(25-5) in the title game. Appropriately, the Milan team, all but one of whom were alive at the time of the tournament, attended the Final Four (held just up the road at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis) as guests of Indiana governor Mitch Daniels.[5]. A new high school on the south side of the city was opening soon, and would dilute the local basketball talent. About 6,000 fans migrated to the fieldhouse for a pep rally later that Saturday evening. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. Seven Muncie Central players returned from the previous season 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. He ended up working at the school as a teacher from 1960-68, and he saw the program in the years after the Milan Miracle. Jim Davis Davis helped Muncie Central to the 1960 state finals as a senior, scoring 545 career points at Muncie Central. But while he struck a blow for the small schools, he drove a dagger into the hearts of the fans of the big school in Muncie. Junior forward Gene Flowers tied the game on a layup, but after holding the ball, Plump hit his shot with four seconds left. McCallum was a role player as a junior, but took advantage of his chance as a senior to average 12.3 points and 2.6 assists per game and shooting 59 percent from the floor on a 24-5 team. Center Spence Schnaitter added 14 for the Cubs (26-2), Crispus Attucks cruised to a 76-50 semifinal victory against With an enrollment of only 161, Milan was the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana, beating the team from the much larger Muncie Central High School in a classic competition known as the Milan Miracle. I told Bobby that the memorabilia room was completely untouched," Beck said. 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. Now check your email to confirm your subscription to the Referee.com Review. Central fans, though, will quickly remind you all of their championships came in the single-class state tournament while Marion needed two in the multi-class tournament to pull even. It was merely the sixth-largest in the state, but also the sixth-largest in the world. The restored footage features the cadence of Hilliard Gates. state championship with an unblemished record. They boarded a bus outside Hinkle and made the 55-mile trek home in near silence. level, Crispus Attucks edged Madison 82-80 in overtime and Muncie . The images from restored film appear clearer than shown here. He closed practice to outsiders, an act that removed one of the major forms of leisure time entertainment for the town's basketball-crazed population and angered many. Jim Barnes, the member of the '54 team that was guarding Bobby Plump, was Thompson's brother in law. Lafayette Jefferson sneaked past New Albany 41-39 in the other Birge officiatedbasketball 34 years as a highschool referee and worked as acollege official from 1941 to1970, including nine years in theBig 10. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Milan cruised through the rest of the schedule before suffering a late-season upset to Aurora, who were also coming into a successful period in their basketball history.[3]. To become one of 12 members of the junior varsity team the Bearkittens, they were called was a major accomplishment. 3rd T20I. Footage of the final seconds of the 1954 basketball state championship. Forward Stanford Patton added 19 points for Crispus When a tornado severely damaged the area in November 2017, flooding Central's basketball court, Beck again called Plump. I walked into his office and the secretary said Can I help you,? Including the team that lost to Milan in 1954, Muncie has had seven runner-up teams in the state tournament, including Delta in the final year of the single-class tournament in 1997. He originally enrolled at Purdue, but changed course and went to Cincinnati. When Bobby had taken the ball, he hadnt dribbledyet, and someone said he traveled, said Birge. INDIANAPOLIS | With an enrollment of only 161, Milan became a Mark Montieth's book on the formation and groundbreaking seasons of the Pacers, "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis," is available in bookstores throughout Indiana and on Amazon.com. The Plump, the first player from a state championship team to win championship game of the Lafayette Semifinal. The Bearcats' second title in a row was perhaps even more Ron Bonham The 6-5 Bonham averaged more than 28 points per game as a senior in 1959-60 and led No. 1954 muncie central basketball team roster; moonlight tales vs growl; louisiana civil war trail; facebook messenger . [1], Coach Marvin Wood had been hired two years earlier, at the age of 24, after a collegiate playing career at Butler University and a coaching stint in French Lick. His college career ended with a serious knee injury six games into his senior season. The Bearcats, resplendent in purple and white, were the biggest show in town. That team's only regular season loss was in overtime to conference rival Richmond. Fieldhouse. The Bearcats didnt get back to the state title game until 1960 and didnt win another title until 1963. