Classes Still Create Hoosier Hysteria
July 27, 2017
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
This is the fourth part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.
Twenty years ago, Bloomington North High School won the Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball championship, defeating Delta 75-54 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
The date, March 22, 1997, is at the same time revered and disdained by traditionalists in the state who saw it as the last schoolboy championship game the state would ever host.
That’s how devout the game of basketball, particularly interscholastic basketball, had become in the Hoosier state during the 87 years a state champion – one state champion, to be precise – was crowned.
Following that 1997 season, the IHSAA moved to a four-class system for its roundball tournaments, like so many of its state association counterparts had done years earlier.
It would be shocking to find more than a small percentage of current high school basketball players around the country unfamiliar with the iconic movie Hoosiers, even though the film is now more than 30 years old.
And, the storyline for that blockbuster unfolded more than 30 years prior to its release, when small-town, undermanned Milan High School defeated Muncie Central High School 32-30 in the 1954 IHSAA title game.
Perhaps it’s because of the David vs Goliath notion, or the fame of the movie that replaced Milan with the fictional Hickory and real-life star Bobby Plump with Hollywood hero Jimmy Chitwood, or the simple fact that Indiana had something other states didn’t.
Whatever the reason, plenty of opposition remains to this day to basketball classification in the state.
The fact is, the small rural schools were regularly being beaten handily by the much larger suburban and city schools as the tournament progressed each season.
Small schools also were closing at a rapid rate following the state’s School Reorganization Act in 1959, as students converged on larger, centralized county schools. From 1960 to 2000, the number of schools entering the tournament dropped from 694 to 381, and in 1997 a total of 382 schools and 4,584 athletes began competition at the Sectional level (the first level of the IHSAA Basketball Tournament).
It was at the entry level of the tournament where school administrators felt the pain of the new class system, but not necessarily for the same nostalgic reasons as the fans who either attended or boycotted the tournament.
At the Sectional round of the tournament, the IHSAA was culling just 2 percent of the revenue, with the participating schools splitting the balance. So, when Sectional attendance dropped by 14 percent in that first year of class basketball, many schools realized a financial loss. It was money they had grown to count on in prior years to help fund various aspects of the department.
Schools cumulatively received more than $900,000 from Sectional competition in 1998, but that total was down from more than $1 million in the last year of the single-class tournament.
Yet, the current format provides a great deal more opportunity and realistic chances at championship runs for schools of all enrollments.
To date, 60 additional teams have championship or runner-up trophies on display in school trophy cases around Indiana.
That was the mission in front of then-IHSAA commissioner Bob Gardner (now National Federation executive director) once the board made its decision: to give thousands more student-athletes the opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
As any statistician knows, figures can be manipulated to tell any side of a story. Declining attendance in year one of class basketball is such a number.
The truth is tournament attendance had been on a steady downward spiral since its peak of just over 1.5 million in 1962. By the last single-class event in 1997, the total attendance was half that.
The challenge then and today, as it is for all state associations, is to find that delicate balance for those holding onto tradition, those holding onto trophies, and the number of trophies to hand out.
Editor’s Note: Stories from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 1998 and from a 2007 issue of Indianapolis Monthly provided facts in this article.
St. John's Potent All-Around Game Includes Abilities To Direct, Dazzle
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2022
HOWELL — Maeve St. John is, as an opposing coach described her, “the straw that stirs the drink” on the Howell girls basketball team.
And, at first glance, the evidence backs that assertion.
She is the team’s captain, leading scorer, one of its top rebounders, the school record-holder for assists and she also paces the Highlanders in charges taken, steals and blocked shots.
But, she said, her teammates keep her in line and focused, and that has made the difference in a Howell team that has beaten Division 1 powers Hartland and Wayne Memorial this season, with a possible rematch with Hartland in next week’s District tournament.
The difference?
“I accept criticism a lot better,” St. John says. “Last year, I was definitely more hard-headed. I feel I’m taking so much more advice from my teammates, and they hold me much more accountable. They can help me be better.”
What she’s been good at this season is helping her teammates be better, finding an open teammate, which in turn opens up more shots for herself.
Asked if she prefers scoring to feeding her teammates, St. John is quick with an answer.
“Assists are way better,” she said. “It's fun watching your teammates score, going in and getting a bucket and hitting shots. That’s exciting.”
St. John is averaging 15 points per game, with a robust 7.2 assists per contest and nearly three steals per as well.
