1954 Milan 32, Muncie Central 30. Milan, who had an enrollment of 162 students at the time, beat powerhouse Muncie Central 32-30 on a last-second shot by Bobby Plump. 16 points. They shoved it to the back of their minds, because it couldnt have happened, Mannies said. Fieldhouse. In the movie tiny Hickory beat South Bend Central, but in the Milan game the Indians beat powerhouse Muncie Central, who was going for its third state state title (1951-52) in four years. When Bobby had taken the ball, he hadnt dribbledyet, and someone said he traveled, said Birge. Coach Art Plump held the ball amidst more noise than youll hear in the wildest fast breaking game, for four minutes and 14 seconds and then called time. Thompson once introduced himself to Plump in the media room at Bankers Life and talked with him about that flashpoint in history. Play-by-play from the 1954 Indiana high school basketball state championship. The Bearcats are playing their home games at Southside, which, by the way, won the city's ninth state championship in 2001 with an overtime win over Evansville Mater Dei in the 3A class. Crispus Attucks finished with 45 victories in a two-year span Instead of the Milan High Indians winning it all in 1954 against Muncie Central, it's the fictional Hickory Huskers beating mighty South Bend Central in 1952. But Harley Andrews, who scored a game-high 20 Guard Jimmy Nettles became an All-American defensive back at Wisconsin and played five seasons in the NFL. state championship with a 79-57 victory over Lafayette at Butler Lafayette Semifinal. The underdog Indians reached the Final Four the year before but The nucleus of that team returned for the 195354 season with expectations of tournament success unprecedented for such a small school. The Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, organized by the Indiana High School . lead Milan to a 60-48 win over Terre Haute Gerstmeyer with a trip 1 Muncie Central to the state finals before falling to East Chicago Washington. Center Jerry Birge and Todd called only fivepersonal fouls on Milan and 11against Muncie during the game. "It was the greatest thing in the world," Marty Echelbarger says. HICKORY: Learn More About This Season's Honorees . victory against New Albany, paced by guard Jim Henry's game-high 27 added 10 to lead the Bears (25-5) and first-year coach Elmer McCall Share team highlights with fans & media. That led to the peculiar 4-minute stretch of Plump holding the ball with his team down two points and necessitated the iconic shot he eventually took. Both schools over the years had produced some quality boys basketball teams. Dinwiddie, a sophomore on the '60 team, was his mother's brother. "As a kid, you couldn't wait to become a Bearcat, wear those purple and white pinstripe pants.". When Celina Had Just One Team. championship game at Butler Fieldhouse. You have permission to edit this article. Jefferson. But hedidnt come close to traveling. Bonham led his team with 22 points. Lee Brennan, Bristol Volunteer Help the coach manage this team. the title game of the Lafayette Semifinal, but the Hornets fell No school with an enrollment less than five times that of Milan's ever won the tournament again under the one-class system that was replaced with a multi-class tournament in 1997. Indiana still possessed a large rural population well into the 1950s and rural school consolidation was still in its infancy. Their world was larger, full of distractions, temptations and other forms of entertainment. Jim Davis Davis helped Muncie Central to the 1960 state finals as a senior, scoring 545 career points at Muncie Central. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Although Milans championship is now the most well-known example of a small high school winning a single class state basketball tournament, other small schools in different states have had similar accomplishments. He went on to star at Ball State, where he scored 1,219 career points and had 534 career rebounds, ranking in the top-20 in school history on both categories. See the Muncie Central Bearcats Boys Basketball news, schedule, rosters, rankings, standings and more at sblivesports.com and scorebooklive.com We had a high scoring average and there we were at 30 points, 28 at that time. Albany. Following the 1954 championship game, veteran referees Cyril Cy Birgeand Marvin Todd had no idea how significant the last-second upset they hadjust officiated was or would become to Indiana basketball and the state. McCallum averaged a career-high 20.7 points per game as senior in 1982-83 and was named the MACs most valuable player. The Bearcats, resplendent in purple and white, were the biggest show in town. With four starters returning from the semifinalists, Milan was considered a lock to win both the Ripley County tournament and the sectional. Add missing athletes to the roster. INDIANAPOLIS | Muncie Central won its third state championship when guard Charlie Mock hit a shot with five seconds remaining to carry the Bearcats over Evansville Reitz 60-58 at Butler. their old coach and his new team 50-39 in the Muncie Regional. Attucks. Many would have regarded him as the second-best player to come out of an Indiana high school at that time, surpassed only by Oscar Robertson. Claude Williams added 12 apiece and guard Jerry Hazelwood chipped He signed with Oklahoma City University, where he became a star at the then-Division I program (s. He averaged 20.4 points per game as a junior and 22.2 points as a senior in 1978-79. Wingate in 1913 and 1914. Vinnie Drake, Ansonia. Attitude. INDIANAPOLIS | Muncie Central repeated as state champion to game since 1913, South Bend Central survived a last-second shot to 1954 IHSAA Boys Basketball State Champions, Semi-State at Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, State Finals at Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis. In later years you might be able to get in with a single-game ticket, but you probably had to show up before the junior varsity game to get a decent seat. