Paula’s Hamilton County March Madness Quiz

From Time to Thyme

By Paula Dunn

I know the term, “March Madness,” technically applies to the NCAA basketball tournament, but since this year’s IHSAA boys state basketball tournament is being held in March, too, I’m going to fudge a bit and call this a “Hamilton County March Madness Quiz” — In the spirit of ALL the basketball madness at this time of year, both boys and girls.

(Hey, it may not be completely accurate, but it sure is a lot shorter than the “Indiana High School Athletic Association State Basketball Tournaments Quiz.”)

Test your knowledge of Hamilton County high school basketball history!

1. What was the first Hamilton County high school to play in the state finals?

2. How many Indiana Mr. Basketballs has Hamilton County produced AND can you name them and their schools?

3. Name the Indiana Miss Basketballs from Hamilton County.

4. What year did the IHSAA begin class basketball?

5. Have any Hamilton County schools won the IHSAA boys state championship?

6. What was the first year for the IHSAA girls state basketball tournament?

7. Have any Hamilton County girls teams won state championships?

8. In the 1960s, Indiana’s sectional basketball tournaments were known for something in addition to basketball. What was it?

And the answers:

1. Cicero High School. In 1916 the Cicero boys team played Valparaiso in the first round of the finals. (They lost 34 to 23.)

2. There have been six: Carmel’s Billy Shepherd in 1968, his brother, David Shepherd, in 1970, Noblesville’s Tom Coverdale in 1998, Hamilton Southeastern’s Gary Harris and Zak Irvin in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and Westfield’s Braden Smith in 2022.

3. Amy Dilk of Carmel in 2018, Sydney Parrish of Hamilton Southeastern in 2020 and Maya Makalusky, also of Hamilton Southeastern, in 2025.

4. The IHSAA instituted class basketball during the 1997-1998 season. Under this system, teams are divided into four classes based on school enrollment. The smallest schools are class 1A, the largest, class 4A.

5. Yes. Carmel’s 1976-1977 team was the first Hamilton County school to win a state championship, and the only one to win before class basketball took effect — but that was only the beginning.

Carmel also won class 4A state championships in 2011-2012,  2012-2013, 2018-2019, and 2020-2021.

In addition to Carmel, Fishers won the state championship in class 4A in 2023-2024, and Guerin Catholic was the class 3A champion in 2011-2012 and 2014-2015.

6. The first girls tournament was held at the end of the 1975-1976 season.

7. Yes, four. The Noblesville girls team of 1986-1987 was the first — and the only one to win a state championship under the single class system.

They were followed by the 2007-2008 Carmel team, the 2018-2019 Hamilton Southeastern team and the 2021-2022 Noblesville team. (These were all class 4A championships.)

8. SNOW! Fans had to fight snowstorms to see their favorite teams play almost every year between 1960 and 1967. The worst years were 1961 and 1965.

The final day of the 1961 tournament a freak blizzard dumped around seven inches of snow and created huge drifts. Three thousand diehard basketball fans, primarily students, ended up spending the night in the Carmel gym.

The blizzard that struck central Indiana the day before the 1965 sectional started was even worse. “The Worst Blizzard of the Century” (they didn’t know what was coming in 1978!) produced around a foot of snow and drifts of three or more feet, postponing the tournament for two days.

For several years, people looked forward to the sectionals with a mix of anticipation and wariness. It wasn’t until the early ‘70s that the tournament snow curse finally lifted.

Correction: Michael Kobrowski tells me he’s no longer the communications officer for the Westfield Washington Historical Society. He IS still the curator of the WWHS museum, however.

Paula Dunn’s From Time to Thyme column appears on Wednesdays in The Times. Contact her at younggardenerfriend@gmail.com