Basketball in Antwerp

This week we are going to talk about early basketball in Antwerp High School. Antwerp School did not have a gym or basketball court until 1937. But I have heard many times that the team played on the top floor of what is now the Masonic Temple. I also heard they played in the building where Hunt’s Engines is located. That used to be Leonard’s Garage, but they played there long before that. Even back in the 1914’s and later. I think around that time Other Fleck, Greg Jump, Frank Smith and Ray Bissell were some of the local team. As I understand, they played on Saturday and rode the trains to their game site. West on the Wabash to Woodburn. Some of the towns to the East were: Knuckle, Jewel, Groton and Liberty Center, then at Cecil they could take the Conan- Northern to Mark Center, Sherwood, Paulding, Laity and Havilland-Scott. My good friend, Tim Copse, has access to most of the old athletic records of our high school and he gave me a clipping from the Paulding County Democrat from March 18, 1923. A tournament held at Defiance called Class B, for schools with less than 150 boys. Knuckle defeated Antwerp 29-17, Jewell lost to Ridgeville 9-7, Mark Township lost to Leipzig 30- 0, Payne lost to Vaughn Ville 18-11. Tim gave me another clipping that had the line-up for the Antwerp team. It didn’t say anything about the score, but the game was with Grover Hill. It listed Antwerp boys as Bale, Robison, Hudson, Fleck, Bissell, but it didn’t give any initials. These games were played in the Armory in Paulding. Grover Hill won the tournament. I recognize the names. I suppose the Hudson was Hubert Hudson, the Fleck was Ray, the youngest Fleck boy. The Bale might have been Raymond. I know there was some Robinson’s that were related to the Keating’s. But I couldn’t find out anything for sure about any of these boys. Peggy Savage helped me look through the Alumni Book and in that time zone of 1920-1929. I couldn’t find any graduates with these boys names. But I’m sure some of them did graduate. But, never the less, I enjoy going back in history of our high school and finding out a little of how they done things at that time. The Antwerp High School didn’t have a gymnasium or a basketball court until 1937. Mr. Horne was coach but the game was new to us, so Antwerp didn’t win many games in the first few years. At that time, the Paulding County schools had a tournament in the Paulding gym. Paulding did not participate because they were in a different division. Well, Antwerp never won the county tourney until 1942. These are the boys who were playing for Antwerp at that time. The first man in the front row is Max Donate. He was a good forward, a good ball handler and a good set shot. At that time, most players used both hands when they shot the ball. Max was a good all around player. He served in the Navy during WWII. He retired from General Motors in Defiance. He and Deane had five children, three girls and two boys. Max passed away in 1997. The next man, number 6, is Johnny Howard. A good all around player with a lot of speed. He brought the ball down and a good set up man. He was a pretty good at shooting foul shots. Johnny married his high school sweetheart, Eula Powell. It is from her that we got this team photo, thank you Eula. Th ey lived in Fort Wayne and had three children, two boys and a girl. Johnny worked mostly in the car parts business and sold insurance for Th e Forester’s Group. Johnny passed away in 1996. Stan Jordan is in the center of the fi rst row. I played mostly under the basket and done a good job of rebounding. What I done best was foul out. I was the only senior on the team. My leaving didn’t hurt them much because they won the County Tournament the next couple of years. I married my high school sweethart, Pauline Powell, that was in 1944. She worked in the offi ce of G.E. in Fort Wayne. Her father, Thurman Powell, was considered a big farmer at that time, a little under 400 acres. He couldn’t find any help for his farm because the war was on. Pauline quit at G.E. and helped her dad on the farm. She could do anything except run the corn picker. She was a good hand. Aft er the war was over, we had a son Gale in 1950. We have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and we have had many other blessings. The next man is Jack Bickhard, number 4. He was a good all around player. Jack was the first boy in Antwerp to use the one hand push shot. Th e belief at that time was you could control the ball better with two hands. But over the years, it has proved that a good one-handed push shot is better. Even in the pros, you seldom see a two handed shot, even at the foul line. Jack married his high school