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STORY INDEX Service still most important product at Ligonier Telephone Co. A black and white sensation: Tiny Screens a big attraction in early years of television A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done Indiana Extension Homemakers better the lives of families Small towns once supported their own movie theaters William Jennings Bryan among among orators at Rome City's Western Chautauqua Dr. David Rogers - Man of mystery, and benevolence DNR restoration programs working: Once abundant wildlife returning to area Rise of girls athletics have changed face of school sports Decades of intramurals: Ruth was greatest player ever: Frick Frick's predictions for 2000 not far off Small Wolf Lake big winner in 1942 basketball regional Four in a row: Finally with a gym of their own, KHS cagers went to 'Sweet 16' four straight years Ink to flow into 21st century at county's newspapers Broadcast media: Manahan was pioneer in Noble County broadcasting WAWK's history dates back to 1959 Health trends: Changes through the century occurred in medicine, health care Scarlet fever, polio were early health scares From sanitarium to partnership: A century of Noble County's medical care Funeral directors ran ambulance service in county prior to '74 'EMS arrives in time for '74 tornado LaGrange County doctors once made house calls by horseback Country doctor delivered babies in his home and drove a Thunderbird Service to mankind condensed to footnotes of history Who are the people of the Amish faith? Two controversial religious sects from the 1970's have impact on Noble County Churches with rich heritages served parishioners in LaOtto, Ege
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Four in a row Finally with
a gym of their own, KHS cagers went to 'Sweet 16' four straight
years
KENDALLVILLE - Perhaps inspired by a brand new gymnasium
of their own, the basketball teams of Kendallville High School
earned a place among the "Sweet 16" finalists in the
Indiana high school tournament for four straight years from 1917
to 1920, while winning 65 games and losing 24. These four splendid "Sweet 16" seasons were preceded
by a pair of lackluster years which, as the "Kay-Aitch-Ess"
school yearbook explained, "were greatly handicapped by
a lack of a gymnasium." The 1915 team defeated St. John
Lutheran three times and lost to Rome City and South Milford,
all road games. The 1916 season improved as the team was able
to play its last four games in "a new gymnasium of our own,"
winning three of them to finish with a 5-5 record. But the following year under first-year coach W.S. Barnhart,
enthusiasm and spirits were high as 30 boys showed up for tryouts.
From this group an 11-man varsity was selected, with perhaps
its most impressive member being Robert Gipson, who played on
the 1915 Thorntown team which won the state championship. Other
starters were freshman Robert Moses, Walter Kaiser, Ed Husselman
and Captain Elmer Sawyer. They would lose but three regular-season games, all on the
road. The most vexing of these was a 43-34 loss to Albion in
the county seat's opera house. According to the KHS yearbook,
"our lads were not accustomed to playing on a slippery dance
floor ... they did their best to overlook the rough, unsportsmanlike
play of their opponents." The Crimson and Old Gold swept through the sectional played
in their new gym, winning the championship game against Angola,
35-33, after which "students snaked-danced down Main Street." Kendallville won its first-round game in the new Indiana University
gym at Bloomington, but was crushed, 43-8, by Lebanon, the eventual
state champion. In 1918 veterans Gipson, Moses and Kaiser were joined by Lee
Foster and Paul Ortstadt. This team registered a 15-5 season
mark against a decidedly stronger schedule. Wins included a pair against Elkhart, two over Bluffton, winner
of a district tournament the previous year, and one over Fort
Wayne High School. The Kendallville gym was filled to capacity for the sectional
championship despite a heavy rain, and the crowd was entertained
by the Imperial Saxophone Orchestra with "inspiring music"
until 7:15. "The game was fast and clean and some excellent teamwork
was displayed by both teams," with KHS defeating Pleasant
Lake, 34-18. At Bloomington "the locals were at a great disadvantage
on account of the (large) floor" and despite a 6-4 halftime
lead they lost to South Bend, 15-13. Coach Leon J. Helmick, a 1915 Albion (Michigan) College graduate,
took over the team for the 1918-19 school year. Its start was
delayed for nine weeks because of worldwide influenza epidemic
during which some 20 million people, including more than 500,000
Americans, died. "Snook" Sawyer rejoined the team after a year's
absence and veteran Moses and Kaiser were joined by Johnny Ortstadt
and Ben "Bene" Moses, younger brother of Bob, whose
father was sales manager for McCray Refrigeration Co. Five of the first 10 games were lost as substitutes played
in place of first-team "ineligibles," with no further
explanation offered by Kay-Aitch-Ess. After defeating Flint, Auburn, Wolf Lake and Angola to capture
the district sectional, Kendallville lost 33-13 to Gary Emerson
in the first round of the state tournament, played that year
at Purdue. The 1920 team, led by four-year starter Bob Moses, went 18-8,
registering the most wins in school history while playing a difficult
schedule. The season began with a six-game winning streak, which was
broken by a one-point lost to Elkhart. This was followed by eight
straight additional victories before bowing to South Bend. The
largest crowd to ever see a game at the Auburn YMCA was on hand
as KHS turned back the home team 22-13. This was followed by a 22-13 defeat of Washington Center who
KHS credited with "playing a very good game since they are
somewhat handicapped by having no indoor gym of their own." (Washington Center High School was located in a small crossroads
community between Tunker and Laud in Whitley County.) After defeating Warsaw 17-7 in the sectional semi-finals,
KHS again met Washington Center in the championship game and
prevailed 15-9. The "Sweet 16" returned to Bloomington this year
and KHS opened against Indianapolis Tech. Before the largest
crowd that had ever witnessed a game in the IU gym, Tech won
out 30-17. "It was the same old story of the uphill fight of a northern team used to playing on small floors, against a central team, with years of regulation-floor experience behind them," lamented Kay-Aitch-Ess. |
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