell such as "They're our Panthers, Yes sir!" and the energy, and thus anger, of the crowd would be diverted into yelling. The cheerleaders in those days were elected by the Student Council and were usually leaders in the school in their own right. Pyramids and flips weren't important but knowing the right yell at the right time was.

Kokomo was a formidable opponent in the Battle of the Cheer Blocks. The KHS block filled the entire end section of the gym and had 300 girls in it. These girls were divided into three sections: one in red, one in blue, and the center one in white. It was one of the best cheer blocks in the state.

Both Kokomo and Elwood were undefeated in the very young season, Kokomo 3-0 and Elwood 2-0. The first quarter was a battle royal with the game tied four times. At the end of the quarter Kokomo led 13-12, but Darrell Mcquitty's basket at the start of the second quarter made it 14-13. Kokomo hit again, and then once again McQuitty scored to give Elwood a 16-15 lead which they would never lose. The Panthers stretched the lead to 26-18, but Kokomo closed to 31-26 at the half.

Kokomo came out with a vengeance at the start of the third quarter, drawing to within one point at 33-32.  To make matters worse, Dick Mitchell fouled out. But a three-point play by Dave Henn, a basket by Dave Huntsinger, and a fielder by Henn pushed the Panthers back to 43-34. Kokomo once again rallied to 43-38, but Elwood met the challenge and led 51-43 at the end of the third. Elwood seemed to be in charge but it was anyone's game. Once again Kokomo made a run and drew within four at 55-51.

What happened next was phenomenal! The Panthers simply exploded. They seemed to score at ease and completely shut down Kokomo. It could not have been a more complete whipping. Leading only 55-51 with 6 minutes left in the game, Elwood raced away to a 72-53 win, outscoring the Kats 17-2. Elwood hit an amazing .533 in the second half on 16 of 30 shots.

Elwood followed that stunning victory with an overtime win over arch rival Alexandria and then licked Tipton 68-46. Elwood was now 5-0 and looking forward to their next two opponents who were also undefeated. 

First Elwood played the Decatur Yellow Jackets. Elwood narrowly won the game 60-58 with Dick Mitchell scoring 35 points, a new school record.

Next were the Hartford City Airedales. This game was important not only because it was a Central Indiana Conference game, but also because of the media coverage. Both teams were undefeated, and Hartford City was ranked #7 in the state. Reporters from both Indianapolis and Fort Wayne crowded into the tiny Hartford City gym to cover the game. Hartford City led only 16-15 after a raucous first quarter. Elwood had moved into a 26-22 lead when Dick Mitchell received his third foul and took a rest. Hartford City made use of this golden opportunity and raced to a 37-31 halftime lead. The Airedales opened the second half with four quick baskets and Elwood never recovered. They dropped from the undefeated ranks 67-60.

In spite of the loss, Elwood fans were eagerly awaiting the Big Four holiday tourney in Anderson. Elwood was 6-1 and had been rated in the Top Twenty since the Kokomo game. Anderson was only 4-4, but they played a tough schedule. Elwood had almost as many fans as Anderson at the game, and they were vocal. The county schools had a favorite cheer when playing the Indians, "Heap big smoke but no fire." The Elwood crowd yelled it repeatedly at their hated adversaries. The first half was nip and tuck with Anderson holding a slim 28-25 lead.

Elwood might as well have gone home at that point. The second half was a disaster. They scored only four points in the third quarter and only 21 in the entire half. The collapse was "complete in all phases" as Call-Leader sportswriter Paul Harbaugh reported. They were out rebounded and made numerous errors. They hit only 2 of 11 shots in the third quarter. Once Anderson had a decent lead, they went into their "cat and mouse" offense. And what was most humiliating was that the Anderson section began chanting "Heap big smoke and look at that score!" The final score was 62-46, Anderson.

The devastation was unbelievable. One fan walked out of the game swearing, "I don't care if we play them a dozen times a year, we'll never beat them." Sports editor Harbaugh started his write-up on the game in the next day's paper thus: "Call it a jinx, call it a phobia, or call it just plain hard luck, but whatever you call it, the result was a complete collapse by Elwood."

Later, Harbaugh again wrote about the game in his semi-weekly column "Sports Spurts." He said, "Elwood seems to have developed some sort of mental block when playing the Indians. It's not hard to understand. Ever since the present day Panthers have been small kids they have heard of the so-called 'Anderson Jinx' and have been told by many Elwoodites that Elwood cannot beat Anderson no matter what. Thus the Panthers lack confidence when they play the Indians. The Panthers will have another chance in the sectional. Elwood has nothing to fear but fear itself." The Anderson Herald reprinted the column under the title "Elwood's Angle."

The season had to go on. The Panthers fell the first game of the new year in an overtime loss to a good New Castle team (7-3) 78-75. For the first time Elwood had a losing streak. They then entered the heart of the Conference schedule. The Panthers ran off consecutive victories against Huntington, Peru, Tipton, and Monticello, before meeting the Alexandria Tigers in a game that could be called the "Nightmare on North 16th Street ."

Elwood played both Tipton and Alexandria in "home and home" series back then. Elwood had won the first game at Alex by one point in overtime. The Tigers wanted revenge, and Elwood was looking forward to ranked Mississinewa the next night. It was a mistake they would regret.

The game started with Elwood going to a 4-1 lead. Alex scored two quick baskets to make it 5-4 and never trailed afterwards. The Tigers led 12-8 at the first quarter break. At the 6:50 mark, Dick Mitchell narrowed the lead to 14-10, but then the Panthers went scoreless until 38 seconds left in the half. By then they were down 25-12.

Alex's section was in hysterics. They had brought their cheer block and were in a frenzy. Alexandria was known for their innovative yells, especially their "Be calm, and be cool, and be collected." They had another yell that I have always thought was clever:
"A-L, A-L, A-L-E-X,
A-N, A-N, D-R-I-A
Alexan D-R-I-A
That's Alex, That's Alex, all the way!"

Elwood's cheer block, which usually put up a good answer to cheering contests, was in a state of shock. They stood stunned. They did try to rally the team for the third quarter, but it was not to be. The Panthers fell further behind. After 24 minutes of basketball, Elwood had scored only 19 points and trailed by 20.

Elwood did rally starting the 4th quarter, narrowing the gap from 20 to 12 in less than two minutes. But Alexandria 's coach, Shorty Burdsall, was a master at holding a lead with "cat and mouse" ball. Elwood was in heavy foul trouble. One by one the Panthers started fouling out of the game. First Dave Henn; then Dick Mitchell; then Darrell McQuitty; and finally Ronnie Beasley. Tom Phillips was the only starter left standing at the end of the game, and he finished with four fouls. The final score was Alex 54-43.

The great game the Panthers played the next night against Mississinewa, ranked #13 in the state, was anticlimactic after the trouncing by Alex. Elwood lost to the Indians 70-72, but even a victory would have been small consolation. They had lost any hope of gaining on Hartford City for the CIC Conference crown.

The Panthers headed down the stretch of their schedule beating Muncie Burris and Pendleton and losing to Rochester. They had one last game against Plymouth. Before that game, the sectional pairings would be made. Elwood stood 13-6, but was only 7-6 since winning their first six games. Worse, the B-Team had beaten the varsity in practice that week. 

True, there had been moments of glory; flashes of an incredibly good team. But they had been only moments and flashes. Plymouth and then the sectional, with the hated Anderson Indians, still lay ahead.

        Next: Our Year

Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen '59