March 2005                                                             The Megaphone                                                                  Page 4

The Anderson Jinx -- Episode V

by Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen

In my last installment, Elwood had finally broken the Anderson Jinx with a resounding 67-53 win over the Indians, the first ever. Ahead lay the rest of the sectional and then hopefully the regional.

Since my last installment, a key member of that '57 Panther team has passed away to the sorrow of all who knew him. I would like to offer this series of memories as a memorial to Darrell McQuitty.

Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen '59

Episode V -- On to the Regional!

Thursday seemed almost like an afterthought. What else was there to do now that Elwood had accomplished its "mission impossible" as a later TV program was titled? Oh sure, there was still the sectional to win. But nothing could surmount the unbridled joy of Wednesday night's win over Anderson.

Yet the sectional was not yet won. Still alive were some very capable teams, especially the Frankton Eagles. Forgetting to play the game at hand had cost Elwood dearly in the conference race that season, and nothing could be worse than losing the sectional after beating Anderson. Wednesday night after arriving back at the Elwood gym, Coach McNulty had begged his boys to remember they weren't done yet. "Don't betray me," he had said. "People are going to call and invite you to parties tonight. Go home and sleep. We can't lose now."

When I went to bed that night I could still hear the horns blowing downtown. When I got up in the morning, I could hear an occasional horn. Mom said when she and Dad got up at 5:30, there were still horns blowing. The celebration had lasted all night long.

It was Dad's turn to drive the car pool to Delco Remy in Anderson that Thursday. He had left the red and blue streamers on the car deliberately. But he did have one concern -- his parents. Grandma and Grandpa were in their mid-70's then. Grandpa still worked as city engineer in the City Building, but they didn't have some of the things that we took for granted -- a car, a phone, a TV set. Dad was concerned that they might have been frightened by all the sirens and horns, and he wanted to make sure that they understood it was a celebration, not an emergency of some sort. So he stopped at their home on East Main on the way to work.

No need to worry -- Grandpa opened the door exclaiming, "Wasn't that a great game last night? We did it! We beat Anderson!" Grandma and Grandpa had huddled around a antique radio and listened to the game!

School Thursday morning started with a brief pep session in which we all cheered wildly as our victorious Panthers were recognized. Then it was back to class, although class work didn't seem that important right then. Fortunately the teachers were as excited as the students and most of them turned their classes into "study halls" in the afternoon so we could listen to the Thursday afternoon games over the PA system.

The Wigwam also seemed quiet compared to the previous night's frenzy. The five smaller county schools, whose combined enrollment probably didn't reach a thousand, were fighting it out for local "bragging rights." The gym was well over half empty, and it was hard to get excited with so little crowd noise.

The games didn't add to the excitement either as both were runaways. Frankton rolled over the Markleville Arabians 73-54 in the first game, followed by the Summitville Goblins beating Lapel's Bulldogs 47-34. That night Frankton went up against St. Mary's Gaels. 

Many Elwood fans were rooting for St. Mary's so Elwood could play and beat all four of the Anderson schools in one year. St. Mary's had a good shot at the Eagles with a respectable 7-13 season record, but more importantly they were the "fresh" team in the "fresh vs tired" configuration. They played Frankton close for three quarters -- unfortunately it was the last three quarters. The Gaels were never able to overcome Frankton's 18-11 first quarter lead. They played even the second quarter, gained on the Eagles by three the third quarter, and played even again the fourth quarter. The Eagles finished on top by four, 66-62.

The final four of the sectional was now set -- Elwood vs. Anderson Highland and Summitville vs. Frankton, with Elwood the overwhelming favorite. The excitement in Elwood -- and indeed wherever former Elwoodites had migrated -- was high. One fan had called his brother  out of town Wednesday night and told him about the Anderson game. The brother said, "Get me tickets for Saturday!" The brother drove all the way from Newton, Kansas, to see Elwood win the sectional.  Dad called his brother in New Jersey to tell him of the victory and also sent him the Call-Leaders of the week.

Again there was a drawing at the gym, but with Elwood the largest school left and having the entire 4,500 seats in the Wigwam available for the finalists, tickets were no problem. The gym sold out with Elwood fans wanting to see their team win their first sectional -- and Frankton fans also wanting to see their team win their first sectional. Highland had also never won the tourney but was only in its second year.  Summitville had won two sectionals, and two regionals, the last one 8 years earlier.

