Darlington High School Building

Darlington High School Building

Friday, July 29, 2011

Basketball and football teams of 1908


History of Darlington Basketball
The Early Days
            Darlington High School had a long and storied basketball history.  According to John “Butch” Dale, basketball was introduced at Darlington in 1906-07.  Its story is similar to that of the other schools.  Mr. Harry Wright, the principal at that time, mentioned to the boys the basic rules of the game.  Interest was stirred up enough that the boys went out and bought a basketball and began playing a crude adaption of the game on a rough outdoor court.  Trees were used a goals, and when they hit the body of the tree below the first limb, one point was tallied.
            When the first actual basketball goals were erected a short time later, those eager schoolboys thought that it would be virtually impossible to throw the ball through the hoop.  After hours and hours of practice, however, the determined gang discovered that putting the ball in the basket was not nearly as hard as it looked, and they were ready for their first interscholastic game.  According to an account in the 1910 Darlington Yearbook, one player related:
            “Our first game was with Bowers High School, and we came out victorious.  Then we thought  that we had a State Championship team.  The next Friday, we played them in a return game, and that is where we met our Waterloo.  This did not discourage us at all, and we began practicing all the harder for a game with Linden.  Linden came over and thought that they would walk all over us…they did.”
            These three games were played in the fall of 1906 on outdoor courts, and after that the cold Hoosier winter weather moved in and forced the team to drop the game in favor of schoolwork for a while.  During the latter part of January, the boys decided that nothing was going to stop them from playing, and they managed to scrape up enough money to rent a local town building to play in.
            “It was a great expense to get everything ready, but we got squared away, and the first game was with a team from Crawfordsville, which we defeated.  This set the people crazy over the game.  Our next game was with Lebanon, and the hall was filled to its fullest capacity, and the excitement ran high on the part of the rooters, because the D.H.S. team came out victorious.”
            During the 1907-08 school year, the Darlington delegation decided that they needed a coach that could develop and bring out the talents of the players.  The captain called up Big Bill Sprow, “one of the greatest basketball centers Wabash ever had,” and pleaded with him to become Darlington’s coach.  Sprow accepted and, “was very eager to assist (us) because he was very poor and needed all the money he could possibly get.”  Their new coach took the team in hand and began to work out the finer points of the game; he also told them to schedule games with teams that had a good reputation and not to play the “little minor teams that did not amount to anything.”
            The team received encouragement from the teachers, students and residents of the town.  The faculty “would make short talks to the student body to attend the game in a bunch and root for the home team, and cheer the players when they made a good play, and let them know that they were helping win the game by their loyal spirit.”  The Darlington squad played every team that would play them, including Wabash College, which they defeated 25-14.  Other opponents included Lafayette, Brazil, Indianapolis Shortridge, and DePauw, to name a few.



Darlington HS Scoring records

Career                       Points            Career           Ave.
Rich Douglas             1296               86                    15.1   
Don Threlkeld           1246               64                    19.5
Dan Nichols              975                 68                    14.3
John “Butch” Dale     925                 61                    15.2
Bob Mullen               832                 65                    12.8
Jerry Gick                 823                 57                    14.4
Bill Douglas               750                 47                    16.0
Darrell Maxwell         722                 38                    15.0
Terry Cain                 720                 44                    16.4
Winston Wilson          698                 54                    12.9

Season                      Year               Points            Games           Ave.
Terry Cain                 1970-71         543                 21                    25.9
Don Threlkeld           1968-69         493                 25                    19.7
Jerry Gick                 1962-63         467                 23                    20.3
Rich Douglas             1969-70         457                 23                    19.9
Bob Mullen               1957-58         457                 22                    20.7
Darrell Maxwell         1953-54         444                 23                    19.3
Don Threlkeld           1967-68         434                 20                    21.7
Dan Nichols              1968-69         412                 25                    16.3
John “Butch” Dale     1965-66         396                 20                    19.8
Dan Nichols              1969-70         391                 23                    17.0

Game                         Year               Points            Opponent
Terry Cain                 1970-71         39                    Williamsport
Don Threlkeld           1967-68         36                    Coal Creek Central
John “Butch” Dale     1965-66         35                    East  Tipp
Rich Douglas             1968-69         35                    Roachdale
Don Threlkeld           1968-69         35                    East Tipp
Bob Mullen               1957-58         34                    Waynetown
Jerry Gick                 1962-63         33                    East Tipp
Dan Nichols              1969-70         33                    Granville Wells
Tom Thompson         1949-50         32                    New Ross
Al Wray                    1958-59         32                    Waveland
           


DARLINGTON (RED WARRIORS) INDIANS

Coaches records

Bill Sprow                                             1907-1908
Harter (Deac) Walters                         1908-1909
L.L. Martin                                             1913-1915
Ed Miller                                                1915-1923
Ray Bowman                                        1923-1925
Ollie Gregory                                        1925-1927
Ed Miller                                                1927-1930
Lester Tudor                                         1930-1934
J.C. LaFollette                                      1934-1935
Alex Cox                                                1935-1939                   4                      45-22
Herb Brammel                                      1939-1940                   1                      17-7
Loren Joseph                                        1940-1941                   1                      16-9
Bill Goff                                                  1941-1942                   1                      12-10
Ed Miller                                                1942-1944                   2                      12-24
Raymond Brown                                   1944-1945                   1                      9-9
John Cash                                             1945-1946                   1                      17-5
Loren Joseph                                        1946-1948                   2                      24-17
Bob Gibbs                                             1948-1952                   4                      42-39
Pete Irwin                                               1952-1954                   2                      33-13
John Deere                                            1954-1955                   1                      6-14
Al Niswonger                                         1955-1959                   4                      64-22
Emerson Mutterspaugh                        1959-1964                   5                      53-54
Galen Smith                                           1964-1968                   4                      49-35
Dave Nicholson                                     1968-1970                   2                      46-2
Gene Morrison                                      1970-1971                   1                      18-4


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