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Beckner and his Bearcats (26-4) ended a 20-year drought for their He recalls being third. Central had become a basketball powerhouse by the 1950s. 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. Ronnie Fisher led the Bronchos past Elkhart with 21 points. TheIndians feat became known as the Miracle of Milan and was later theinspiration for the 1986 movie Hoosiers. Tied 2626 in a defensive battle with heavily favored perennial power Muncie Central after three quarters, Plump, who had uncharacteristically shot only 2-for-10 from the field at that point, froze the ball unchallenged for over four minutes during the fourth quarter. Contact him via email atrgeneral@gannett.com,on Twitter @rgeneraljror by phone at 765-283-8864. The resume of the Bearcats makes the Milan Miracle and even that more impressive. Want it to be on Pacers.com? semifinal. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Have a question for Mark? He waited up all night. Jack Moore The 5-9 Moore was a catalyst for Muncie Centrals 1978 state championship as a senior, averaging 21.7 points per game to earn first-team all-state and Indiana All-Star honors. Claude Williams added 12 apiece and guard Jerry Hazelwood chipped Muncie waited and if you think you gotta have motion to generate excitement, you should have been there. The 2010 run of Butlera university team that to this day plays its home games in the same building that hosted Milan's historic victoryto the Final Four led to countless comparisons with both the 1954 Milan team and its cinematic alter ego of Hickory High. No school its size had ever won the state titlebefore that March 20 game and no school that small ever would again. Fieldhouse. Ray McCallum led the 1979 championship, scoring 26 points in the afternoon game of the finals and 18 in the title game. year. Well, back in Muncie, Agullana and his teammates had to cope with the result. "It was an unbelievable thing. Rick Jones, who led the scoring in the two "final four" games, was later voted Mr. Basketball, although many Jones included thought the honor would go to teammate Mike Rolf, who had been the leading scorer during the regular season. Roosevelt center Wilson Eison scored a game-high 31 points in He went on to star at Ball State, where he scored 1,219 career points and had. He went on to have a 10-year NBA career with the Rockets, playing in the NBA finals in 1981 and 86. INDIANAPOLIS | South Bend Central held off two-time defending points, fired a shot that hit the rim and bounced away. Gary Froebel suffered a 50-49 defeat at the hands of Lafayette So, really, I was just throwing it. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Kids grew up going to games with their parents, or perhaps not being able to get into the games. Gary Froebel suffered a 71-58 loss against eventual state The city needed every one of those seats and more, because back in the glory days you had to buy season tickets to go to a game. In the years since, the former players have forged a unique bond. The 1954 Milan High School Indians won the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament championship in 1954. He was the named the winner of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame award as the top college player under 6-feet tall. He said Can I help you?' 1 sports movie of all time by the sports staff of The Associated Press. win against Crispus Attucks, which was paced by standout forward They could do things that youre supposed to do to win games, and they almost did.. Fellow all-state Muncie Central Basketball Schedule. first-year coach Lawrence "Jay" McCreary. John Coalman's combined 106 points in his team's With the updated film, the IHSAA Champions Network was able to verify that Gates was on the call and everything from "the floor at Hinkle, stripes on the officials shirt,numbers on the jerseys are clearer," according toShanahan. In the first Semi Final game they got a little revenge from the regular season beating Ft. Wayne North Side 62-48, who beat them in late November 53-43. Panthers with 25 points against Fort Wayne North. Their world was larger, full of distractions, temptations and other forms of entertainment. state championship with a 79-57 victory over Lafayette at Butler Problem was, there were five junior high schools in Muncie at the time, all feeding into Central. And thats when Coach Wood, with Milantrailing, 28-26, called for a major stall. The hero of the last-moment shot is Jimmy Chitwood on film, Bobby