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.
GR Catholic Central, Cheboygan's Maybank Make History at The Meadows
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2021
ALLENDALE – The beginning of the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final wasn’t ideal for the Grand Rapids Catholic Central boys golf team.
The conclusion, however, turned out just fine and resulted in a history-making performance.
The Cougars won the program’s first Finals championship Saturday after shooting a two-day total of 612 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State.
Cheboygan sophomore PJ Maybank won the individual title and set a new LP Division 3 Finals scoring record carding a 135.
Catholic Central finished 28 strokes ahead of runner-up Big Rapids, which tied Hanover-Horton, but won on a fifth-score tiebreaker.
“They actually started out a little bit shaky,” longtime Catholic Central coach Kim Napieralski said. “I wasn’t sure which team I brought (Friday) morning, but then they righted the ship. I think they were a little bit nervous, especially with a young team. The senior leadership was there, but there were some nerves the first few holes. They were fine after that and finished strong.”
The championship capped off a highly successful sports season for Catholic Central, which won football and boys basketball Finals titles in the fall and winter, respectively.
The Cougars, who hadn’t been to the Finals in boys golf since 2015, were led by freshmen Will Preston and Matthew Sokorai, who shot matching 155s to tie for 13th. Senior Andrew Armock was next at 157, and junior John Harmon carded a 160. Junior Luke Preston and senior Thomas Grile combined to shoot a 162 over the weekend.
“They are young, but they are talented and focused so I thought they could do it this year,” Napieralski said. “We don’t have a weak link at all. Anybody could flip for anybody, and it’s been that way all season.”
Catholic Central shot a stellar 306 on Friday to gain control with a 14-stroke lead. The top four golfers shot in the 70s.
“The best teams in sports are the ones that are close with each other and can rely on each other,” Armock said. “We have good chemistry and we all get along, and for our coach to win Regionals and state at the same time for the first time ever is really special.”
Grile, who’s been on varsity all four years, tied his personal low with a final-round 78.
“It’s one thing to shoot 78 with my friends, but this was with tough competition and all eyes on you,” he said. “It was pretty cool to shoot that score and tie my record, and we were always just trying to make it to the state finals. To win it is amazing.”
Grile said the freshmen were welcomed additions.
“They are great kids and they score well, but they are fun to be around, too.” Grile said. “It’s a pleasure to have them on our team, and just having them help us win a state championship is great.”
Maybank, in his Finals debut, shot a scorching 6-under 66 in the first round and then followed it with a 69 on Saturday.
He broke the record previously held by Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Sam Weatherhead, who shot a 136 in 2012.
“I hit it great on Friday, and I did everything really, really solid,” Maybank said. “Today wasn’t as good as yesterday, but it was another good day. I started out a little shaky, but I started to hit it really good after the seventh or eighth hole and then made some nice putts.”
Maybank, who won his first junior golf tournament when he was 7, was one stroke from tying the all-time Finals’ record of 134, held by Hamilton’s Nick Carlson (2015).
“My approach shots were really solid, and I think I hit the most greens I’ve ever hit in a tournament and that really helped,” Maybank said. “This was definitely one of my goals, to win Regionals and win state, so to do both and play this well is definitely all I could ask for.”
Big Rapids experienced another heartbreaking near-miss finishing second for the fourth season in a row.
Junior Luke Welch led the Cardinals with a 154, placing 11th individually.
“We didn’t have too many kids with state finals experience, and we sent our seniors out with four straight runner-up finishes and we had a third,” Big Rapids coach Mark Posey said. “You won’t find too many programs in the state that have that in the last five years. We’re proud of that, and these boys work hard, they listen to their coaches and they know what it takes to play well.”
PHOTOS: (Top) A Grand Rapids Catholic Central golfer hits an approach during Friday’s first round at The Meadows. (Middle) Cheboygan’s PJ Maybank holds up his champions sign after shooting one of the lowest rounds in Finals history. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)