Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2020. We are republishing it as part of our coverage of IHSAA boys basketball finals.
I put out a question to readers on social media about a month ago: “What was the best team in IHSAA boys basketball history NOT to win a state championship?”
A flood of responses followed. There are some interesting stories here, and certainly a lot of teams worth mentioning. Following is the pre-class basketball era (before 1998). I will do another list from the class basketball era. I put together a top-10, then there are 10 more below and a list of other submissions. Here goes:
Muncie Central, 1959-60
On the afternoon of March 19, 1960, after his Bloomington team was dismantled 102-66 by Muncie Central in the state finals, coach Keith Rhoades said this, as reported by IndyStar’s Bob Collins: “I don’t see how anybody can beat them if they play like that.”
Collins wrote, “It may have been the finest game ever played in Indiana’s great state tourney, which is 50 years old this year.” Ron Bonham scored 40 points, setting a state finals record. John Dampier added 27. Muncie Central, top-ranked and 28-0, was considered a solid favorite going into the title game that night against East Chicago Washington, making its first appearance in the state championship and coming off a 62-61 win over Fort Wayne Central in the other afternoon game.
It did not go according to script. Muncie Central, seeking its fifth state championship, was dominated in the fourth quarter, losing 75-59. “If there was a genuine upset in the tournament,” wrote IndyStar’s Jep Cadou Jr., “this was it.” The Senators, coached by John Baratto, were led by Trester Award winner Bob Cantrell, Ron Divjak, Jim Bakos and Phil Dawkins.
Muncie Central buried its opponents by an average of 33 points a game through the regional and had not played a game closer than 18 points until edging Tech (48-44) and Madison (72-64) in the semistate. The Bearcats were wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the state — until the final game.
The 6-5 Bonham went on to win Mr. Basketball and starred at Cincinnati, where he was a two-time All-American, before playing two seasons with the Boston Celtics and one with the Indiana Pacers. Jim Davis, a 6-9 center, was a star at Colorado before playing eight seasons in the NBA. Bill Dinwiddie, a junior in 1960, later played four seasons in the NBA. Dampier, a senior in 1960, went on to be a standout at Miami (Fla.) alongside Rick Barry. Jim Nettles, another senior starter, played football at Wisconsin and eight years in the NFL as a defensive back with the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams.
“It wasn’t to be,” Muncie Central coach John Longfellow said after the loss to East Chicago Washington. “They were sharp, we weren’t. We just got beat.”
Marion, 1968-69
The 1969 final four field was the winningest group in the 59-year history of the tournament with just one loss between the four teams – Indianapolis Washington, Marion, Gary Tolleston and Vincennes Lincoln.
Second-ranked Marion was 27-0 when it took the Butler Fieldhouse floor on March 22, 1969. Jack Colescott’s Giants were not as dominant statistically as its opponent that day, a No. 1 Washington team led by George McGinnis and Steve Downing that came in averaging 90.4 points per game. The Giants were balanced, led by 6-7 Joe Sutter, 6-1 guards Danny Gunn and Jerry Townsend, 6-5 senior Jovon Price and 6-7 all-conference football player Brent Myers — all seniors.
“It’s going to take good man-to-man defense and that’s been our strength all year,” Colescott said before the game.
Marion led by as many as 12 and had a 52-42 lead going into the fourth quarter. Jim Arnold and Wayne Pack heated up for the Continentals from the outside in the fourth quarter, rallying Washington back. With 24 seconds left, Downing swished a twisting 12-footer from the baseline to put Washington ahead, 61-60. Marion’s final attempt, a contested 10-foot shot by Townsend, was deflected by Downing.
“I’m just sick,” Colescott said after the game. “I didn’t think Washington could hit from the outside like that.”
Washington went on to win the state championship later that night against Gary Tolleston, 79-76. Marion, which was gunning for its first state title since 1926, would finally get it six years later. Ironically, that team was coached by Bill Green, who was on the winning end of that Washington-Marion state finals game in 1969.
New Albany, 1979-80
The second-ranked Bulldogs were the highest-ranked team remaining in the 1980 final four, entering with a 26-0 record. But there was no prohibitive favorite in a field that also included Andrean (25-1), Broad Ripple (27-2) and Marion (25-2).
New Albany was a balanced and tall team, starting three 6-8 players in Phil Benninger, Dave Bennett and Richie Johnson, who would go on to star at Evansville and play professionally in the CBA. Jeff Stoops and Mark Moody were the other starters. Coach Jack Ford also good size coming off the bench.
