REMEMBERING HISTORY: The 50th anniversary of the 1972-1973 Effingham (Central) Mustangs boys basketball seventh-grade boys championship team

Apr. 11—EFFINGHAM — Smaller, compressed gymnasiums.

Circular clocks that lit red when there was under one minute to go in each quarter.

That was basketball back in the 1970s.

It was a different time but also a successful time, especially for basketball in the Effingham County area, most notably at the junior high ranks.

This past basketball season marked the 50th anniversary of the then Effingham (Central) boys basketball seventh-grade state championship team — the first ever for the school.

That team included the following players: Brad Beccue, Brent Wente, Jack Ooten, Jim Smothers, David Hightower, Greg Heathcoat, Brit Anderson, Gary Stanley, Jeff Ditter, Ron Stuckemeyer, Mike Leftwich and Glen Stanley.

The managers on that team were Danny Shelton, Keaton Mulvaney, Dale Marquarter and Jan Niccum.

Niccum recalled fond memories of that 1972-1973 season, though the team showcased its potential one year prior.

Niccum said that Earl Mesnard — the eighth-grade coach at the time — noticed the sixth-grade team playing basketball on the playground at the old Effingham (Central) High School, located where the First Baptist Church of Effingham is currently, that sparked an idea.

"Mesnard had the idea of offering an experimental seventh-grade state title in basketball," wrote Niccum in a message to the Effingham Daily News. "He saw the size and talent in the sixth-grade class that Paul Webb and Steven Pickett were coaching."

Ultimately, the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) would take that experiment to heart and go through with that request, which worked in Effingham's favor in the long run.

However, Niccum said that it was never always sunshine and roses.

"Fifteen boys were kept from tryouts, even though only 12 would be permitted to play in the state series. The Mustangs got off to a rocky start, going 1-1, after losing to one of the Mattoon junior high teams. But, after that loss, things turned around. The Mustangs would go undefeated the rest of the (way)."

The icing on top of the cake for that undefeated run?

A 41-40 win over Paris (Mayo) in the Class C State Tournament championship game.

The head coach of that team was Dave Wells.

Wells talked with Effingham Daily News Sports Editor Alex Wallner about his memories of that season in a one-on-one interview.

Below is what Wells was asked and how he answered.

AW: It's been 50 years since you won a state championship. Talk about the 50th anniversary of that team and what that means to you.

DW: "It doesn't seem like 50 years have passed. I still remember it. I still remember a lot of the kids, the cheerleaders, the managers, the statisticians; I have nothing but fond memories."

AW: What was the postseason run like for you?

DW: "There was only one class back then; any school that belonged to the IESA was eligible to enter the tournament. So, it was big schools and small schools all mixed in. The state tournament was held in Normal. In the semifinal game, we played Bethalto (Trimpe) and we easily won that game, 54-30. Our opponent — who we played for the championship — was Paris (Mayo), which was unique because we're relatively close together. They beat Kankakee (Kennedy) in the semifinal game. We thought we would end up playing Kankakee (Kennedy). They were very good, but Paris (Mayo) upset them."

AW: What was the state championship atmosphere like?

DW: "The atmosphere was very good; we always had excellent students. We took a couple of buses all the way up to Normal and we had a decided home crowd."

AW: What do you recall about that team from the first day the season officially began to the end?

DW: "Our team that year, we could tell from the first practice that we would be very good. We had size, strength and athletic ability, but we didn't know how far we would go. Within the first two weeks of practice, our eighth-grade coach came to me and said, 'You have a seventh-grader that's good enough to play on the eighth-grade team and I'm going to take him.' We ended up still having an excellent season and we got that player back for the state tournament and that just made us doubly good. We hung our hats on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, we averaged 44 points per game and only gave up 29."

AW: What made that defense so good?

DW: "We were a team that used pressure and on the full-court side, we could use either man-to-man press and deny the ball inbounds or switch if the team began getting the ball inbounds to a zone press. But once we dropped back into halfcourt, we were predominantly man-to-man, which was emphasized to us by the high school coach at that time, James Maxedon. He said he wanted his junior high teams to play a good man-to-man defense before they ever got to high school, so we stressed the fundamentals of man-to-man. That was our strong suit."

AW: Did you work with Coach (James) Maxedon?

DW: "I would say he came to some of our games, but again, he stressed man-to-man defense. He said, 'When they get to high school, if they have to use a zone, that can be more easily taught than man-to-man, so we had basic man-to-man rules. It was always man, you, ball. If your man was one pass away, you were still denying that pass. If your man was two passes away, you sagged in a little bit and if he's three passes away, you sagged all the way into the three-second zone to get help."

Contact EDN Sports Editor Alex Wallner at alex.wallner@effinghamdailynews.com.