BY FRED SWIFT
As Carmel prepares to play for its fourth state basketball championship Saturday, memories come to mind of the Greyhounds first state title 42 years ago. It was a different era, and the Carmel community was “all in” for the long-sought title.
It’s not quite the same today. For one thing Carmel was much smaller in 1977 with a population of perhaps one third of what it is today. Back then players names were well known to many in the community, names like Burrell, Hensel, Herrmann and Shepherd along with their late, great coach Eric Clark.
Leading up to the biggest game in school history, members of the 1925 and 1970 teams which had made it to the state finals appeared at a send-off rally and community-wide breakfast. The theme of the rally was summed up by one of the speakers who said, “This time we want gold rings.”
On the way to the championship games, the team and their fans drove beneath a huge American flag suspended by the fire department over U.S. 31.
In the title game at Market Square Arena, Carmel; in dramatic fashion, upset a powerful East Chicago Washington team, 53-52. Fans went wild. A pre-arranged front page special of the Carmel News Journal was a popular souvenir.
After the game an estimated 6,000 overjoyed fans jammed into the high school gym for a victory celebration that lasted past midnight. Principal Dale Graham called off school for Monday, and team members began visiting each of the local elementary schools where they received a hero’s welcome.
Fast forward to the present. Little or none of that hoopla this year. Times have changed probably in part because Carmel, now the state’s largest high school, has won so many championships in so many sports that winning is no surprise.
But, basketball still holds a special place in Hoosier lore and on Saturday it’s still a contest for best in Indiana.
Carmel team members are pumped and ready to carry out team leader John Michael Mulloy’s vow made last year after losing in the state finals when he said, “We’ll be back.”