I recently ran into current Greenwood resident Howard Dardeen at a local restaurant. The former Terre Haute Gerstmeyer and University of Kentucky great was talking about the Record Book and offered-up a story regarding how his Blackcats were upset in the 1957 Wabash Valley Tourney Championship by Greencastle, 76-74. He told me I should look into it because he recalled the Tiger Cubs hitting "a lot" of free throws in that game. Vague at first, Dardeen's details became more and more vivid.

We all have games that live with us a long time, for good reasons and for bad. Dardeen, who had a basketball career wrapped in glory, recalled this one in the latter. A mere 69 years later he still recalled his then 19-0 and number #3 state-ranked Gerstmeyer losing that 1957 title game as if it was last weekend. "A lot" of Greencastle free throws were recalled in more detail as the conversation went on as 24 for 24.

A fact that was right on the money as detailed in newspaper accounts I looked-up later that evening. Now confirmed, that 24 for 24 from the charity strip qualifies as the second best display of free throw shooting by a team in the history of our great game.

"I've never seen such free throwing shooting," exclaimed Gerstmeyer (and future Hall of Fame) Coach Howard Sharpe.

Dardeen also detailed how Greencastle played nearly a perfect game from long range. Not Record Book qualifying, but newspaper accounts also have Greencastle hitting 26 field goals for the game with only three of those coming in the paint (which were referred to as crib shots at that time.)



The Only Word for this Game is Fabulous. Simply Fabulous - Indy Star

Game Story from Front Page - Terre Haute Trib

Game Story Continued on Sports Page - Terre Haute Trib

Highest Free Throw Percentage for a Game (Min. 10 Attpts)
(B) 100% (26/26) Bloomington South vs. Columbus East 1997-98
(B) 100% (24/24) Greencastle vs. TH Gerstmeyer 1956-57
(B) 100% (22/22) Jeffersonville vs. Castle 2012-13
(B) 100% (22/22) Orleans vs. Borden 2013-14
(B) 100% (22/22) Winchester vs. Triton Central 1997-98
(B) 100% (21/21) Borden vs Cortland 1962-63
(B) 100% (21/21) Kankakee Valley vs. North Newton 1990-91
(B) 100% (20/20) Greenfield-Central vs. Shelbyville 2010-11
(B) 100% (20/20) Rivet vs.Dugger 2001-02
(B) 100% (19/19) Loogootee vs. Jasper 1980-81
(B) 100% (19/19) Princeton vs. Bosse 1951-52

Coach Roseman stepping down...what is going on?

Per Athletic Office Wes-Del girls will field a varsity girls basketball team this season.
The coach will be named this week after board meeting

Victory College Prep girls coach for 2024-25 Alphonso Blackwell

Eastern Greene girls Pending school board approval tonight - Jeremy Clark

New girls coach at Bethesda Christian -- Tyler Smith

Courtesy of good basketball gentleman, Pat McKee:


International School of Indiana confirms that it again will not field a girls basketball team in 2024-25.


Fort Wayne Canterbury plans on field a varsity girls basketball team in 2024-25. The coach is Brittani Turner ... who was hired last year and ran a sub-varsity team only in 2023-24. So 2024-25 would be her first season as the Canterbury girls' varsity coach, but not her first season at the school. I believe she has been a volleyball head coach at other schools previously, too.


Medora athletic director Cody Martin tells us that the school is not expecting to field a varsity girls basketball team in 2024-25.

Four teams were picked by our contestants in Week 3, with 1A #1 North Judson being the most popular selection. The Bluejays proved themselves worthy with their 61-0 pummeling of the South Central (Union Mills) Satellites. 4A #7 Leo, 5A #9 Bloomington South, and Evansville North were the other teams chosen by our players, and all of them were victorious in their contests. While not picked by anyone this week, the 3A #13 Mississinewa Indians amazingly recorded their third consecutive 35-0 win in defeating the Oak Hill Golden Eagles. Only one of our teams ended up on the wrong end of the score in this round as 2A #14 Southmont lost a two-overtime decision to the North Montgomery Chargers.