It was New Albany and Broad Ripple that survived one of the wildest state finals afternoons in tournament history. New Albany survived an Andrean comeback for a 69-68 win when Andrean missed two free throws with no time remaining, while Broad Ripple defeated Marion 71-69 on Stacey Toran’s 57-foot heave at the buzzer.
Bennett scored 30 points in the championship game, but New Albany fought an uphill battle most of the night against Broad Ripple and could not get closer than five points in the fourth quarter.
“They went out like champions like they’ve been all year long,” Ford said of his team.
Bennett and Moody, both juniors, finished with more than 1,000 career points the following season. Bennett was named an Indiana All-Star in 1981.
Cathedral, 1981-82
The Irish were 27-2 and ranked third in the state entering the 1982 final four with losses only to city rivals Washington and Arlington.
The Irish were led by 6-10 senior Ken Barlow, an Indiana All-Star, and 6-3 junior Scott Hicks, a 1983 Indiana All-Star. Shelton Smith, then a sophomore guard, went to start at Wisconsin. Coach Tom O’Brien was without three-year starter Tim Hoffman, a 6-4 senior who was out with mononucleosis for the semistate and state finals.
Scott Skiles and Plymouth got in the way of Cathedral’s march to a potential state title. Skiles scored 30 points in Plymouth’s 62-59 victory. The Irish hurt themselves as well with 7-for-19 shooting from the free-throw line. Barlow finished with 22 points and Hicks added 18. Both would go on to play at Notre Dame.
“But that wasn’t the only thing,” O’Brien said after the game. “We just didn’t play a very good basketball game. We didn’t move the ball. We didn’t get enough guys in the flow of the game. We certainly didn’t get the ball enough to Barlow and Hicks.”
Plymouth went on to win a 75-74 double-overtime thriller over Gary Roosevelt in the championship game as Skiles scored 39 points.
Concord, 1987-88
Coach Jim Hahn’s Minutemen were 28-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state going into the state championship game on the night of March 26, 1988, to face top-ranked Muncie Central.
Shawn Kemp, a 6-10 senior and Parade All-American, was the marquee man for Concord. Kemp would finish his high school career in the top-10 in the state in scoring with 2,134 points. But Concord also had rising star in sophomore guard Jamar Johnson, along with senior guard Steve Larkin and forwards Bill Mutch and Maceo Sharp to round out a formidable starting lineup.
But Concord’s bid to become the state’s seventh undefeated state champion fell short. Well short. Muncie Central, led by seniors Chandler Thompson, Sam Long, Victor Young and Cedric Vanleer, rolled to a 76-53 win in the state championship game. Long scored a career-high 29 points and added 15 rebounds and Thompson added 21 points as the Bearcats won a record eighth state championship.
Kemp finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, but fouled out with less than four minutes left and Concord trailing by 11 points.
“Give Muncie Central all the credit,” Hahn said after the game. “I think tonight they definitely showed they are the No. 1 team in the state.”
Anderson, 1992-93
Anderson, ranked No. 1 in the state, was looking to send coach Norm Held off as a state champion. But despite 47 points from Kojak Fuller, the Indians were upended 71-62 by Ben Davis in the semistate final at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“We knew that one player could not beat our team,” Ben Davis coach Steve Witty said after the game.
Damon Frierson, who would go on to win Mr. Basketball two years later, finished with 19 points and 6-8 Damon Parks also had 19 for the Giants, who dominated Anderson on the boards. Anderson senior Tyson Brit, who went on to play at Xavier, missed the week of practice leading up to the game and did not score.
Anderson finished 26-3 with its other losses to Mt. Carmel (Ill.) and Marion. Fuller was later named Mr. Basketball. It was the start of a special run for Ben Davis, which lost in the state championship to Jeffersonville, but made final four appearances each of the next three years, winning it all in 1995 and ’96.
Michigan City Rogers, 1983-84
Michigan City Rogers was ranked No. 1 in the state and 28-0 going into the final game of the Fort Wayne Semistate against Warsaw on March 17, 1984. Delray Brooks, who would be named co-Mr. Basketball with Anderson’s Troy Lewis, was averaging 33.5 points going into the semistate.
Brooks struggled in the first half and was saddled with foul trouble early in the second half against Warsaw, but still finished with 28 points with 13 coming in a hotly-contested fourth quarter. Brooks tied the score with a three-point play with 13 seconds left. But Rob Randels dished to Marty Lehmann with two seconds left to give Warsaw a 75-73 lead. Brooks’ game-tying attempt at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced off.
“We could not have played any better,” Michigan City Rogers coach Earl Cunningham said that night. “We have no excuses. Warsaw played an outstanding game and deserved to win.”
