Ohio's version of "Hoosiers"

Which Ohio team most closely compares to the Milan team in "Hoosiers"?

  • 1934 & 1935 Waterloo Wonders

  • 1946 Farmer Tigers (the "Dirty Shirts")

  • 1949 Miller City Wildcats

  • 1992 Berlin Hiland

  • 2000 Fort Jennings

  • 2006 South Webster

  • 2008 New Knoxville

  • 2015 Defiance

  • 2018 Marion Local

  • Other

  • 1928 Marshall

Results are only viewable after voting.
Probably either LaSalle in 1996 or LaSalle in 2011.
The little engine that could of the high school basketball world, shocks the world not once but twice!!
 
gobluetom said:
Probably either LaSalle in 1996 or LaSalle in 2011.
The little engine that could of the high school basketball world, shocks the world not once but twice!!
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I don’t know about 96 but the 2011 team was one of the best in the state for most of the season.
 
I always feel like any MAC team in any sport always has a fighting chance at any given time haha. So while that '93 Coldwater team put together an amazing post season run, that sort of story could only come out of the MAC.
 
scbuckeye99 said:
I always feel like any MAC team in any sport always has a fighting chance at any given time haha. So while that '93 Coldwater team put together an amazing post season run, that sort of story could only come out of the MAC.
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In 1993 Cinderella Wore Orange And Black
statelinesportsnetwork.net

In 1993 Cinderella Wore Orange And Black

In 1993 the Coldwater Cavaliers were finishing up one of the worst seasons in boys basketball history.
statelinesportsnetwork.net statelinesportsnetwork.net
 
radiodaveagain said:
1975 Loogootee...The Small School Power From Indiana
statelinesportsnetwork.net

1975 Loogootee…The Small School Power From Indiana

The 1975 Lions made a lasting impact as one of the best ever to represent small schools in Indiana
statelinesportsnetwork.net statelinesportsnetwork.net
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I was a freshman in high school that year and lived in NW Indiana (The Region). My dad was the superintendent of schools where we lived so he had dibs on tickets. We went early and were blown away with Assembly Hall. Had vertigo in empty arena from our nosebleed seats. I remember being impressed that Loogootee had even made it that far given they seemed very short. But they played with a lot of heart and discipline. My dad went to high school in the area and at the same time where Milan (Hoosiers) were from, but strangely he never tried to sway our allegiance to the smaller school. I was blown away by the entire 3 games of the day. My brother and I went there naturally.

FWIW, I became an Indiana diehard fan when I was 10 years old watching the George McGinnis team in the old Fieldhouse when my dad was finishing his doctorate on campus. Once saw George make a behind the back pass to the left on a 2 on 1 break. Unfortunately, the other half of the 2 was on the right . lol. He definitely would have clashed with Coach Knight who arrived the next year after George went pro.
 
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Insane92 said:
Good team also but I remember rumblings about Brigham Waginger transferring in from Ironton after he lost to OJ Mayo and North College Hill the year before.
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He’s from South Webster but transferred to Ironton and then back to South Webster. Nick Aldridge and Waginger were almost unfair in D4
 
Talk some sense said:
I was a freshman in high school that year and lived in NW Indiana (The Region). My dad was the superintendent of schools where we lived so he had dibs on tickets. We went early and were blown away with Assembly Hall. Had vertigo in empty arena from our nosebleed seats. I remember being impressed that Loogootee had even made it that far given they seemed very short. But they played with a lot of heart and discipline. My dad went to high school in the area and at the same time where Milan (Hoosiers) were from, but strangely he never tried to sway our allegiance to the smaller school. I was blown away by the entire 3 games of the day. My brother and I went there naturally.

FWIW, I became an Indiana diehard fan when I was 10 years old watching the George McGinnis team in the old Fieldhouse when my dad was finishing his doctorate on campus. Once saw George make a behind the back pass to the left on a 2 on 1 break. Unfortunately, the other half of the 2 was on the right . lol. He definitely would have clashed with Coach Knight who arrived the next year after George went pro.
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I got the real Hoosier Hysteria when Bailey hit the scene and BK scouting him on the 8tu grade. Over 40k was at the finals when his Bedford north Lawrence, believe that was the school, went to the finals.
 
FossyWriter8 said:
1949-50 Miller City Wildcats.
Went 29-0 and won the Class B state title, which included an 11-0 run through the tournament.
Town had about 150 people.
Home court was called "The Barn" and was heated by two pot-bellied stoves.
Sports writer Dave Hanneman of The Courier in Findlay wrote a book in 2007 called "Wildcats: The Story of Miller City's Unbeaten State Championship Team Of 1950 " about the season.
If I recall correctly from the book, the champion and runner-up at each postseason level both advanced to the next round at the time, which would help explain how the Wildcats went 11-0 in the postseason. It's been a while since I read the book, though.
Interesting side note: John Born and William Dailey officiated both Class B semifinals and the state final, while Mack Schaffer and Andy Lindsay did the same in Class A.
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I agree, the 1950 Miller City Team, is the closest thing to Hoosiers. New coach, bunch of farm boys, rag tag uniforms. I have read Hanneman's book. In those days of 2 Division basketball Ohio had 1,200 high schools. The divisions were not equally divided. There were approx. 800 Class B (small schools) and 400 Class A (big schools). There were more schools in Class B that year than the entire number of all schools in all divisions today. Miller City had around 50 boys in the whole HS. My second choice would be the 1946 Farmer Tigers. Under 30 boys in the HS. Farmer is currently part of the Fairview (Defiance County) School District. The Senior Class at Farmer that year won over 100 games in their 4 years.
 