It seemed that every car in Elwood now sported red and blue streamers. More signs were put in store windows, and everyone in town scrambled to find red and blue clothing to wear. However that also presented a problem, because many wanted to wear exactly what they had worn Wednesday night so they wouldn't "jinx" the team. It seemed we got rid of one jinx and went looking for another. Not that we were superstitious -- we just weren't taking any chances.

My mother had a certain "outfit" that she wore to all of Elwood's games -- a navy blue dress (ladies always wore dresses when in public in 1957) and, out of public view of course, a bright red slip. I mentioned this to one of my friends, and imagine my mother's embarrassment when my friend asked her at the Wigwam, "Mrs. Seright, did you wear your red slip?"

My dad almost didn't go. We were ready to get in the car to join the caravan downtown when he stopped and said, "You folks go on. I'll stay here." Why? "They won Wednesday night without me being there. If I go I'll jinx them." Mom looked at him indignantly and said, "Oh, come on. They've lost plenty of times when you were at home too, so it's not going to make any difference." That logic won the day, and Dad went with us.

But before the fans headed southeast to Anderson, there was an important matter some of the "downtown coaches" wanted to take care of. Several of them were feeling a little guilty about the doubts they had had over the team after the Big Four Tourney defeat. They wanted somehow to make it up to Coach McNulty.

So it was that Saturday morning he received a call to meet with some of the fans at Tam's Drugstore. He arrived and there was the usual chitchat. Finally someone asked Carl if he had the time. He started to look at his bare wrist and then chuckled. "No, I don't," he said. "Wednesday night in the celebration the strap on my watch broke and I lost it." One of the men said, "Well, we want our coach to be on time," and handed McNulty a package containing a new wrist watch -- engraved on the back it read  -- "Elwood 67, Anderson 53."

Again the caravan formed at the high school, only much longer. We followed the County Sheriff squad cars down to Anderson again, although going by way of Frankton this time. When we arrived, the Anderson officials just smiled at us coming in the gym with our victory chants.

Elwood quickly dispensed of any hopes Highland had of avenging their sister school's loss. The Panthers pounded the Scots 69-54. Next up was seeing who would be the Panthers' next victim -- er -- opponent.

My inclination was to root for Summitville. For one thing, I thought they had a neat name for their mascot, the Goblins. As far as I can tell they were the only high school in the state with that name. But more importantly, my aunt and uncle lived in Summitville, and my youngest cousin was student manager at SHS. I had many memories of traveling to Summitville -- and also of hearing of the legendary feat of Summitville winning the 1949 sectional, when Anderson was almost a shoo-in to win the state, and then upsetting Indianapolis Tech, the largest high school in Indiana and over 30 times the size of Summitville, in the regional.

But Dad suggested we should root for Frankton. If Frankton played Elwood in the sectional finals, a brand-new sectional champ was guaranteed since Frankton had never won a sectional either. In fact, the Eagles had never made the final game before.

The Frankton-Summitville game had the drama that Elwood's game had not had, but the Eagles eked out a 57-53 win. Now these two neighborhood rivals would battle it out for glory and the right to go to Indianapolis for the regional.

That night it was Tom Phillips who was the hero of the game. Tom tossed in 26 points and 15 rebounds. He hit 11 of 20 shots including 8 of 10 in the second half. Frankton had geared their defense to stop Dick Mitchell who still scored 10 points. Rebounding kept Elwood on top in a first half that saw both teams tense and fired up. At the half Elwood led 26-20. Yet Elwood couldn't shake the pesky Eagles.  Elwood went up to a 9 point lead at 39-30, and Frankton counted with four straight points to 39-34. Going into the last quarter Elwood led by 7, 41-34.

But the beginning of the fourth quarter was decisive as Elwood scored 8 straight points to lead by 15, 49-34 with 6:40 left in the game. The Eagles refused to fade and narrowed the lead to 5 at 53-48 with 1:40 left. Elwood called time out and then went into their famous stall. Dave Huntsinger got a lay-up to make it 55-48,  Roger Dickinson got the last of his 19 points for the Eagles to narrow it to 55-50, then Darrell McQuitty ended the scoring for the 1957 sectional with 26 seconds left. The final score was Elwood 57, Frankton 50.

