History in the making (03/18/06)

Six years before the Milan Miracle, Portland had the “Three Bs”.

The 1948 Portland Panthers, led by Darrell “Pete” Brewster, John Bright and Dick Bond, didn’t go on nearly the movie-worthy run which made Bobby Plumb and the 1954 state champion Indians so famous. Still, the Three Bs and their teammates — Bud Spitzer, Gene Resler, Charles Ashley, Don Graves, Ward Weisel, Neil Medler, Jim Priest, Bud Williams and Fred Jetter — did make the deepest run of any Jay County team in the single-class system.

Until last week, they were one of just two teams in county history to win a regional tournament.

Basketball transcends time, and the 2006 Patriot team has captured the imagination of the community again. Among their followers are some of the members of the ’48 team.

Medler and Bright, both still Portland residents, have followed the team on the radio this season. Medler said he was in a group of half-a-dozen people listening as Randy Evans rallied the Patriots back and Scott “Scooter” Bruggeman sealed the first regional championship in Jay County High School history.

“It was exciting ... and it certainly brought back memories,” said Medler. “That’s a once in a lifetime for only a few individuals.”

Bright, who saw some action in college at Butler and Ball State, hasn’t been to a game yet this season.

“I’m going to go this weekend though,” he said Thursday. “I can’t miss that one.”

Jay County will play in the semi-state today for the first time since 1948 when it battles the No. 7 Plymouth Pilgrims at Lafayette Jefferson at 3 p.m.

It’s hard to compare the eras.

When those Portland Panthers, coached by Harold Wallace, won their regional championship they were in the state’s final 16. It was pre-consolidation and pre-class time with more than 700 teams in the tournament.

The Patriots’ victory over Wawasee a week ago put them in the final four of the Class 3A tournament. If they’re able to top Plymouth, they will travel to Conseco Fieldhouse next week for a chance at the state title.

It’s clear the current players don’t yet grasp the place they are carving for themselves in county history. But they are honored to be mentioned alongside a legendary team which included two Indiana All-Stars, Brewster in 1948 and Bright in 1949, who have since been inaugurated to the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It’s pretty rewarding after all of our work this season,” said sophomore Clint Muhlenkamp. “It really pays off being compared to something like that. We’re just glad we can be at this position.”

Added senior Zac Green: “It’s just amazing. It’s our senior year and we won’t have this chance ever again. It’s just unbelievable for us.”

The paths the teams have taken to their success have been quite different.

Portland was on the basketball map in the late ’40s, having won a regional title in 1946 before falling just short a year later. They were ranked in the top 20 throughout the ’48 season, finishing 18-2. One of those two losses came because of use of an ineligible player. Their only failure on the scoreboard was by a 44-41 score to Dick Walls and the Fort Recovery Indians.

The Panthers’ path to the regional was largely localized as they defeated the Ridgeville Cossacks, Dunkirk Speedcats and Jefferson Township (Deerfield) Red Devils all by at least 15 points to win the sectional. Neither of their regional games was close either as they rolled 53-26 over the Chester Center Indians and topped the Hartford Township Gorillas 51-38.

“That’s great for the kids (to be compared to the 1948 team),” said JCHS coach Craig Teagle, whose father played on the Chester Center team Portland defeated in the regional semifinal round. “It’s great that they get to hear some of this history. That’s what we want. ... We want to carry on a tradition at Jay County High School.”

Portland went on to knock off the previously undefeated Chester Township Panthers 65-54 in the semi-state semifinal to make the final eight in the state. They led Muncie Central 29-26 at halftime of the semi-state championship, but the Bearcats rallied for a 56-47 win.

“It was really exciting,” said Bright, who scored 29 points in the victory over Chester Township. “It was hard to believe until you look back after you get out of school. You wonder, ‘How did we do all that?’”

Jay County of 2006 — Green, Muhlenkamp, Evans, Bruggeman, Tyler Rigby, John Retter, Corey Comer, Luke Goetz and Billy Wellman make up the core — got off to the best start in school history at 9-2. They struggled for a portion of the second half of the season with injuries and illnesses, finishing 14-6.

After crushing the Elwood Panthers, 66-31, in the first round of the sectional, the Class 3A tournament has been a war for the Patriots.

They eked out a 52-50 overtime victory over the Tipton Blue Devils, with Bruggeman scoring all eight points in overtime. Comer, a junior, carried the load in a 54-49 sectional championship win over the Mississinewa Indians.

In the regional, great foul shooting keyed a 63-57 defeat of the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings. And Evans rallied Jay County from a nine-point deficit to a 69-61 win over the Wawasee Warriors in the regional championship.

Medler said, physically, there is no way teams from his era could stand up to those of the present day.

“I think every team that I’ve seen since that time ... athletes, basketball players are all bigger, better,” he said. “They train more. They’re just better, from high school level through college. There’s actually no comparison as far as I’m concerned.”

But both Bright and Medler say there are some similarities between the team they played for and the current squad.

“I think it’s a bond between the players,” said Medler of the team’s success. “They just seem to know what the other one’s going to do before they do it.”

“They play together as a team,” Bright said. “That’s the main thing. We had the same thing back in ’48.”

Brewster, who finished third in the Mr. Basketball voting during his senior season, attained the greatest post-high school success of any of the “Three Bs” as he played basketball and football at Purdue. He went on to win a pair of NFL titles with the Cleveland Browns, also played for Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL and was an assistant coach for the Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Currently a resident of Peculiar, Mo., he hasn’t kept up with the 2006 team or their big tournament run. But he did have a message for the squad.

“I would say that anybody that gets that far has really made a great accomplishment,” Brewster said. “I just hope they realize where they came from, don’t ever forget that — where they came from and how they got there, all the ups and downs and sacrifices they have to make to get that far. I hope they do well.”[[In-content Ad]]