Thorntown’s 1915 State Basketball Championship A Centennial Retrospective

By S. Chandler Lighty

The Origins of Thorntown Basket Ball

March 31, 1906

1912-13 Thorntown High School team

1913-14 Thorntown High School team

Coach Chester A. Hill • 22 years old

• Paoli High School, ‘10

• Earlham College, ex-’14

• Played basketball in high school and college

• Joined T.H.S. faculty fall 1913, taught mathematics, physics, and manual training

Alfred Dewitt Smith “Alf”

• Center – 6’2½”, team captain

• 18 years old, Senior (‘15)

• 4 year letterman

• 2nd leading scorer previous season: averaged circa 8 ppg

• 1913 Indiana Daily Student All-State Honorable Mention

• 1914 Indianapolis News All-State Second Team

• Father was a farmer; Parents immigrated from Ohio to Thorntown by the 1880 Census

Wm. Clark Larsh “High”

• Forward/Guard

• 18 years old, Sophomore (‘17)

• 1st year on varsity; played on second team ‘13-’14 season

• Father was a farmer

• Ancestors had been in the area since before the Civil War

Orville Auvern Hall “Orv”

• Floor guard/forward

• 16 years old, Junior (‘16)

• 1st full year on varsity; 7th man on ‘13-’14 team, mostly played with second team

• Father was a veterinary surgeon

• Ancestors had been in Boone Co. since before the Civil War

Cloyd Andrew Riggins “Andy”

• Forward – 5’7”

• 19 Years old, sophomore (‘17)

• 1st year on varsity; played on second team ‘13-’14 season

• Not living with parents in 1910 U.S. Census

Charles Theodore Stephenson

“Steve” • Back guard – 5’9”

• 17 years old, Sophomore (‘17)

• 1st year on varsity

• Father was a farm laborer

Doyle Edgar Rafnel “Speedy”

• Guard/Forward/Center– 6’1”

• 19 years old, Senior

• 1st year on varsity; played on second team ‘13-’14 season

• Father was a Maine native, a carpenter, and a widower

• His parents lived in California before settling in Thorntown circa 1890

Robert W. Gipson, Jr. “Bob”

• Substitute

• 15 years old, Freshman (‘18)

• 1st year on varsity

• Father was a dry goods merchant

• Family moved to Thorntown after 1900

Regular Season Recap • 14-5 against high schools

• Team averaged 26.4 ppg

• Held their opponents to 17.1 ppg

• Alf Smith leading scorer with 16.2 ppg, accounting for 60.67% of the team’s offensive total

• Orv Hall second leading scorer with 60 points on the season. Scored most of these points during the 7 games he started at forward

Sectional Play

Lebanon

Student illustration from Thorntown High School yearbook, The Exode.

District Tourney • 33.5 ppg

• Held opponents to 15.8 ppg

• Smith averaged 15.8

• Hall averaged 11

• Riggins averaged 6.7

“It’s a Long, Long Way to Bloomington” to the tune of “Tipperary”

Up to mighty Lebanon came The H. S. team one day. Everything was black and gold And everyone was gay Singing songs and yelling Till they mighty near rent the air Then Thorntown got excited And she but the ball right there

Chorus It’s a long way to Indiana It’s a long way to go. It’s a long way to the tourney But the best team gets to go. Goodbye dear old Lebanon Farewell Rossville too It’s a long way to Bloomington But our team’s right there.

“It’s a Long, Long Way to Bloomington” continued

Thorntown team had practiced long And Steve was in good shape, Smith had grown a foot or two And was sure to get all-state Doyle and Bob were in good training Larsh could jump sky high. Riggs and Hall could stick DeVol Cause Lebanon trained on pie. Chorus-

Piggie told Maloney Yes, he said, we’ll win or bust. Coach Hill told his sturdy boys Beat Lebanon we must. Hill’s the coach we all adore, The boys all love him too. So they were all determined That they’d die for white and blue. Chorus-

Rochester High

School

Indianapolis Manual Training High School

Montmorenci

THORNTOWN WINS!

“It’s a Long, Long Way to Bloomington” verses revised after state tournament

It was a long way to Indiana It was a long way to go. It was a long way to the tourney But the best team got to go Goodbye Hartford City Farewell Rochester too It was a long way to Bloomington But our team was right there. Chorus-

Montmorenci came next And said we’ll win or bust Coach Hill told his sturdy boys State Champions be, you must, Hill’s the coach we all adore The boys all love him too, And they were all determined That they’d die for white and blue. Chorus-

Postscript What happened to the players and coach?

Doyle Rafnel ‘15 • Briefly attended college

• Followed into his father’s career as a carpenter

• Died December 1977

• Worked for National Cash Register in Dayton, and later as an airplane mechanic for Allison

• Died in 1976

Cloyd Riggins ‘17

Charles Stephenson ‘17 • Became co-owner of

Crawford Barber Shop in Crawfordsville in 1926

• Died April 17, 1971 in Crawfordsville

Clark Larsh ‘17 • Attended Earlham College for a

time, and played basketball there with a number of Thorntown alumni

• 1920 working on a farm

• 1930 bridge carpenter for the Big Four

• Killed in an automobile crash on State Road 52 south of Lafayette in 1930

• Buried in Thorntown

Bob Gipson ‘18 • Attended DePauw ‘22, where he

played basketball and football, and captained the basketball team in ‘21

• After graduating served as DePauw graduate athletic manager and freshman football coach until ’25

• Moved to Bloomington, IL in ‘28 and became a successful insurance salesman, and was active in civic affairs

• Died of a heart attack in 1948 at age 48

Orville Hall ‘16 • Started college at Wabash, transferred

to Earlham class of ’22, where he played basketball

• Coached at McKendree College in IL

• Graduated from IU Medical School in 1931

• Served in WWI and U.S. Army Medical Corps in WWII, discharged with rank of major

• Practiced medicine in Eaton and Montezuma, but spent most his career in Muncie

• Died February 1969

Alfred Smith ‘15 • Played for Coach Lambert at

Purdue

• Coached Lebanon H.S. for two seasons ‘21-’22, ‘22-’23, and later coached at Belvidere, IL for a few seasons more

• Became a successful businessman in Illinois

• Inducted into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

• Died December 19, 1977

Coach Chester Hill • Left Thorntown to teach and coach

at Martinsville circa 1917; Later taught and coached two seasons at Lebanon 1920 & 1921

• Joined faculty at Kokomo H.S. in ’21; coached track, football, and basketball; His track teams won seven state titles between ‘24-’37. He coached the basketball team into a second place finish in the ‘25 tournament against Frankfort

• Served 36 years as Kokomo coach and athletic administrator

• Died at Muncie in 1981 at age 89