Again the fans stormed the floor. This time the celebration proved more dangerous as some of the Panthers were knocked down under the surge of fans. Panther Mick Hofer received a gash on his head that required stitches and cheerleader Susie Werline was struck in the ear. Storming the floor after a victory is a lot of fun, but is also very dangerous.

This night all the members of the team were hoisted to the shoulders of the fans, not just the coach. Ladders were produced and for the first time ever, Elwood boys cut down the nets at Anderson High. Even the cheerleaders were part of the celebration. A team picture was taken which showed one Panther kissing the nets. And, also for the first time ever, the cheer went up "Elwood Panthers, on to the regional!"

The car horns soon erupted and a long caravan of happy fans made the 25 mile trek back to Elwood -- where the fire trucks awaited them. A newspaper estimated that some 9,000 fans were in the streets of Elwood that night. The marquee on the Elwood Theater read "Welcome Home Panthers, 1957 Tourney Winners." A bonfire, this time planned by the fire department, was lit at Callaway Park, and then the crowd surged back to the gym. Someone had heard on the radio that Elwood's next opponent would be New Palestine, winner of the Greenfield sectional, so the cheer went up "Elwood Panthers, beat New Palestine!" Speeches were made by the appropriate dignitaries, but most of all it was just cheering the team.

The day of rest that Sunday represented back then was definitely needed after the week's excitement. Then came school on Monday, and one of the more unusual events to my mind. For when we came to school, we found the sidewalks in front of both Willkie High and Central Junior High filled with vendors peddling everything imaginable, from buttons with "Elwood Panthers" to red and blue hats with "Sectional Champs" written in glitter on them. I was amazed at how quickly these peddlers appeared from nowhere. 

We all went to our homerooms and then to our first period classes. Then we went to the gym for a gigantic pep session. Central Junior High students were also brought over. Photographers and reporters were there covering the celebration story for Indianapolis papers. After a lot of cheering, a sock-hop was held, and then school was dismissed for the rest of the day, including the grade schools.

The week went by quickly. Slogans of "Win the sectional" were replaced with "Win the regional." We learned that New Palestine, also a first-time sectional champ, was called the Dragons, and a poster was put up proclaiming "It wasn't St. George who slew the Dragon, it was Sir Panther." The covers on the typewriters in the typing classroom were made to look like tombstones with the names of Elwood's victims on them. 

A pep session was held on Friday afternoon. Mac Copeland, Elwood principal, announced that when we won the regional, (notice the word "when," not "if") "We'll have the biggest holiday this school has ever seen." -- which prompted one student to comment, "Gee, we get two weeks off at Christmas; I wonder how many weeks we'll get off?" A telegram from the Student Council at Anderson High School was read wishing the Panthers good luck. And a letter from Frankton star Roger Dickinson was run in the Call-Leader also wishing the Panthers good luck.

No coupons were run in the Call-Leader this time -- with over 1/4 of Butler's 15,000 seat Fieldhouse available, there was no need to have a drawing for tickets. The first allotment came at 3,500, and we said it wasn't enough. Another 500 came, and we said it wasn't enough. Finally a total of 5,000 tickets were sent and Elwood sold them all. Half of the population of the town was planning on going to the regional.  We would have 1/3 of the Fieldhouse.

Again a caravan led by County Sheriff Joe Brogdon was formed on North 16th Street. As the caravan snaked out of Elwood on State Rd 28, it was estimated to be three miles long. Sheriff Brogdon radioed ahead and the state police blocked roads until the caravan passed (which actually was the most efficient way to get the traffic moved through). Probably just as many cars went down SR 37 on their own. All were decorated in red and blue. I especially remember one car, driven by an older couple, with red and blue pennants fastened to the dual radio antennae on the back of their car. Later I saw that car in Indianapolis -- and the wind had shredded the pennants so badly they were left only a few inches long.

Two other memories of that caravan stand in my mind. One is that when we went through Tipton, the Diana theater had "Good luck Panthers!" on its marquee. It gave me a thrill to see our neighboring city to the west cheering us on.

