By Chris Nobbe

sports @ goBEACONnews . com

Gus Macker Success

For many , the Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournaments of the 1980 ' s and 1990 ' s were serious endeavors for young and aspiring Hoosier hoopsters as well as many youths around the country . These events

Gus Macker champs Grady Walter , Kaden Gentrup , James Hughes , and Wyatt Adams and coaches Jim Hughes and Brad Adams .

Mason Hamlett , Izaak Lozier , Carson Davidson , and Alex Probst

even have adult divisions for " old man By basketball " for those who Maxine still feel they have the skill Klump

set to compete .

The events Community came with a great deal Correspondent of fanfare and national publicity in the early years of the tournaments . axineklump . thebeacon @ yahoo . com

Although the national media attention is not as commonplace with these tournaments today , the Gus Macker 3-on-3 still draws a great crowd and plenty of participants looking to put their hoops skills to the test in many locales around the country .

On July 28 and 29 , two local teams representing South Dearborn participated in a Gus Macker tournament in Indianapolis . Both teams experienced a bit of a learning curve in the tournament with the adjustment to the style of play . The boys had to adapt from the style of basketball familiar to them from the Southeastern Indiana hardwoods to more of a street ball or alley ball mentality with a good deal more physical contact in the games . It was described as a " combination of basketball , football , and roller derby ."

Faced with the challenge , both teams were able to play well and earn some victories in the tournament through their hard work . Each day of the tournament was also different with a cool day in the 70 ' s on the first day followed

by a heated Sunday on the pavement and concrete courts .

The first team was comprised of Mason Hamlett , Izaak Lozier , Carson Davidson , and Alex Probst and was coached by Eddie Davidson . The second team consisted of Grady Walter , Kaden Gentrup , James Hughes , and Wyatt Adams and was coached by Jim Hughes and Brad Adams .

The team of Walter , Gentrup , Hughes , and Adams also came away with some hardware after fighting back through the loser ' s bracket on Sunday as they continued to improve their play with the new style of basketball . They won the championship and were awarded the Toilet Bowl trophies for winning the title through the loser ' s bracket while also being awarded the Sportsmanship Award by the referees , proving that the style of southeast Indiana basketball shone through and was appreciated despite the new style they were introduced to .

Both teams also enjoyed an Indianapolis Indians game and had some fun in the swimming pool at the

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USSSA Global World Series Champs team included Seth Gausman , Calvin Sherwood , and Sam Voegele from Batesville

JW Marriott during their stay in Indianapolis with the families . A unique sidelight of one of the teams was that Grady Walter was able to play with his cousin Kaden Gentrup who lives in Brownsburg but joined up with his cousin and the others on the team .

Batesville Boys Help Barracks to Title

The Cincinnati Barracks 14U Baseball Organization recently captured a USSSA Global World Series Championship in Gulf Shores , Alabama in a tournament that culminated on July 1 . Although the team is based out of Cincinnati , the team featured three players from the Batesville area . These players are Seth Gausman , Calvin Sherwood , and Sam Voegele .

The Barracks had such an enormous effort in the final game of the tournament that the score turned out to be 21-0 with a phenomenal series of events throughout the game . The team simply seemed to capture the moment and play their best team baseball in the biggest game of the tournament .

The tournament also included an exciting game with a team from Texas where Calvin Sherwood hit a tworun home run with the score tied 7-7 to win in walk-off fashion and advance in the tournament .

The team completed a spring and summer season which saw them go 58-4 . Beginning with workouts for the team which began during the winter , the team celebrated great success throughout the season . Congratulations go out to Coach Wayne Fields and the rest of the Barracks Baseball Organization on a tremendous season and fine championship at the end .

Not only the stands but the entire stadium was packed for the renewal of the rivalry of Lawrenceburg and East Central .

High School Pigskin Rivalry Renewed

Meador , Ballart , Crocker , Behlmer , Brookbank , Stonefield . These are names that are well known and respected in southeastern Indiana football circles as well as around the state of Indiana . Many men probably credit some of these coaches for having a profound impact on their lives , for these men have held the reins of the two most successful football programs in the area during the better part of the past 40 years .

During that time , the Lawrenceburg

Tigers and East Central Trojans have each enjoyed great success on the gridiron . Both programs hold claim to state titles with Lawrenceburg having two and East Central one along with a pair of runner-up finishes for both schools as well .

East Central is two years removed from their most recent state finals berth while Lawrenceburg enjoyed that honor last season . Despite all of this , the two programs had not faced each other on the field in a regular season contest since 2012 , which resulted in the EIAC being split into two divisions . However , the rivalry was renewed when the two teams met on August 18 at Dick Meador Stadium and Neary Field in Lawrenceburg in what resulted in one fantastic football game with the East Central Trojans scoring two late touchdowns to claim a 15-14 victory .

On a weekend when Ohio football was still a week away , this matchup was arguably the best game of the opening weekend for the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown , and it lived up to its billing . The stadium was fervent and alive with fans of both teams completely encircling the high school field . Throughout much of the game , the defenses on both sides played solid football to stifle two young offenses . However , as the game progressed , each team ’ s offense was able to find ways to sustain drives and come up with big plays .

Lawrenceburg ’ s offense got off to a solid start in the first half with two drives inside East Central territory only to be stifled and turned over on downs on each one , but they were finding a way to effectively move the ball which would help them find the endzone in the second half .

East Central ’ s offense was able to strike first in the game with a short pass from Alex Maxwell to Jake Seiwert late in the second quarter who turned the play into a long gain just before the half . After three separate penalty-ridden plays against both teams , the Lawrenceburg defense was able to hold Lawrenceburg inside their own five to force a 20-yard field goal by Caden Browndyke to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead with three seconds left before the half . The second half began with an errant kickoff by

Lawrenceburg ’ s Mason Parris which resulted in a Lawrenceburg recovery of the football . The Tigers used the momentum of that play to carry a drive that resulted in a 1-yard run by Hunter Privett at 6:11 in the third quarter to make it 7-3 after a Payton Seig extra point .

The Tiger momentum continued on both sides of the ball as they again stopped East Central ’ s offense and managed another touchdown of their own with a run from Austin Weimer with 6:34 left in the game . Another PAT from Seig made it 14-3 at that late stage of the game .

East Central then began to spread out the Lawrenceburg defense , which features allstate linebacker Mason Parris and a formidable 8 in the box , with motions and formations which helped Alex Maxwell find Logan Storie for a seam pass that resulted in a long touchdown at the 5:50 mark . Lawrenceburg was able to thwart the two-point conversion to leave the score 14-9 .

East Central was able to stop the next Lawrenceburg drive and get the ball back with just over four minutes remaining in the game . Continuing to spread out the Tigers , the Trojans got another big play from Storie and a touchdown run by Maxwell with 1:39 left in the game . The two-point conversion was again turned back by the Lawrenceburg defense , but the score was now 15-14 in favor of the Trojans . The game would be sealed by a Devon Donawerth interception on the next drive .

The MVP ’ s of the game for the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown were the quarterbacks for each team , Alex Maxwell of the Trojans and Austin Weimer of the Tigers .

Regardless of the final score , this game was a wonderful high school football game to witness . Although this was not a conference match up ( as the EIAC remains a two-division conference ) the rivalry of these two traditional powers seems emphatically renewed . Coach Ryan Knigga of Lawrenceburg and Coach Justin Roden of East Central each seem poised to take their place with the aforementioned coaches for the same impact and continuance of the tradition of the two programs and this rivalry for years to come .