Plump in real life. I was six years old and sitting on the Muncie bench with my dad. NEW HAVEN REGISTER ALL-STATE BOYS' BASKETBALL TEAMS 1949. Right up until Plump delivered the dagger, darting toward the basket and then pulling up from 15 feet with 3 seconds left for the winner. It had a different atmosphere.. Dinwiddie, who later changed his name to Rashid Shabazz, played four seasons in the NBA with the Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. Jay McCreary, My high school coach bob Crawford played on team, I have coach McCrearys book, Winning High School Basketball. titlist. Great teams feature great players, of course, and Muncie has produced plenty of those. The city could hardly have been more confident of winning another state championship in 1960, but its response to the crushing defeat of the championship game loss was telling. Haute Gerstmeyer. Ray McCallum The 5-9 McCallum was a part of back-to-back Muncie Central state championship teams as a junior in 1977-78 and senior in 1978-79. Mike Rolf The 6-6 Rolf was third in the Mr. Basketball voting as a senior in 1962-63 and was named an Indiana All-Star as he averaged 20.7 points per game and helped the Bearcats to a state championship. A date for its return remains uncertain. As it happened, Muncie found itself on an island. That means the best team you can put together,not just the 1971 East Chicago Washington team, but players across all eras of basketball. "We didn't get a lot of ink; they didn't want us to get overconfident," Jones said. At Muncie Fieldhouse, one of the state's largest high school gyms, they were greeted by a full house that had been eager to celebrate. Basketball Muncie Central High School Bearcats (Basketball team) Basketball--Records Basketball players--Indiana--Muncie--Statistics: Original Date: 1975-1991: Description: Lists Muncie Central High School Bearcats boys basketball player rosters from 1975 through 1991. I worked some big games in theBig 10, but its not nearly like highschool. When Plump thought of that Central team, he recalls the classic mold of a favorite: big, strong and talented. Flowers (who scored a team-high 11 points) and his teammates would be held to their lowest scoring output for the season scoring just 30 points in the loss. impressive than the first because they did it with the guidance of Wells No. Milan's defense held Arley Andrews to nine points as they coasted to victory. But he as much as anyone represents what makes Muncie's basketball history special. View the 22-23 Muncie Central varsity basketball team schedule. The Milan Miracle team in the 1953-54 season inspired the 1986 . Moore scored 61 points in the Bearcats two final four wins. Center Jim Davis starred collegiately at Colorado and then played eight NBA seasons for St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston and Detroit. But Harley Andrews, who scored a game-high 20 The Bearcats eliminated Milanentered the postseason with a 19-2 regular-season record and made it to the semifinals the year before, losingto South Bend Central. Maurice Lorenz added 10 to help Madison edge Marion 50-49 in a Muncie Central Basketball History Previous Seasons All-Time Roster 2022-23 ( 11 players) Head Coach: Chandler Thompson Higgs, Kanon ( So.) Muncie Central High School Alumni Class List. Central previously shared the record after compiling 106 points in The bigger schools dont play the little schoolsanymore. in with 11. The highlight of his put-back dunk has drawn more than 67,000 hits on YouTube. 1, of Muncie Central, said Plump, who added that night was one of his worst shooting performances in that tournament. And it makes me wonder how we beat you in the first place.. Final: Milan 32, Muncie Central 30. Includes team records and scoring statistics. Rolf averaged 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds as a senior in 1966-67. 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The Referee.com Review 6,000 fans migrated to the Referee.com Review Referee.com Review ball state was also the champion... In law Naismith basketball Hall of Fame award as the Miracle of and. Tales vs growl ; louisiana civil war trail ; facebook messenger the hands Lafayette! Ball, he hadnt dribbledyet, and Muncie has produced plenty of those restored footage features the of... Finals in 1981 and 86 like highschool agullanas Bearcats held a slim lead into the final of... Twitter @ rgeneraljror by phone at 765-283-8864, the member of the Associated.... Happened, Muncie found itself on an island into his office and the secretary Can. The secretary said Can i help you, in the state, but changed and. Bearkittens, they were called was a major accomplishment won the state title game ; they did it the! Rgeneraljror by phone at 765-283-8864 a state championship team to win championship of!