The 1957 Noblesville Millers: “That Championship Season”

By SCOTT SPIRES
Guest Columnist

The ‘57 Noblesville Millers had a season for the ages, with a talented team which saw all the starters going on to play college basketball. They had a new coach, a new high school and gymnasium (both two years old). Fans were expecting a lot from these Millers, and by state tournament time, they would not be disappointed!

Noblesville hired Glenn “Harpy” Harper as its new head coach in the 1956-57 season. Harper was a 1947 graduate of Darlington High School. In addition, Harper played basketball at Butler University, graduating in 1951, and was coached under the guidance of Tony Hinkle, which helped solidify Harper’s career as a basketball coach. The legendary Paul D. “Tony” Hinkle would be the driving force behind developing the athletic programs for over a half of a century at Butler University. For his dedicated accomplishments, Butler Fieldhouse was renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1966.

The young Coach Harper arrived at Noblesville with four years coaching experience already under his belt. Harper coached at Princeton High School and New Ross High School. During that time, Coach Harper brought in two sectional championships and one regional championship, which earned New Ross an appearance in the Lafayette semi-state.

Coach Harper’s assistant coach was Bill Nevitt. The starters were Jan Robinson, Jack Clark, Arb Campbell, Dave Porter, and John Tener. The rest of the supporting cast was Tom Abel, Bob Anderson, Bert Butler, Jim Camp, Jim Dillion, Mickey Gunn, and Don Merideth. The team managers were Jim Burrell, Jim Burr, Larry Neal and Dave Wachtstetter.

During the regular season, Noblesville played mainly mid-tier opponents, and finished the season’s halfway point at eight wins with two losses. The second half of the season, the Millers hit a slump, losing five of their last six games closing the regular season at a lackluster 12-8.

It was now tournament time and Noblesville was hosting the sectional for the second year. Previously the sectional was held at Sheridan, which had a 2,200-seat gymnasium (One seat for every Sheridan resident). Sheridan had also won the sectional from 1949 to 1955.

Noblesville opened the tourney with wins over Jefferson Township 59-34, then Jackson Central 67-55. Noblesville would then face undefeated 23-0 Windfall Dragons for the sectional championship. Windfall was coached by Wilford Drake and led by standout Toby Burkhardt.

During this matchup, Windfall was in control, and after closing out the third quarter with a commanding 45-29 lead over Noblesville, a Windfall trip to the Kokomo regional seemed all but assured.

In the fourth quarter, Noblesville mounted one of the greatest comebacks in Indiana high school basketball tournament history, outscoring Windfall 29-9 in the fourth quarter, and pulling off the victory in the closing seconds by a score of 58-54, winning its first sectional since 1929.

The Noblesville High School yearbook celebrated the Millers’ remarkable tournament run in 1957. (Photos provided)

In the Kokomo regional, Noblesville (15-8) faced last season’s regional champions, heavily favored, Wabash (18-6) in the semifinal round. A caravan of 1,500 Noblesville fans followed the team on U.S. 31 to the Kokomo Memorial gym. Noblesville trailed the Apaches 37-30 at halftime. Then Robinson took over in the third, scoring a total 29 points in the game. Noblesville now led the fading Apaches at the end of the third quarter 51-43. The fourth saw Noblesville slow down, taking only patient, selected shots, stopping Wabash 69-59 and advancing to the regional championship against Delphi (12-12), who had advanced to the regional finals, by cruising past Peru.

In the championship game, Noblesville played like the state contender it was. With Robinson and Clark taking charge, the Millers took a convincing 59-47 victory over Delphi. For the first time ever, Noblesville had won the regional championship.

The Fort Wayne semi-state was played at the Allen County War Memorial Fieldhouse, with over 10,000 hysterical fans in attendance. In the semi-state the level of competition was significantly increased for the dark horse Noblesville Millers. Most sportswriters didn’t even consider the Millers a threat to win their own sectional, but the naysayers were silenced, and Noblesville was now in the sweet sixteen!

