half rather than the normal forty-five
minute excursion for the fans, but that
didn’t keep the fans from coming back
the following evening to witness the
Warrior’s next challenge.
Another huge Fort Wayne school,
Northrop, was the only thing that
stood between the Warriors and a
Fort Wayne regional championship.
Northrop, ranked eighth in the state
and compiling an impressive 22-2, represented another huge challenge for,
as WOWO sportscaster Art Saltsberg
described, “tiny” Westview.
The Warriors stayed with the
mighty Bruins from Northrop, trailing by just two points at the end of the
first quarter. The second quarter found
both teams putting 24 points on the
board and Northrop taking a 38-36
lead into their locker room at halftime.
Northrop stretched their lead to five
points at the end of three periods. In
the fourth quarter the Warriors came
out with their adrenalin flowing at full
force outscoring the Bruins 13-8 to
tie the game after regulation. Junior,
Ron Kauffman had hit a 15-foot jump
shot on the right side to tie the score
with just six seconds remaining in the
fourth quarter. The game then went to
overtime and the Warriors were without Yoder, who had fouled out earlier.
Northrop scored just three points in
the overtime, but that was enough
because they limited the Warriors to
just two and the Bruins defeated the
Warriors by the narrowest of margins
64-63. The “magic” season had ended
for the Warriors just two points shy of
a spot in the Fort Wayne Semi-State.
Gary Yoder set a Fort Wayne
Regional scoring record by tallying 63
points in the two tournament games,
a record that had stood for 14 years.
Yoder went on to have a very successful collegiate career at the University
of Cincinnati. Since that first sectional
crown in 1973, the Warrior boys have
gone on to capture 15* more sectional
championships, eight before the class
system was implemented.
* This total was as of our publishing date for this month’s issue.
Hoosier Hysteria
More Championship Team Photos on our website!
Westview Boys
Basketball
Championships
Sectional (16):
1973, 1976, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1989,
1991, 1992, 1994, 1999 (2A), 2000
(2A), 2006 (2A), 2008 (2A), 2009
(2A), 2011(2A), 2012(2A)
Regional (4):
1999(2A), 2000(2A),
2006(2A), 2008(2A)
Semi-State (2):
1999(2A), 2000(2A)
State Championships (2):
1999(2A), 2000(2A)
Westview Boys
Championship
Coaches
Dennis Foster (3 Sectionals):
1973, 1976, 1979
Gerald Eash (6 Sectionals): 1986,
1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994
Troy Neeley
(2 Sectionals): 1999(2A), 2000(2A);
(2 Regionals): 1999(2A), 2000(2A);
(2 Semi-States): 1999(2A), 2000(2A);
(2 States): 1999(2A), 2000(2A)
Rob Yoder
(5 Sectionals): 2006(2A), 2008(2A),
2009(2A), 2011(2A), 2012(2A);
(2 Regionals): 2006(2A), 2007(2A)
2000 State Champs (2A)
The Hometown Treasure · March ‘13 · pg 17