Westview:
Home of Champions
by Harold D. Gingerich
Never again will there be a true state champion in Indiana high school basketball.
Gone are the days of gathering around the radio to hear every word of the play by play
coming from legendary broadcaster Hilliard Gates. Never again will there be a miracle
like the one in 1954 when tiny Milan, with an enrollment of 161, brought down the
mighty Bearcats of Muncie Central to claim the state title.
It’s the kind of thing that
movies are made of: movies like
“Hoosiers”. The introduction of
class basketball in 1998 changed
Indiana and Westview High School
sports forever. While basketball
has been the primary focal point,
Westview High School was already
the home of individual state
champions.
In 1925, James Naismith, the
inventor of the game of basketball,
came to Indiana for basketball
state finals. He was there along
with 15,000 other fans who were
all infected with what we know as
“Hoosier Hysteria”. Naismith was
so impressed that he later wrote
that while the game of basketball
was invented in
Massachusetts,
“basketball really
had its origins in
Indiana, which
remains the center
of the sport.”
And from 1911 to
1997, Indiana was
unique in its single
class basketball
tournament.
The four week
continued on next page
Above: “This Football Team Champions Northeastern, Ind. 1910. Topeka. Left: “Topeka at LaGrange 1909 Albert is being Referee”
Below: “Topeka at Lima 1909”
The Hometown Treasure · Feb. ‘12 · pg 15