Warsaw, led by Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose, went on to win its first and only state title.
Brooks, whose 970 points that season still ranks eighth in state history, went on to play at Indiana before transferring to Providence and playing in the 1987 Final Four.
South Bend Adams, 1978-79
The top-ranked Eagles were 24-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state going into the South Bend Regional, where the Adams-Michigan City Rogers winner was a heavy favorite to emerge over Valparaiso or Oregon-Davis.
Adams was led by 6-6 senior Leroy Sutton, a first-team all-state selection, along with 6-8 senior Mark Herron, 6-5 senior Lynn Mitchem and 6-2 senior guard Chicken Jackson. The Eagles navigated a tough schedule, winning the Hall of Fame Classic and defeating all comers in a season when four South Bend teams cracked the top-10. Sutton, who went on to play at Arkansas, and Mitchem (1,798 points at Butler), were both Indiana All-Stars.
But it was not meant to be. Michigan City Rogers, ranked No. 5, upended South Bend Adams 58-56 in overtime in the regional final as sophomore Dave Palombizio scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Michigan City Rogers won the regional, but lost in the first game of the semistate the following week to Marion, 70-64. Muncie Central won the state title for the second consecutive year.
Kokomo, 1961-62
No. 1 Kokomo was 26-1 and riding a 23-game winning streak into the state finals, looking to become the seventh team in history to repeat as state champs. Led by 6-7 senior Jim “Goose” Ligon, the Wildkats were a solid bet with a senior-dominated team for coach Joe Platt.
Kokomo could not hold a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter against East Chicago Washington, falling 74-73 on two Ed Perez free throws with 37 seconds remaining. Ligon scored 25 points, but his shot with nine seconds remaining was blocked by 6-8 Rich Mason. The Wildkats could not stop Bobby Miles, who led Washington with 32 points.
East Chicago Washington was unable to secure its second state title in three years, losing 84-81 to Evansville Bosse in the state championship game.
Kokomo would not make another appearance in the state finals until 1989.
Columbus, 1963-64
This was actually the second of back-to-back undefeated regular seasons for coach Bill Stearman’s Bull Dogs, who were 27-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state entering the state finals at Butler Fieldhouse on March 21, 1964.
Columbus was led by 6-6 senior Jerry Newsom, 6-1 senior Steve Hollenbeck, 5-11 senior Vic Thixton, 6-4 senior John Partin and 6-1 senior Rick Stoner. The Bull Dogs scored 100 or more points nine times and came in averaging 93.1 points per game with an average winning margin of 36.4 points per game.
Newsom scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but was saddled with foul trouble all game as Columbus lost 71-67 to Huntington in the afternoon game of the state finals. Lafayette Jeff beat Huntington 58-55 that night for the state championship.
Newsom and Hollenbeck went on to star in college at Indiana State.
10 more of note
Valparaiso, 1993-94: The Vikings, led by Mr. Basketball Bryce Drew and senior Tim Bishop, brought a No. 1 ranking and 28-0 record into the state championship game against Lee Nailon and underdog South Bend Clay. Bishop scored 35 and Drew 34, but South Bend Clay rallied for a 93-88 overtime win. The difference was Clay sophomore Jaraan Cornell, who hit the game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key at the end of regulation and finished with 30 points. Clay trailed by eight points with 45 seconds remaining in regulation.
Merrillville, 1994-95: The Pirates were ranked No. 2 in the state with a shiny 27-1 record going into the state championship game against No. 1 Ben Davis at the RCA Dome. Merrillville, led by 6-8 T.J. Lux, 6-7 Brett Fedak and 6-8 Jamaal Davis had the size to matchup with the Giants. But Courtney James made two free throws with 11.2 seconds remaining and Ben Davis prevailed, 58-57. Merrillville backers still point to the free-throw disparity: Ben Davis was 18-for-24 and Merrillville 1-for-3.
Richmond, 1987-88: Led by senior Woody Austin, the state’s leading scorer at 34 points a game, the Red Devils were a hungry team after state runner-up showings in 1985 and ’87 (losing to Marion both seasons). Richmond won the North Central Conference for the first time in 44 years and was ranked No. 1 from the beginning of the season to February. But the road ended at the first game of the semistate against Ben Davis at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Ben Davis shot 71% in the second half of a 69-61 win, led by Henry Williams’ 22 points. Austin, who won Mr. Basketball, was held to 13 points. Ben Davis lost that night to Muncie Central, the eventual state champ. Richmond finished 25-3.
