another story

On Saturday March 2, 1935 the Aurora Red Devils boys basketball team defeated Guilford 33-19 in a morning sectional matchup, followed that off with an afternoon victory over tourney favorite Lawrenceburg 24-23 and capped off their championship day with a win over Vevay 23-18.  All of this took place in the newly christened Aurora Fieldhouse "witnessed by 2500 persons."  How do I know this?  Well, buried deep in my mom's Happy School Days, A Memory Book are three newspaper clippings - one entitled "Where Tourney Will Be Played," a second one showing the Aurora Red Devil squad and a third "Aurora is Winner." Since my mom, a freshman at Aurora, lived a short walk from the new fieldhouse I can only imagine that she & her friends sat through all three games on that Saturday.  She graduated in 1938 from Aurora High School, moved on to Western College for Women (now part of Miami University) before graduating from Depauw University in Greencastle.  Although Happy School Days is filled with photos, notes and other newspaper clippings there are no other references to the basketball team or the players.  The Red Devils lost in the first round of the regional to Rushville the following week but would follow-up their 1935 success with another sectional championship in 1936. Did my mom's interest in basketball end on that Saturday in early March 1935 only to be picked up by her son 78 years later?  I guess I'm the only one who can imagine an answer to that question.  © Chris Smith