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Elwood Call-Leader

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Elwood retires Mengelt's No. 43 Jersey

Elwood Community High School retired John Patrick Mengelt’s No. 43 Panther jersey in ceremonies Friday evening prior to the boys basketball game against Mississinewa. Mengelt, a 1967 graduate of Wendell Willkie High School, attended Auburn University and was the first-ever basketball inductee in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the No. 20 pick in the 1971 NBA draft and had a 10-year career with the Cincinnati Royals, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls before retiring. Today he is the director & CEO of his own firm, Breckenridge Partners of Chicago. Mengelt is show above with friends and relatives during the ceremony.

1967 Crescent Yearbook

The Panther cagers, once again under the excellent guidance of Coach Joe Heath, finished the season with a 14-9 record despite the tough schedule and rash of injuries at mid-season. The victories of the Panthers were very impressive with the defeat of three major rivals -- Alexandria, Tipton and Wabash. As a climatic finish to the season, the team won the CIC crown and the horseshoe.

As a new sectional switch, the Panthers traveled to the Marion Coliseum where they made Marion fight for their crown by taking them into overtime, but the Panthers finally fell to the Giants 65-62.

The Panther squad will lose six seniors this year: Jeff Bourff, John Mengelt, Mark Richwine, Phil Swinford, and co-captains Bob Drake and Butch Stage.

John Mengelt surpassed the school record of 41 points in a single game by scoring 48 points at the Highland game. He also broke the season record with 611 points.

Nancy Sumner, '66

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