Tourney never missed a beat for almost 50 years

By CHUCK GODBY
A funny thing happened soon after I decided to turn pages of notes into a series on the very early years of the Hamilton County Boys’ Basketball Tournament and offer it to The Reporter: My uncle Jim Godby handed me a magazine-type book he’s had for years titled The Way It Was … Hamilton County Basketball Tourney. Until last summer I never knew such a publication existed.
It was written by the late, great Don Jellison prior to the return of the county tourney during the 2003-04 campaign. Jellison, of course, covered Hamilton County sports for decades as the sports editor of the Noblesville Daily Ledger and was instrumental in the creation of The Reporter.
After I left The Ledger in 1990, I spent countless hours in the local library, hoping to compile a Hamilton County basketball history. When that goal became simply too daunting, I decided to focus on the county tourney alone. I made it through the 1920s before life took me off course.
So in three parts you have read about the creation of the Hamilton County Boys’ Basketball Tourney and its very early years from notes I recorded in a spiral notebook more than 30 years ago. Now I’m going to speed you through to the last tourney in 1965, before the attempted comeback almost 40 years later.
Actually, I’m taking you through the years courtesy of Mr. Jellison, who gathered all the facts. I’m sure he’d be happy for me to share them. Nobody told the history of sports in Hamilton County better than Don.
Through the Great Depression and two World Wars, the county tourney never missed a beat from 1917 to 1965. The schools that competed were Arcadia, Atlanta, Boxley, Carmel, Cicero, Fishers, Jackson Central, Noblesville, Sheridan, Walnut Grove and Westfield.
Eight of the 11 schools won at least one county championship. Only Atlanta, Boxley and Walnut Grove failed to capture a crown, although all three at least made it to a title game.
Sheridan, which dominated the 1950s, won the most championships with 13. The Blackhawks won eight straight from 1951 through 1958 under the guidance of legendary Hall of Fame coach Larry Hobbs. Hobbs’ son Joe, whom Jellison said was the only player to compete on four county-winning teams, returned to coach his alma mater – after his father retired – to the 1960 championship.
The Joe Hobbs reference made me wonder what set of brothers won the most county championships. Although we might never know for sure, I’m going to guess the sons of my grandparents, Harold and Mary Alice Godby, might be a good bet with six.
My dad, Gail, was a regular on the 1954 and 1955 winners. Uncle Neal was a regular on the 1956 and 1957 champions, and Uncle Jim, you know him – the furniture guy – was a regular on the 1958 and 1960 champions.
Neal Godby was the only one of the trio to be named to an All-County tourney team.
Larry Hobbs coached the most county tourney champions – eight. Edgar Cotton won five titles at Carmel and Fred Anderson won five – all in succession – coaching Arcadia.
Only Maurice “Mo” Kennedy coached different schools to championship-game victories. He led Noblesville in 1933 and 1935, and directed Westfield in 1943.
Speaking of Noblesville, the Millers participated in the county tourney only 16 times, winning the title four times. They left after winning the 1935 county championship and never returned.
According to Jellison, the reason Noblesville left was never clear.
If you are a modern-day high school basketball fan from Hamilton Heights, you are still likely to find Roger Bryant on the top row of the bottom section of the Husky Dome watching the Huskies compete. Bryant holds the record for the most points in a single game with 32. Standing 6-foot-4, Bryant, from Walnut Grove, set the mark against Carmel in 1960.
Carmel, with Coach Bill Shepherd at the helm, won the last tourney championship in ’65, beating Westfield, 73-60, in the finale. Future Mr. Basketball Billy Shepherd was a freshman and he scored 19 points in the game. Dave Shepherd scored 24 for the Greyhounds.
David Shepherd never go t to play in a county tourney game. But Carmel’s other future Mr. Basketball’s insurance agency did sponsor the county tourney’s comeback, which was spearheaded by Mr. Jellison.
“I know Dave enjoyed hosting the event,” said former coach Pete Smith, who once guided county schools Noblesville, Carmel and Guerin Catholic, where he coached a couple state champions. “Thanks to Dave’s sponsorship it didn’t cost the schools anything to compete except gas to travel.”
Smith mentioned several reasons a four-year revival of the county tourney – this time including the ladies – failed to ignite long term, lasting only four years.
“For being held during the holiday season, the crowds weren’t too bad,” he noted. “Few tournaments draw well during the holidays, but this tourney did OK.
“One of the biggest reasons coaches did not like the tourney was the possibility of playing a school three times during a season. Four county schools were members of the HCC. The third time teams might play each other was in the sectional. Don and I fought that idea noting that college teams face that same possibility. The truth is, many coaches hate to face an opponent twice, let alone three times.”
Sheridan refused to join the tournament at all during its four-year run, while University competed once.
“Some athletic directors felt mismatches between schools were not in the best interest of the athletes,” Smith noted. “That thought was validated by Sheridan and University not competing, which also shot down the lure of a ‘true’ county tourney.”
Finally, some schools felt the tourney handcuffed them from other options available.
“Some coaches preferred the option of playing outside the area during winter break. They said it benefitted the athletes with additional exposure and experiencing other parts of the state.
“Times are different nowadays,” Coach Smith added. “I can’t see a true Hamilton County Tournament ever happening again. Being an old-school basketball fan I love the idea of schools playing in their county tourney, no matter the size of the school. But I am also someone who enjoys reading about the history of high school basketball. Now my teams are becoming part of that ‘old’ history.”