ShoelessJoe said:
I agree, the 1950 Miller City Team, is the closest thing to Hoosiers. New coach, bunch of farm boys, rag tag uniforms. I have read Hanneman's book. In those days of 2 Division basketball Ohio had 1,200 high schools. The divisions were not equally divided. There were approx. 800 Class B (small schools) and 400 Class A (big schools). There were more schools in Class B that year than the entire number of all schools in all divisions today. Miller City had around 50 boys in the whole HS. My second choice would be the 1946 Farmer Tigers. Under 30 boys in the HS. Farmer is currently part of the Fairview (Defiance County) School District. The Senior Class at Farmer that year won over 100 games in their 4 years.
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Here's an article on the "Dirty Shirts" championship game written on the 40th anniversary of the game. Courtesy of Defiance County Genealogical Society and The Bryan Times.

http://defiancecountyohiogenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-dirty-shirts-of-farmer-high-school.html

Plus a You Tube video from the title game itself! Gotta love those two-handed set shots!

 
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gobluetom said:
I know, I was kidding.
The 1996 team was last in the GCL though, and I believe had 7 losses.
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So are we talking "long shot underdog teams" or big schools from a big city that are D1 and had a bad regular season but won a state championship? If so, I can say Dayton Colonel White 90', lost 8 straight regular season games and still won state, 4 of starting 5 went D1 state POY went D2 and won a national championship or if the topic is small town "longshot, underdog" D4 teams I'll go with 2008 Jefferson Township with Adrien Payne(5 yr. NBA and currently overseas pro) and Cody Latimer(Washington Redskins) along with D4 1998 Jefferson Township team.
 
I have added a poll using many of the schools you guys have offered. For me, I have to go with the "Dirty Shirts" aka Farmer Tigers. While I thought about the Waterloo Wonders (for sheer showmanship!), they might not really have been considered the classic "underdog". So the Farmer Tigers it is! At least IMO.
 
Only one of these is a school no longer in existence.

Farmer it is.

Farmer's population is 963....in the entire township.
 
Man, having grown up in Defiance and having lived in Columbus, it's now hilarious to think about Farmer, no longer in existence and basically a handful of buildings at the corner of SR 2 and SR 249 playing Worthington, now the size of Defiance by itself with a bunch of Columbus kids sprinkled in and 2 D1 schools.

Crazy how much has changed in 75 years.


As for "dirty shirts," I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine it definitely had something to do with farming. Maybe they were a hard working team, not afraid to get dirty.
 
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You really get a sense of the differences in Ohio and Indiana and football and basketball when you look at the broadcasting interests and just the general excitement of the sports.
I was born and raised in Indiana, played basketball and the one class system. I supported that to a certain degree, but after being in Ohio for more of my adult life, the multi class system is better, IMO. Indiana has obviously had class basketball now for years and I just think you have to have a sense of at least being able to fathom a state title. In the old Indiana one class system the chances were about 0. Yes, there was Milan but that was in the 50's and it was a different time. Now I think the Ohio football has gone a little over board now with 7 classes in football, and now taking 12 teams per region, but in Indiana, everyone makes the playoffs, I think they have an 8 game regular season and everyone makes the playoffs.

As far as the difference, it's just everyday talk. I've always been astounded by Ohio State basketball vs. football. The basketball team can win the big ten, make final four appearnances, etc. and yet there's very little talk about it. I'd guess it's the same way with IU football vs. basketball. Two states, two different passions.
 
Red14 said:
You really get a sense of the differences in Ohio and Indiana and football and basketball when you look at the broadcasting interests and just the general excitement of the sports.
I was born and raised in Indiana, played basketball and the one class system. I supported that to a certain degree, but after being in Ohio for more of my adult life, the multi class system is better, IMO. Indiana has obviously had class basketball now for years and I just think you have to have a sense of at least being able to fathom a state title. In the old Indiana one class system the chances were about 0. Yes, there was Milan but that was in the 50's
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And Plymouth in the early 80s.
 
Being that I had 2 uncles(brothers) on the team, I have to go with the 1949 Miller City Wildcats. If memory serves me correctly from family stories, both uncles went to New Cleveland school until it was consolidated into Miller City Schools.
 
Georgetown's undefeated state title run has to be one of the most underrated out there...no one saw it coming...few even noticed they were unbeaten in the regular season....and no one's really mentioned it since.
 
RollingTrain said:
Georgetown's undefeated state title run has to be one of the most underrated out there...no one saw it coming...few even noticed they were unbeaten in the regular season....and no one's really mentioned it since.
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Here's an article about the 2007 Georgetown team being inducted into the Brown County Athletic Hall of Fame; courtesy of The News Democrat. Knocking off Harvest Prep is not an easy thing to do and SHOULD be remembered!

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/2019/0...cted-into-brown-county-athletic-hall-of-fame/
 
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RollingTrain said:
Georgetown's undefeated state title run has to be one of the most underrated out there...no one saw it coming...few even noticed they were unbeaten in the regular season....and no one's really mentioned it since.
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That's true. I was at that same state tournament to watch Upper Sandusky play and just remember both games for the G-Men being exciting and close but for whatever reason just kinda ho-hum for that tournament. Compared to seeing the 08 New Knoxville and 18 Marion Local from just as small as town and had some incredible players play for both of those. I'm not sure if that made sense but just my thoughts.
 
Insane92 said:
That's true. I was at that same state tournament to watch Upper Sandusky play and just remember both games for the G-Men being exciting and close but for whatever reason just kinda ho-hum for that tournament. Compared to seeing the 08 New Knoxville and 18 Marion Local from just as small as town and had some incredible players play for both of those. I'm not sure if that made sense but just my thoughts.
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Interestingly enough they knocked off unbeaten New Knoxville in the regional final......and they only played 5-6 guys a game consistently.
 
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