Ed Stachulak moved up one spot this week to take sole possession of first place with 117 points. CoachC improved four positions to move into second with 111. Nick Jenkinson is in third place with 94 points, followed by HickoryHusker and Rob Deweese in a tie for fourth with 90 each. A third of the season is now complete as we head into Week 4!

Here are the games for Week 3 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

North Judson 61, South Central (Union Mills) 0 (61 points, 6 players)
Leo 55, Norwell 13 (42 points, 2 players)
Mississinewa 35, Oak Hill 0 (35 points, no players)
Penn 35, South Bend Riley 7 (28 points, no players)
Ben Davis 38, Pike 14 (24 points, no players)
Bloomington South 37, Terre Haute North 20 (17 points, 2 players)
Evansville North 13, Evansville Harrison 3 (10 points, 2 players)
Batesville 26, South Dearborn 21 (5 points, no players)
North Montgomery 28, Southmont 22 2 OT (-6 points, no players)

Here are the standings after Week 3:

117 points
Ed Stachulak

111 points
CoachC

94 points
Nick Jenkinson

90 points
HickoryHusker
Rob Deweese

81 points
Quad Runner
ysuindy

80 points
Ranger20

69 points
hhsdawg

66 points
Mr. B.A.

46 points
TheGorilla23

44 points
kyleajolly

If you haven't already sent in your pick for Week 4, be sure to email it to shsfan475@gmail.com by 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Sep. 13!

INDIANA -- Our annual look at scoring trends in our state

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I think everyone is aware of a handful of Redskins/Indians mascots that have changed in recent years, and schools changing mascots and even colors is not unheard of, but this is an unusual one simply because of the timing and the lack of explanation.

Birdseye High School starting playing basketball in the 1917-18 season.

From that time until the end of the 1950-51 season, their teams were known as the Redbirds and their colors were red and white.

The Birdseye Sorghum Company notably included the redbirds into their logo and packaging as a nod to their hometown high school.

Throughout this era, anytime the Birdseye squad was fortunate to have a write-up in the big city newspapers in Jasper or Evansville, sure enough it was always Redbirds.

Then without any explanation, Birdseye began the 1951-52 season as the Yellow Jackets - complete with black and gold/yellow. By 1952, season and Sectional previews in newspapers were commonplace, and Yellow Jackets always referenced. No word in the papers even mentioning the switch.

I have reached out on the Birdseye Facebook page to any local historians, but to no avail. All those old enough to remember this do recall the change, but know of no explanation.

I know there are stories about schools taking on the colors of whatever happened to be available in the early days of high school sports. I know the Masonic Home High School in Franklin adopted dark red as their colors because they got a great deal on an excess amount of that fabric making its way through Franklin at that time. (Masonic colors are typically a shade of blue.) However, those sorts of stories are typically in the very beginnings of the school. I don’t know of any other schools making a wholesale change in colors and mascot in the post war period.

And no explanation? Birdseye was never a very strong team, but they still had a local following. Did nobody notice when they show up for the first home game, and the whole enchilada on the floor is different? Bizarre for sure.

I have nothing to base this on, but I have two theories.

Theory One - An administrator went on a gonzo powertrip and wanted a change. Plausible as anyone that has taught any time at all has probably seen this in some capacity. Example - Whiteland uses blue and orange on everything now and has for about 20 years. Their official colors are still blue and white, and a principal, many moons ago, put her foot down and insisted there be no orange on any high school jerseys. Switching mascots and colors would be a leap, but small town 1952? Maybe it went down like that.

Theory Two - Birdseye got a great deal on uniforms. Maybe there was a mistake in ordering, or maybe just a super discount on yellow and black jerseys. Either way, Birdseye admin saw a deal that was too good to pass up. But Yellow and black Redbirds? No way. So how about a name change too?

How many schools are not following the new limited contact rule put in place by the IHSAA this year? The rule changed this year for basketball teams to be able to go 3x a week if they want, but you get a maximum of 16 days total before your season starts. I’ve seen some schools post just their September schedule and they are going 12-14 times this month alone! Does that mean they will hardly do anything the rest of the time before practice starts or they just won’t follow the rule?