Boys Basketball and Growth
Continued from "Basketball Background-The Beginning" Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891-92 as a boys' and men's game. Almost one-half of high schools had likely begun basketball before the first boys state tournament held in Iowa City in 1912. Sidney began basketball, there was no coach, boys bought their own suits, practiced outdoor and no set schedule of games. Hartley boys wore regular long trousers.
Boys State Tournaments: The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) determined there was support for state tournaments. Regional tournaments were being held. The University of Iowa sponsored and IHSAA selected four best teams, Ottumwa, Sioux City, Grundy Center, Wilton Junction, for the first state tournament in 1912 at Iowa City. First round; Ottumwa 40 - Wilton Junction 31; Sioux City 41 - Grundy Center 21. Finals; Ottumwa, State Champion, 38 - Sioux City 31. Consolation; Grundy Center 40 - Wilton Junction 37. Sectional tournaments began in 1914. Both the winner and runner-up advanced to the state meet as only 39 school teams played in the sectional compared with 925 in 1953. Participation increased yearly; 1915 - 69, 1916 - 112, 1917 - 144. Two "small" schools advanced to the 1918 state meet - Ellston and Goldfield. State tourneys have been held in Iowa City, Ames, Boone, Ottumwa, Des Moines and Cedar Falls.
The IHSAA took control of state tournaments in 1923. For 1925 and 1926 there were Class A and Class B state champions. These two class B (small school) state champions were: 1925 Lawton 20 - Dysart 17 and also defeated Rippy and Grandview; 1926 Irwin 24 - Keystone 22 and also defeated Lake View and Grandview. Several methods of qualifying for the state tourney have been tried. In 1954 schools were divided into three classes based on average daily attendance (ADA). Class B - under 101, Class A - 101 ADA up to largest 40 schools, and Class AA - 40 largest Iowa schools. Dunkerton became the first Class B School overall state champion in 1933 defeating Des Moines Roosevelt 22-10 and also defeated Granger, Cumberland, and Burlington.
Fall 1937 New rules for the "boys" are as follows:
- Center jump after each basket eliminated. Ball "put in play" by opposing team player standing out of bounds near shooting team's basket to make in-bounds pass to advance ball up court.
- 10 seconds to get the ball over the time line
- Cannot return the ball to the back court (back over 10 second time line) until
- A try for the goal has been made, or
- A jump ball at center or elsewhere has taken place, or
- An "out-of-bounds" recovered from the possession of the opponents
1937 and 1938 class B (small school) won state championship. 1937 was Melrose 35 - Marshalltown 17 and also defeated Genesco, Newton, Rolfe. Diagonal (leading Class B school in the state meet appearances) 1938 defeating Rolfe (also Class B) 31-29 and also defeating Dike, Cedar Rapids (Franklin), Ames. Diagonal (class B) was defeated in 1939 finals by Creston 25 - 20. Four Class B Schools received spotlight attention in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Danbury (class B) was 4th in 1948 - losing to Waverly 41-28, and 3rd in 1949 - defeating Ottumwa 28-27. Ankeny (population near 600, high school under 101) was 4th in 1948 losing to Sioux City 73-63 (OT). 1949 Moorhead 41 - Winfield 35 (both Class B) in consolation game. Ankeny (class B) came back in 1950 to final round - Davenport 62 - Ankeny 28, (Ray Fontana set two state tourney scoring records; 36 points in a game and 81 total points), plus two Class B schools in the consolation game. Winfield 50 - Dinsdale 45. The Roland Rockets (class B) of Northwest Story County with Gary Thompson (5' 8" - 5' 10") the key player with three-year run. 1951 Finals, Davenport (one public school for entire city) winning 50 - 40. Roland defeated Des Moines (East), highly rated team, in the first round. 1952 consolation game, Dinsdale (Class B) over Roland (class B) 48-46 (Collins* was defeated by Roland in district finals 60-48. Roland's 1st half shooting - 70%.) 1953 consolation game was Clinton over Roland (class B)66-37. Gary Thompson was all-state and all-tournament team selection three consecutive years.