The Titans of Arsenal Technical High School are headed to the State Championship game Saturday, March 29 to meet the Lake Central Indians at Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 8:15 p.m. for the State 4A Title. Last Saturday, the Men in Green took down Bloomington North in a 75-71 contest to march on to the final game. Lake Central boasts a 22-3 record and beat Homestead 79-57 at Fort Wayne to move to the Bankers Life game. The Titans won the city tourney at the end of January with a 66-58 victory over Cathedral. Coach Jason Delaney’s squad find themselves the number one ranked basketball team in the IHSAA and are the number 6 ranked team in the nation with a 26-2 record. Led by the shooting, rebounding, and shot blocking of senior forward Trey Lyles, with lots of help from seniors Jeremie Tyler and Mickey Jones, along with Sophomore C.J. Walker, the Tech Titans have dominated the 2013-14 IHSAA basketball season.
In 1966 the Tech Titans reached the final game at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University Campus to meet the Michigan City Red Devils for the state basketball crown. That was long before class basketball was developed. History says that the Red Devils beat the Titans 63-52, but that is not the way the final is remembered by at least one Tech alum. In my family, Tech has played a very important role in our educational foundation. My father, my wife (the Boss), my son, and my sister-in-law are all Tech graduates and are loyal to the Titans. The Boss swears on a stack of cookbooks that history is wrong in this case. She was in her junior year at ATHS and remembers quite distinctly that it was indeed the Tech Titans who won the final game and were the state champs. So, who ya gonna’ believe? History….or the BOSS!
Indianapolis has had a few state champs with the Oscar Robertson-led Crispus Attucks and Washington High School each taking three state crowns in the old pre-class system that existed through 1997.The 1956 Attucks team was the first high school team to post an undefeated season. Ben Davis claimed two championships and Carmel, the Broad Ripple Rockets, and Lawrence North all won a single state championship. In the 4A big school class that has existed since 1998, Lawrence North has won three 4A titles, with Pike, Carmel, and North Central each claiming two titles. The Carmel Greyhounds are the defending 4A champs, having won the 2013 championship.
Crawfordsville High School won the very first IHSAA basketball championship way back in 1911. This remains the Athenians only state championship to date. Franklin High School pulled the the first “hat trick” in state basketball history with three back-to-back state championships from 1920 to 1922. The Franklin Wonder Five, led by Bob “Fuzzy” Vandiver, posted a 104-10 record during their time at the school and are still considered to be one of the greatest teams in Indiana high school basketball history.
Muncie Central and Marion High School each have seven titles to their credit which is a remarkable achievement in any high school sports endeavor.
Of course, everyone remembers the legendary Milan Indians, nicknamed by the media the “Little Giants,” led by Bobby Plump, who won the 1954 state championship and were the inspiration for the movie Hoosiers. There have been many, many great teams and many talented and resourceful young men who have been a part of Indiana high school basketball. There are too many to name here but they have all come together over 104 years to make the IHSAA basketball tournament the most thrilling show on wood no matter what class is playing.
We at the Weekly View wish Coach Jason Delaney and his Tech Titan basketball team all the luck in the world. May the Tech Men in Green win the IHSAA State Championship Basketball trophy and then display it proudly in the Tech Fieldhouse.
snicewanger@yahoo.com