sweetheart, Rubie Hopkins. Th ey had four children. Jack worked for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle and later in Wichita, Kansas. Th ey live on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Jack keeps in shape and still plays basketball. Probably a little slower. The next player on the end in the first row is Earl Hahn. That is Kenny Hahn’s uncle. Earl went to school here in Antwerp and lived with his brother, Gilbert. Earl was a good all around player, good set shot and ball handler. He had a trait that I hadn’t seen before. When he brought the ball down the fl oor, he could dribble and wobble his head from side to side and fake his opponent right out of his shoes and go on in for a lay up. Aft er school, he entered the Navy for a couple of years. Aft er the war he and Mildred had three children and farmed up around Hamilton, IN. He even made maple syrup for sale. He passed away in the early 1970’s. Mr. Horney was coach. He also coached football and baseball. At this time, he was also the High School Principal. He was a good coach— fair, knowledgeable and well respected. He married Harriett Harris and they had boys. Mr. Hornish passed away in the 1960’s. Th e next player is Robert Bissell, better known as “Bing”. He was a good, fast player. When he entered the game from the bench, he was the sixth man and he always added to the game. Bing got married and moved to Payne and raised a family. He still comes over to Antwerp and we talk basketball. One of his daughter’s is gone and the other lives in the Southwest, I think Arizona. Charles Peffl ey is the next player. He was right at six foot and a good rebounder and a good man under the bucket. He served his country in the Navy. He came home and had a family, four boys and a girl. All of Charles’s boys were good athletes, but they all excelled in baseball and soft - ball. I spent a lot of hours on the bleachers watching them hit away. Charlie passed away in 1983. Number 9 is Estell Cottrell, but known to everybody as Stretch. He was tall and used his height well. He was about six foot and three inches and the tallest player we had for awhile. Stretch also served in the Navy. On his return, he got married and raised a fi ne family, two boys and two girls. Aft er many years, he retired from the State Health Inspection Business and lives here in Antwerp. Number 16 is Lynn Bickhard. He was a very good passer and ball handler. He had the ability to think ahead. Th at is a very good asset. Lynn served in the Air Force in WWII as a mechanic. He was appointed Rural Carrier on RR2 out of Antwerp in 1960. I worked with him for 20 years and I never had a better friend. He was always willing to help somebody. I think he was the best carburetor man that I ever saw. He was top notch with a wrench. Th e late Rex Hopkins said of Lynn, “He just waits around for something to break, so he can fi x it.” Lynn passed away in about 2002. Number 8 is Junior Delong, better known as “Zeb”. He was a very good ball handler and play maker. Zeb was the only boy from the Antwerp that could pick up a basketball with one hand. He had very long fi ngers but that really wasn’t an accident. When he was in the fi ft h or sixth grade he had a spinal problem and spent the whole summer in bed. While he didn’t have much to do, he kept pulling on his fi ngers and they became extra long. With his long fi ngers he could handle a ball very well. He also served in the Navy in WWII. I think he served as an Armed Guard on a supply ship and made some of those dreaded runs into Murmansk, Russia. (I forgot to mention that Max Donat made those runs also.) Aft er the War, Zeb married Janet Friend and they had a nice family. Zeb passed away in 2005.The Student Manager on the end is Charles Dove. He and his parents lived in with Ossie Wilson and Bell. I think Mrs. Dove was their daughter and her husband, Jack Dove worked as an auto mechanic. Mr. Wilson was called “Tug” and they lived on the northwest corner of East Canal and Erie Street, where Red Plumb lives now. I graduated in 1942, the only senior on the team. Th e next year, 1943, all these boys came back and some more new players too. Th ey won the County Tourney again, but their high point of the year (if you call it that) was that they beat that year’s State Champs. Th e late Ollie Zedaker coached the Farmer Center Team and they won the State Championship in 1943. Th e only game they lost that year was to Antwerp by one or two points. Ollie always thought that I played in that game, but I didn’t. I had already graduated. As I sit here and write, I think I can hear Babe Smith and Rex Burke blowing the whistles, they were good referees. These were some of our ‘Good Old Days’.