The Hornets were 26-1 in 1950-51 winning the County and Sectional and were Regional Runner-up. They even got to eat out.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
1951-52 basketball team
Bill Greve was a member of the 1951-52 basketball team. He later played for Ray Eddy at Purdue University.
1945-46 basketball team
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| Bob Gooding was a member of the 1946-47 basketball team and leading scorer in the County with a 13.3 average |
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| Cliff Davis coached the Hornets in the late 40's and early 50's and won two County tourneys and two sectionals. He also coached at Linden and Waynetown. |
Charlie Arvin was a member of the 1945-46 team. He later played freshman basketball at Indiana State Teacher's College.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A short history of Waveland Hornets basketball
We need to take an in-depth look at these small schools which went together to make up the consolidation in southern Montgomery County and then bring the success of the Mountie program into focus. It seems that the best place to start is with the most successful program in the schools that would make up the South unit. As mentioned before the Waveland Hornets won six sectional tournaments and four County crowns. There were many outstanding players from Waveland including Charlie Arvin, Bob Gooding, Lowell Harbison and Don Priebe from the 40’s, John Miles, Richard “Red” Smith, Bill Wheeler and Bob Harbison from the 50’s, and Herschel Tague, Don Evans, and Mike Mitchell from the 60’s. Mike Mitchell ended up with 1473 career points placing him second to Bill Greve with 1777 points. The Hornets boasted six players who scored over 1,000 points in their careers. Bill Greve and Mike Mitchell were followed by Bill Wheeler with 1065 points, Keith Greve with 1048 points, Herschel Tague with 1035 points, and Phil Myers with 1014 points. The Greve name is associated most frequently with Hornet basketball. Raymond and Verna Greve raised four basketball playing sons and four daughters on their little farm outside of Waveland in the area which is now the north end of Lake Waveland. The daughters were Virginia, Edna Mae, Joan and Phyllis. Every time the Hornets won a tournament, County or Sectional, there was a Greve in the lineup. It all started with Leonard in 1935 when the Hornets won their first sectional. Leonard was joined by his brother Ray, Jr. on the 1936-37 team, but had to watch Crawfordsville win the sectional. Leonard graduated that year and went back to his Dad’s farm to help out before settling down on a farm near Russellville and joined his father-in-law Paul Hester in an International Harvester Implement business. Ray went on to play on the sectional championship team of 1939, then traveled up highway 47 to attend Wabash College and embarked on a Hall of Fame career there. Ray spent five years in the service in WWII and then returned home to operate a Ford Tractor implement business in Greencastle. It would be ten years before another Waveland team would win a County or sectional championship. In 1949, Brother Keith appeared on the scene and the Hornets won the sectional. In 1950, they won the County and in 1951, Keith’s senior year, they won the County and the sectional. That was a rare feat in Montgomery County basketball and had not been done since Ralph Capehart’s Waynetown Gladiators turned the trick two years in a row. The Glads won it in 1943-44 and 1944-45. It was always difficult for a County team to win the County and the sectional in the same year because “big, bad Crawfordsville” hosted the sectional and every County school was gunning for the winner of the County that year in addition to having the prospect of upsetting the Athenians and gaining eternal glory for their school. As a matter of fact, only three County schools won the County Tournament and the sectional tourney in the same year. The aforementioned Waynetown Gladiators and the Waveland Hornets were joined by the New Ross Bluejays of 1955-56 and 1960-61. In its illustrious basketball history, Waveland won 6 Sectional championships (1935,1939, 1949, 1951, 1952, and 1953) and were runnersup 5 times (1958, 1963, 1864, 1967, and 1968). The Hornets won the County Tourney 4 times (1950, 1951, 1953, and 1955) and were runnersup 6 times (1933, 1938, 1945, 1954, 1958, and 1971)
Keith was followed by little brother Bill (he was the tallest of the Greve brothers at 6”4’). Bill led the Hornets to a sectional championship in 1952 and helped win the rare double of County and sectional in 1952-53. Bill played for four different coaches in his career including the legendary Cliff Davis then Jim Hannah, William “Doc” Bolton, and Jerry Huntsman. He finished up his career at Waveland by leading the Hornets to their fourth and final county crown in 1955. The County schools ran into the Athenian buzz-saw in 1955 as Jerry DeWitt led the Athenians to the semi-state that year. Keith took his basketball talents to Butler after graduation and had a sparkling career; he was
a four–year starter for the legendary coach Tony Hinkle. Keith Greve was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. His bio reads as follows:
“Keith Greve…Three year starter for Waveland…leading scorer and MVP junior and senior years… four year starter for Hall of Famer Tony Hinkle…leading scorer sophomore and junior years…MVP 1953…all Indiana Collegiate Conference First Team three times…received Hilton U. Brown Mental Attitude award senior year…All Decade team 1950’s…inducted into Butler Athletic Hall of Fame 1999…Head coach for 15 years at New Ross, Danville and Greensburg, then Athletic Director at Greensburg for 27 years.”