In the opening game, the undefeated (26-0) South Bend Central Bears, led by brothers John Coalmon (6-foot-4), Indiana’s 1957 Mr. Basketball and sibling Sylvester Coalmon (6-foot-5), would face the Fort Wayne South Side Archers (22-4). From the tipoff, Fort Wayne South was in over its head. If this basketball game would have been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the second quarter. South Bend Central was in control from start to finish, leading 20-11 at the first stop and 43-29 at halftime. The Bears increased the lead to 58-42 in the third and closed out this walkthorugh game by a final score of 74-50, with the Coalmon brothers pouring in 39 points and 26 rebounds.

In game two, the Noblesville Millers (17-8) would face the Marion Giants (21-5) of the much-vaunted North Central Conference. The first quarter saw both teams trading buckets and Marion had a 15-14 lead at the end of the first stanza. In the second quarter, Marion put up 19 attempts, and with Noblesville struggling, the half ended with the Giants leading 35-28. The third quarter saw the Millers go on a 10-0 run for a 38-35 lead. The third quarter ended with the score tied at 46-46.  The final quarter saw the score going back and forth, and with 1:30 on the clock, Robinson put up a jumper that missed, but Robinson drew a foul from Marion. Robinson hit both free throws for a Noblesville lead of 57-55 with 1:10 left. Marion then got off a shot that was around the rim and Noblesville grabbed the rebound and began to stall. With 8 seconds left, Noblesville’s Campbell was fouled and missed the front end of a one and one. Marion rebounded and raced down the court and got off a long jump shot, that once again was around the rim as time ran out. The scoreboard read Noblesville 57, Marion 55.

Against all odds, the Millers were in the elite eight. Noblesville 18-8 would now play No. 1 and 27-0 South Bend Central for the semi-state championship. The first quarter saw Noblesville hampered by turnovers and terrible shooting, just 2-of-16 from the field. The first quarter went to the Bears 12-6. Noblesville woke up in the second stanza and outscored South Bend Central 22-17. At halftime, Noblesville trailed by one 29-28. The third quarter was a repeat of the first quarter, but worse: The Millers shot just 4-of-18 from the field. While John Coalmon poured in 14 points in the third. Noblesville trailed at the end of three 53-43. The teams played even in the final quarter, however brothers John and Sylvester Coalmon caused the Millers to struggle the entire game. The final score was South Bend Central 75, Noblesville 62. The Coalmon brothers scored a combined total of 55 points and grabbed 34 rebounds. Robinson led the Millers with 17 points and Porter led with 19 rebounds. South Bend Central went on to win the 1957 state championship, stopping Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 67-55.

At game’s end, the Noblesville basketball team, and the following convoy received a police escort back to Noblesville. By the time the team bus arrived home, the convoy was twice as large, as blaring horns, sirens and thousands of fans greeted the Millers team. At Memorial Field, a bonfire was blazing and floodlights illuminated the field, as thousands chanted “We want the team” and “We want Harper”. With that, Coach Harper and the Millers team walked onto Memorial Field and gave brief, heartfelt speeches, thanking the community for their unwavering support. Then the kind gestures were returned likewise to the team from school and city officials.

Later, Coach Harper received the 1957 Coach of the Year Award by the Indiana Sportscasters and News Writers Association. Harper won seven out of eight sectionals in Noblesville from 1957 through 1964, won the regional twice and had one semi-state finalist appearance during his tenure as Noblesville head basketball coach. In 2013 Coach Harper was honored by being inducted into the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

Back in 1957 Noblesville was a relatively small community, which has since developed into part of a thriving metropolitan area. Fortunately, Noblesville has retained its small-town values, and the memories of the arrival of a young Coach Harper, whose successes helped lay the foundation for the generational excellence of the Noblesville high school athletic programs.

We should always keep these small-town virtues alive, and always remember,

The 1957 Noblesville Millers, “That Championship Season.”