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Center Jack Quiggle scored 12 points and forward Jack Wiltrout As a result, most Indiana high schools of the era had what today are considered extremely small enrollments. Raw footage of Milan High School defeating Muncie Central High School in the 1954 high school basketball state championship, the game the movie "Hoosiers" was based on. Shanahan added: "The IHSAA Champions Network restored the film using multiple computerized softwares to enhanced, sharpen and stabilize the picture. (28-2). 1954 IHSAA State Championship Milan vs Muncie Central (3-26-18) - In 1954 tiny Milan pulled off one of the all-time great basketball feats winning the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Championship. Former Muncie Central Bearcat remembers iconic 1954 state championship game Ben Breiner bbreiner@muncie.gannett.com View Comments 0:04 0:27 Sometimes a team finds itself on the wrong side. He went on to star at Ball State, where he scored 1,219 career points and had. final four games of the tournament tied the record of Crispus This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. replaced, but Crispus Attucks didn't miss a beat with the legendary lead the Archers in the title game. game-high 26 points. Crispus Attucks and 24 in Kokomo's 58-56 semifinal win over New After Beck took Plump to Central's memorabilia room and showed him an authentic jacket from Hoosiers and the autographed ball from Plump he joined the Central alumni association and continues to pay his $10 annual dues. For his three-year career, Jones scored 1,029 points for an average of 13.2 per game. Junior forward Gene Flowers tied the game on a layup, but after holding the ball, Plump hit his shot with four seconds left. "People thought I was nuts," he said. Success! He scored more than 40 points once and more than 30 five times that season, but was overshadowed by future Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Jones was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. View the Muncie Central Varsity Boys Basketball team schedule on sblivesports.com and scorebooklive.com added 14. While Muncie was favored in the title game, it was not a surprise to a lotof people that Milan, despite its size, made it to the finals as well. In that game, Morton Memorial held a nine-point lead late in the game, only to lose in double-overtime as Milan's fourth quarter comeback was aided when the timekeeper delayed restarting the clock by a few seconds on one occasion. If you see your name among the Muncie Central High School graduates, someone is looking for you! school. Agullanas Bearcats held a slim lead into the final three minutes of that game, before back-to-back Milan baskets put them in a hole. He might have been given a folding chair to sit in, he doesn't recall. against Elkhart and notched a 59-50 victory. Guard John Dampier played two years for a California junior college then averaged 19.3 points as a junior at Miami of Florida. Gary Roosevelt suffered a 50-48 defeat against Lafayette Thompson is now the Bearcats' head coach, and in a unique position to appreciate the city's basketball history. Guard Jerry Lounsbury scored 21 points to lead the Bearcats Dinwiddie finished his high school career with 814 points (14.8 per game). It was merely the sixth-largest in the state, but also the sixth-largest in the world. When the Bearcats held a 40th anniversary celebration of the game, one year early. Plump and Agullana have become friends and they sometimes reminisce about that famous ending and the one that could have been. In the Archers' 55-42 semifinal triumph against Springs Valley, Muncie Fieldhouse, built in 1928, held 7,635 people, although nearly 9,000 would cram themselves in by sitting in aisles and stairwells. game the year before, Madison earned redemption with its 67-44 Ronnie Fisher led the Bronchos past Elkhart with 21 points. These were realized as the Indians won their first regional game in school history under questionable circumstances against Morton Memorial, an orphanage school outside of Knightstown. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He is a 1955 Muncie Central grad and was a two-time all-state team . John Coalman's combined 106 points in his team's Crispus Attucks cruised to a 76-50 semifinal victory against Post a Video. The game was aslow-down cat and mouse affair,with Milan spreading their offenseand stalling for long periods oftime, especially in the second half. "He got kind of nervous and then he said, What do you want? I said, I want to foul you on your last shot. Over the years Milan and Muncie Central have played several games to celebrate that championship game. Lafayette Jefferson edged Elkhart 54-52 in the other semifinal. Moore went on to become a star at Nebraska, where he was a three-year starter. Oscar Robertson and Co. Robertson scored 30 points, forward Willie Merriweather had 21 [1][2], Unlike most states, Indiana held a single-class tournament in which all schools competed for the same championship in one of America's largest and most popular high school tournaments, until the separation into enrollment classes in 1997. Contact him via email atrgeneral@gannett.com,on Twitter @rgeneraljror by phone at 765-283-8864. and his twin brother, Arley, added 16 to guide Terre Haute He said his Indians team could usually build a small lead and then lock down by holding the ball and playing keep-away for long stretches. Davis averaged 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds for the Atlanta Hawks in 1969-70. They were big, they were rugged, they could shoot, rebound. The 6-9 Davis also graduated as Colorados all-time leading rebounder with 863. 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