morristown & the complete game

Want a full on Indiana high school basketball experience?  Well, just follow your GPS to Morristown and the home of the Yellow Jackets & if you're as lucky as we were that's what you'll find.  On the docket the night we visited:  a beautiful old gym with a young fan shooting hoops, honeycomb floors & Homecoming queens, big city opponent & a new 1000 point honoree, an excitable coach & his high flying young squad topping the 100 point mark (the Yellow Jackets defeated visiting Indianapolis Lighthouse South 103-58), all while being serenaded by a lively small school pep band.  I'd say that's about all the 'experience' you can pack into one night.  © Chris Smith

landing strip

With a 2006 1A Boys State Champion trophy tucked safely away, a re-imagined showcase of a gym and a lively fan base you'd be hard pressed to find a better place to spend a cold winter afternoon than the home of the Hauser Jets. And that's exactly where we were when the Jets handed the Milan Indians their seventh loss of the season, 65-40. Hoping to repeat last year's Sectional title, the Jets have beefed up their schedule by taking on a number of 4A opponents, including a victory over Jennings County & close losses to Columbus North (62-61) and East Central (57-52).  Work hard, fly high might just be the motto for this season's Jets.  And being from a town named Hope, anything seems possible.  © Chris Smith

waldron subs in

Our intentions were good, but unfortunately the weather was not.  We had hoped to travel to Mississinewa, but snow & ice brought a quick end to those plans, so next up - the Milan boys at Hauser.  Arriving early enough to catch the JV game we were greeted by an empty parking lot - devoid of snow, but also fans.  A quick check of the online schedules confirmed that our 'new' game was also postponed.  So what next?  Well, we were only 16 miles from Waldron and a matchup between the Mohawks and the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles.  Traveling on ice & snow covered county roads we feared that our third choice of the day would be another no go.  But, to our surprise, the lights were on and the parking lot was full.  At this point in our little tale I want to make it abundantly clear that if you are ever in need of a sub, you could find no better one than Waldron - for here we found a welcoming principal (Gary Brown) and AD (Mark Shadiow), a tour of a beautiful old gym, some great basketball history and a good show put on by the Mohawks & the Eagles.  I guess the morale of this story might best be summed up by paraphrasing (& adapting) the old US Mail motto - "neither snow nor ice nor gloom of night" can deter these photographers from their "appointed rounds."  And it helps if you've got a school like Waldron to 'come off the bench' and sub in.    © Chris Smith

basketball day indiana, fort wayne south side

"Welcome to South Side" was the greeting extended when I asked for the media sign-in sheet.  "Which gym would you like to see?"  Little did I know when a late day decision brought me to the FW South Side campus that I would encounter such accommodating folks.  They had no knowledge of our photo project, but wanted to hear all about it; didn't know who I was, but gave me full access to all three gyms & their memorabilia room.  They seemed glad that I was interested in their story and by the way, "did you know that we're playing Marion tonight?"  Needless to say my impromptu visit was worth every minute - from the preserved history, to the young boys playing in the old practice gym and finally the JV & Varsity games between two storied programs.  I guess a fitting end to this story is that the home team won, upsetting the 2016 State Champions, 91-82.  © Chris Smith