Jeffersonville 1991-92: The Red Devils were 26-2 and ranked sixth in the state before falling to Richmond, 94-92 in double overtime, in the afternoon game of the state finals. But with juniors Sherron Wilkerson and B.J. Flynn and sophomores Cory Norman and Brien Hanley returning, the seeds were planted for the 1993 state championship team.
Concord, 1989-90: Two years after Concord’s Shawn Kemp-led team fell short in the state championship, the 1990 Minutemen — the No. 1-ranked team — lost 63-60 to Damon Bailey and Bedford North Lawrence in the state championship game in front of more than 41,000 fans at the Hoosier Dome. Concord, led by senior guard Jamar Johnson, finished 27-1.
Jeffersonville, 1934-35: Jeffersonville was undefeated going into the 1935 state finals, which was then played as a 16-team tournament at Butler Fieldhouse. Jeffersonville rolled into the finals with wins over Montgomery, Michigan City Elston and Richmond, but was upset by Anderson 23-17 in the state championship game. Jeffersonville, which defeated Anderson 30-28 during the season, finished 31-1.
Evansville Bosse, 1981-82: Bosse was undefeated and ranked No. 1 going into the state finals against Gary Roosevelt. All that kept Bosse from a title was a last-second shot by Roosevelt’s Renaldo Thomas in a 58-57 thriller. Bosse was led by Derrick Dowell (star at USC), Myron Christian (Kentucky Wesleyan) and Evie Waddell (Duquesne).
Rushville, 1975-76: Rushville made its first trip to the final four a memorable experience, knocking off top-ranked East Chicago Washington 69-59 in the afternoon game of the state finals. Coach Larry Angle’s team, led by 6-5 senior Rick Goins and 6-8 senior Brad Miley, was nipped 82-76 by Marion in the championship game. The Lions, who defeated Richmond and Perry Meridian in the semistate, finished 26-2. Three years later, Rushville would win the regional again but lose to Muncie Central in the semistate.
Broad Ripple, 1985-86: The Rockets, led by Mr. Basketball candidate Mark Lenoir, were 26-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state, poised to the join the 1980 team as state champs. What happened? A poor shooting night and a more-than-capable opponent in the regional championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse doomed the Rockets, who trailed by 20 points in the fourth quarter of a 78-70 loss. Warren Central, led by Craig Looper (29 points) and Jeff George (19 points), came one win from the final four, losing 73-65 to Shelbyville in the semistate.
Indianapolis Washington, 1994-95: Washington was in its last year as a school and had one of the state’s top teams, led by a backcourt of Jack Owens and Robert Williams with Marcus Reedy, Adrian Floyd and Chris Sutton filling out the starting lineup. Washington was 24-1 and ranked sixth in the state going into its highly-awaited Hinkle Regional showdown with No. 1 Ben Davis. In front of a packed house, Ahmed Bellamy’s last-second 3-pointer gave Ben Davis a thrilling 79-77 win over Washington. Ben Davis went on to win the state championship.
Other teams mentioned by readers: 1953-54 Crispus Attucks; 1977-78 Washington; 1980-81 Marion; 1993-94 Muncie Central; 1991-92 Lafayette Jeff; 1989-90 Evansville Bosse; 1989-90 Gary Roosevelt; 1953-54 Muncie Central; 1973-74 Anderson; 1976-77 East Chicago Washington; 1984-85 L&M; 1958-59 Muncie Central; 1965-66 Howe; 1964-65 Gary Roosevelt; 1981-82 South Bend LaSalle; 1969-70 Loogootee; 1969-70 Carmel; 1972-73 South Bend Adams; 1988-89 Marion; 1982-83 Evansville Bosse; 1995-96 New Albany; 1990-91 Bloomington North; 1989-90 Lawrence North; 1989-90 Southport; 1960-61 Manual; 1989-90 Pike; 1988-89 Evansville Harrison; 1972-73 Shortridge; 1967-68 Shortridge; 1979-80 Marion; 1989-90 South Bend Riley; 1980-81 Madison Heights; 1962-63 Columbus; 1964-65 Gary Froebel; 1982-83 Anderson; 1988-89 Kokomo; 1977-78 Lawrence North; 1989-90 Martinsville; 1989-90 Northfield; 1985-86 Southridge; 1965-66 South Bend Central; 1966-67 Michigan City Elston; 1967-68 East Chicago Roosevelt; 1971-72 Michigan City Elston; 1974-75 Hammond; 1975-76 East Chicago Washington; 1977-78 Fort Wayne North; 1976-77 Jeffersonville; 1946-47 Terre Haute Garfield
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at 317-444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Best IHSAA basketball teams not to win a state title (pre-class era)
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