“She’s better at harnessing her energy, and not feeling she has to be the one who does it all,” Howell coach Tim Olszewski said. “Maybe it’s an increased trust in her teammates, but she’s understanding that if she can draw an extra defender to her, then one of her teammates is open.”
St. John also occasionally makes a flashy move for no other reason than she can, sometimes looking over at the Howell bench with a smirk on her face.
“If you’re not trying to have fun out there, you’re not going to have fun,” she said. “I’m always looking to have fun out there. I’m always competing, trying new moves. Sometimes, they work. Sometimes they don’t, and I’m on the bench. Either way, it’s fun to try new things, to see what you’re capable of.”
That keeps opposing coaches, and her teammates, on alert, especially when St. John sees an opening and whips the ball to a teammate that may or may not be anticipating the pass.
“That happens a lot,” teammate Molly Duerloo said, chuckling. “But we capitalize on that. Her (on-court) vision has become better.”
Make no mistake about it: St. John has that rare combination of talent, curiosity, and joy one doesn’t often see in a top player.
“Boy, can she play this game,” Olszewski said. “She’s one of those special, special players. She just is. I don’t know how else to say it. She’s got the ability and the head about herself, and it’s going to be wonderful to watch her for four years at Northwood, because I think she’s going to excel there.”
Brighton coach Paul Ash, after watching her in a game in mid-February, also was impressed.
“I love watching that kid,” he said. “I’d pay money to watch that kid play. She’s a real, real competitor. She’s a fun kid to watch.”
St. John has little regret when it comes to sending up long-distance shots (she routinely launches 3-point tries from well beyond the arc), but also has no qualms about driving the lane or going after rebounds.
“She just plays at a high level,” Hartland coach Don Palmer said. “She’s exciting, she’s aggressive, and those kids just follow along,”
In addition to leading her team in most statistical categories, she also works closely with teammates in practice and even during games.
“She holds everyone accountable in practice,” Duerloo said. “She pushes everyone to be the best player they can be. She picks me up during a game if I’m not going good. She’ll say, ‘Hey you’ve got this. Next play. Believe in yourself.’”
The support, St. John said, goes both ways.
“They hold me accountable,” she said. “There are definitely some looks, some cussing out, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ That kind of thing. It’s a mutual respect. I think this group is something special. We’re all so close. We have all these inside jokes. Bus rides are fun. We feel so confident when we’re with each other.
“My teammates fuel me,” she added. “You look at someone going 110 percent, if you’re telling them to do something and you’re only going 80 percent, you’re not going to get any respect or anything done.”
St. John has signed with Northwood University, where she is considering majoring in personal finance or sports management.
“I love a lot of business-related things,” she said.
Right now, her increased understanding of her role as point guard and the possibilities it presents is a key reason why the Highlanders have won 14 of their last 15 games after a 1-3 start.
“She’s understanding the bigger picture,” Olszewski said. “There’s a reason why that particular shot or action, even though it might seem small or trite right now, how it could have a massive effect on the outcome of a game. And I think she’s excelled in that this year, understanding those situations.”
And, he said, St. John has been much more communicative with her teammates in helping them understand.
“Maeve’s always had an excellent basketball IQ and could always read situations,” Olszewski said. “When we talk about her being a leader, it’s about calming things down as opposed to throwing kerosene on the fire. I’ve also noticed an increase in her keeping herself accountable. Many times this year, she’s said, ‘That’s on me, team.’ She’s stepped to the forefront, which is what leaders do. She’s done a great job harnessing that energy and knowing when to unleash it and when to bring it back in a little bit.”
For St. John, it’s not so much being the straw that stirs the drink as being the leader of a pack of Highlanders willing to follow her for as long as possible.
But not without a little whimsy. Late in that mid-February game against Brighton, she drove the lane into a group of Bulldogs and somehow drew a foul on a shot that was off the mark. As she emerged, she looked at Olszewski and grinned.
“It was a forced shot, more like, ‘Oooh I got lucky on that play,’” she said. “I felt like I got bailed out on that play, and I looked at him and we chuckled.”
Howell had the game well in hand at that point. What if the game had been close?
“He wouldn't have been smiling,” St. John said, then added with a grin, “I probably would have still done it.”
PHOTOS Howell’s Maeve St. John has shown she can do it all – drive to the basket, shoot from the perimeter and find the open teammate. (Photos by Dan Zeppa.)