The other occurred when we rolled through Meridian Hills on the north side of Indianapolis. A black man, I'm assuming a gardener in those days of segregated work and housing opportunities, was leaning on his spade near the curbside, watching mile after mile of red and blue cars rolling through. He stood there silently smiling and slowly shaking his head. We got the message -- "You're good, but you're not beating Attucks," with a confidence that can best be expressed quietly. 

If you have never been to Butler (now called Hinkle) Fieldhouse, you have missed being in one of the best venues to ever see a basketball game, especially during the tourney. The Fieldhouse is awesome. The building itself runs east and west. But the floor inside runs north and south which means it has enormous seating on the side sections. It has a majestic bearing but also a  "down home" traditional feeling. And there was no better way to experience "Hoosier Hysteria" than to watch an afternoon game at Butler with the sun streaming in the windows, creating patchwork on the golden floor. It is the home to all the great memories of the Indiana high school tourney -- the great teams that have played there and left their hearts on that floor both in victory and in defeat -- the great Muncie Central teams, Joe Sexton of Indianapolis Tech playing his heart out in a losing cause in spite of death threats against him if he played, the great Attucks teams led by Oscar Robertson, the Van Arsdale twins leading Indianapolis Manual to runner-up, little Cloverdale scaring the daylights out of Tech in 1966 (I was cheer block sponsor at Tech that year), Broad Ripple's Stacy Toran hitting a floor-length fling at the gun to break the heart of Marion, Marion's three straight state championships, and the great regional battle in 1990 when Lawrence North and Pike went at each other tooth and nail for 32 minutes, laying their hearts on that golden floor, with Lawrence North finally winning but having nothing left for the game that night -- the old Fieldhouse has witnessed all the joy, devastation, and courage that Hoosier Hysteria has had to offer.

Elwood played against New Palestine in the first game.  New Pal gave us a tougher game than we anticipated, trailing only 70-68 until the Panthers put it away 80-68. Crispus Attucks of Indianapolis was the favorite of the next game and indeed of the regional. The Flying Tigers had won the last two state championships in 1955 and 1956, the first championship being the first time and Indianapolis school, and the first all-black school, had won the State, the latter being the first time an undefeated team had ever won the State. And the winner of the 16-team  "meat grinder" Indianapolis sectional was always tough. Attucks had knocked off #3 Tech to win the sectional. Their opponent was little North Salem, winner of the Danville sectional. Elwood fans were surprised when they discovered that North Salem had the same school colors and school song as Elwood; only their name was different, the Blue Devils. But in spite of a 20-6 record, North Salem was no match for the Tigers, losing 49-80. With both winners scoring 80 points, fans were expecting a good game that night.

The game started with Attucks on fire rolling out to a 6-0 lead before Dick Mitchell hit. Two more baskets and a free throw gave the Tigers an 11-2 lead. This was Attucks' style -- dash out to a big lead and force the other teams to try to play catch-up. The first quarter ended with Attucks on top 17-8. They boosted their lead to 13 at 29-16 when Elwood "came to life." The Panthers narrowed the gap to 31-26, and then both teams traded baskets. At the half, Elwood trailed by 5 at 37-32.

The Panthers started out well in the third quarter, drawing to within one at 4:41, 39-38. Attucks scored twice to regain their five point lead, but again Elwood drew to within one at 46-45 with 1:14 left. Attucks pulled away again, and at the quarter break they led 52-47.

The teams started the last quarter evenly but Elwood suffered a blow when Dick Mitchell twisted his ankle and had to leave the game for a couple of minutes. Tom Phillips made a three-point play to draw the Panthers to 60-54, but then they ran out of gas and Attucks relentlessly pulled away, gaining leads of 16 points. The final score was Attucks 78, Elwood 68.

The dream run was over. Yet there were few tears, only an immense amount of pride. Ray Crowe, coach of Crispus Attucks, was quoted in the Indianapolis papers the next day as saying "We had to do everything to beat that Elwood team." The Anderson Herald headline proclaimed "Gallant Effort of Elwood Falls Short." There was no head-hanging over this team. The last cheer of the season, given with about 30 seconds left in the game at the time the bench is cleared and the subs get their chance to say "I played in a regional game," summed up the attitude of the whole community regarding their Panthers -- 

"Team, we're proud of you!"

        Next -- Retrospect

              
Jane Ann (Seright) Lemen '59