1964 seems like yesterday but then again it has been years ago. I was playing basketball for The Fort Branch Twigs, yes. I said Twigs. The mascot was a branch about 3” diameter mounted on 2 metal rods fastened to a piece of wood with rollers.
As I remember there was a weekend every year when our schedule would include 2 of the Southern Indiana powerhouses, Tell City Marksmen and North High School Huskies. Tell City, coached by Gunner Wyman, was a team that always was at the Robert’s Stadium Regional. They had a very solid player named Tom Krohn that always was a star. North Huskies had several stars that kept them in the race with names like Dave and Mike Schellhause. By 1964 Tom had moved on and so had Dave but the teams both had experience and expected to win. The mighty Twigs, coached by Larry Holder, was a small school but very competitive.
So here is my game. On Friday night we went to Tell City to play the Marksmen. Best I can remember it was a close game and I was like a 7th man that didn’t play too much so when my teammate fouled out, I was next up. Tell City was in a full court press so it was time for me to show my ball handling skills since I am a short 5’ 7” and had no history of being a big scorer. I did what little guys do, bring the ball down the floor. You know how the game goes. Foul the one with least experience and hope he misses the shots. I hit the first 2 so they fouled me again. Coach called timeout, this is what I heard, after Mike hits both of the shots, Jim, you take the ball out and get the ball back to Mike. Well, I don’t know how he knew but that is how it worked out. I had 10 points that night and all were free throws. We ended up winning by 10 points. Then on Saturday night we played North and managed to beat them too. I didn’t have the impact on that game like Friday’s game but I will always remember what my coach said in that huddle. He didn’t say if Mike hits the free throws, he said after Mike hits these free throws. Always keep things positive and encouraging to others.