Of special note to South Montgomery basketball fans was his coaching record at New Ross. In four years, the Blue Jays won the County, Sectional and Regional in 1960-61 and the sectional in 1961-62. His teams at New Ross had a three-year record of 67-6.
Bill Greve went to Purdue after graduation and had a great career in the Big Ten. During his four years on the varsity, the Boilermakers under Ray Eddy had a record of 60-28 and twice finished second in the conference. Bill played with Purdue legends Joe Sexson, Denny Blind, Wilson (Jake) Eison, Willie Merriweather, and Harvey Austin. After graduating form Purdue, Bill worked for Central Soya, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Upjohn before starting a string of Jimmy-John restaurants in the Midwest. He now lives at Indianapolis on Lockerbie Square.
Bill was voted the Outstanding Senior Athlete for Montgomery County in 1955. All four Greve brothers were inducted into the Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 providing a fitting ending to the Greve legacy in the Southern part of the County.
Even today, Greve descendants are bringing notice to Waveland and Montgomery County as Edna Mae’s grandson, Garrett Jones who was born in Harvey, IL, made a big hit with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season by coming up to the parent team from Indianapolis of the International League. Brought up in July, Jones hit 21 home runs, drove in 44 and had a batting average of .293. The names may change, but the apple never falls very far from the tree.
Keith was followed by little brother Bill (he was the tallest of the Greve brothers at 6”4’). Bill led the Hornets to a sectional championship in 1952 and helped win the rare double of County and sectional in 1952-53. Bill played for four different coaches in his career including the legendary Cliff Davis then Jim Hannah, William “Doc” Bolton, and Jerry Huntsman. He finished up his career at Waveland by leading the Hornets to their fourth and final county crown in 1955. The County schools ran into the Athenian buzz-saw in 1955 as Jerry DeWitt led the Athenians to the semi-state that year. Keith took his basketball talents to Butler after graduation and had a sparkling career; he was
a four–year starter for the legendary coach Tony Hinkle. Keith Greve was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. His bio reads as follows:
“Keith Greve…Three year starter for Waveland…leading scorer and MVP junior and senior years… four year starter for Hall of Famer Tony Hinkle…leading scorer sophomore and junior years…MVP 1953…all Indiana Collegiate Conference First Team three times…received Hilton U. Brown Mental Attitude award senior year…All Decade team 1950’s…inducted into Butler Athletic Hall of Fame 1999…Head coach for 15 years at New Ross, Danville and Greensburg, then Athletic Director at Greensburg for 27 years.”
Of special note to South Montgomery basketball fans was his coaching record at New Ross. In four years, the Blue Jays won the County, Sectional and Regional in 1960-61 and the sectional in 1961-62. His teams at New Ross had a three-year record of 67-6.
Bill Greve went to Purdue after graduation and had a great career in the Big Ten. During his four years on the varsity, the Boilermakers under Ray Eddy had a record of 60-28 and twice finished second in the conference. Bill played with Purdue legends Joe Sexson, Denny Blind, Wilson (Jake) Eison, Willie Merriweather, and Harvey Austin. After graduating form Purdue, Bill worked for Central Soya, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Upjohn before starting a string of Jimmy-John restaurants in the Midwest. He now lives at Indianapolis on Lockerbie Square.
Bill was voted the Outstanding Senior Athlete for Montgomery County in 1955. All four Greve brothers were inducted into the Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 providing a fitting ending to the Greve legacy in the Southern part of the County.
Even today, Greve descendants are bringing notice to Waveland and Montgomery County as Edna Mae’s grandson, Garrett Jones who was born in Harvey, IL, made a big hit with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season by coming up to the parent team from Indianapolis of the International League. Brought up in July, Jones hit 21 home runs, drove in 44 and had a batting average of .293. The names may change, but the apple never falls very far from the tree.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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