History of Ladoga Canner basketball 1906-1957

Ladoga Basketball

The first basketball team at Ladoga High School was organized in 1906, some fifteen years after Dr. James Naismith invented the game in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Ladoga team had a 4-1 record with players being Newton Bowman, Guy Otterman, Bert Wilson, Earle Foster, and Leslie Warner. The yearbook that year reported that, “Our basket ball team this season turned out to be very successful. We won four of the five games which we had scheduled. Taking into consideration the lateness of the organization, the inexperience of the men, the lack of a good gymnasium, and the fact that some of the best men were injured during the season, the success of the team was wonderful. A great deal of praise is due to the student body as a whole for the support which it gave the team. All of the games were well-attended, not excepting the out-of-town contests, and the cheering was such as would be an incentive to any team. Although athletics has always been encouraged in our school, still the team of ‘06 was the first basket ball team in the history of our school, we deserve commendation for the excellent work of the men.”

The next basketball team mentioned in the yearbook is the 1907-08 team which had a record of 13-7 and scored 682 points for an average of 34 points per game, which was unheard of at that time. The team that year played such teams as the Crawfordsville A’s, New Maysville High School, Jamestown High School, Advance High School, the DePauw Preps and Indianapolis Manual Training School defeating them 27-23. The members of the team of 1907-08 were Darnell Simmons, Meyers, Harold Cox, Waldo Cline, Cave, Murray Price, Rapp, and Clay Bachelder. The girl’s basketball team was undefeated that year as they beat Darlington in their only game 7-6.

The Ladoga Leader of November 12, 1909 reported that, “The Ladoga basketball team consisting of Newt Bowman, Roy Stamp, Murray Price, Gordon Snyder, and Darnell Simmons, made an auto trip to Advance Friday night with Lee Dodd and Willard Foster. It was the first game of the season for the Ladoga team and was one of the hardest and best played games which any of them ever took part. The score was 17 to 16 in favor of Advance. At the end of the first half the score of the two teams was the same.” This was probably not a high school team since Newton Bowman graduated in 1907, Roy Stamp in 1906, Murray Price in 1908, and Gordon Snyder and Darnell Simmons are not listed as graduates in any class of the at era. Nevertheless, the boys were still enjoying the game even after they left school. This was probably an independent team that played a substantial schedule.

There was no basketball team in 1910 as the editor of the Ecclesia stated, “On account of a lack of a gymnasium, athletics has not been promoted to any great extent. The school board has considered building a gymnasium. The students hope to see the proposed plan of the school board mature, in order that they may give more attention to this important phase of education.”

In 1913 and 1914, the boys played outdoors behind the Methodist Church in good weather and where Bryan’s Tire Shop is now in the winter. In 1913-14, another attempt was made to organize a basketball team. It failed because of a lack of school spirit, faculty spirit, and financial support according to the Ecclesia of that year. There had been no organized team for several years. In the 1915 edition of the yearbook, the basketball team of 1914-15 is reported to have played 11 games winning 8. The opponents were Mace, Russellville, New Market, Roachdale, and New Ross. The team members were Ed Robbins, James Havens, Kyle Mayhall, Linn, and Nolan.

The 1915-16 team practiced outside until the weather got bad then moved indoors to the Christian Tabernacle. The yearbook indicated that LHS was undefeated at home but lost several games on the road due small floors and bad lights. The players on the team that year were Russell “Joe” Ashby, James Havens, Herbert Gibson, Edison Robbins, Jones, Kenneth “Jack” Wendling, Kyle Mayhall and Nolan. The opponents that year were Mace, Roachdale, Russellville, Bainbridge, New Market, New Ross, Waveland, Bowers, Advance, Hillsboro, Bellmore, Linden, Crawfordsville, Jamestown, Darlington, Waynetown, and Wingate..

The 1918 Ecclesia indicated that the close of that season marked the fifth season of organized basketball at L.H.S. The coach was Paul Jackson and they played in the Christian Tabernacle in later in the Town Hall. The author can remember his grandfather, the late Chester Peffley, recalling that the walls were considered out of bounds and that the ceiling was so low that the players sometimes banked their shots off the ceiling. The floor, of course, was dirt prompting the editor of the yearbook to put a caption under the picture of the interior of the gym, saying, “Where they ate our dust.” You had to be tough to play basketball in those early days. The team members were Buren Strickler, John Gibson, Glenn Smith, George Mahorney, Frank Foster, and Oliver.

The girls organized a team again in 1916. They also practiced in the Christian Tabernacle on the dirt floor until the weather got too cold. Practice time then as now became a problem since the boy’s team had first call on the facilities at the Town Hall. (No Title IX yet). The girls only got to practice two days a week after the weather got cold.

In the school year of 1918-19, Ladoga High School finally got a gymnasium. It was in the basement of the brand new, east building. Ben Buser (Class of 1920) recalled that the floor was rather small and not regulation. It was, however, hardwood and had heat, lights and seating which was not characteristic of the Christian Tabernacle or the playing area behind the Methodist Church. According to Ben, there were five rows of bleacher seats on the north side at floor level and three rows of balcony seats on the north side. Ben also recalled that men and boys were about the only people that attended basketball games due to the fact that there was so much drinking and fighting among the spectators during the game. The games were usually officiated by volunteers or by a single volunteer. That gym would be home to Ladoga basketball teams from 1918 to 1941. I remember walking through the tunnel which joined the grade school to the high school (the tunnel stuck up about 3 or 4 feet above the ground and made a nice place for boys to play) to have what was referred to as elementary physical education which consisted of lining up and taking your turn shooting an old basketball with high laces at a basket hanging on the wall.

Ed Fendley recalls the old gym with great fondness and remembers a balcony on the north side held up by posts which were very close to the playing floor. He also recalls the wall being out of bounds on three sides and furnace pipes wrapped with asbestos (Where was the EPA in those days?) on the west end of the gym. That would be the end closest to the furnace room. Ed played his freshman year at the old gym, then his sophomore year at the Crawfordsville Armory (which was where the Journal-Review is now) and his last two years in the new gym which opened in 1941. Ed was the leading scorer for the Canners in his last two years, scoring 195 points in the 1941-42 season and 213 the next year.

Jack Hester who became basketball coach at Ladoga in 1947-48 remembers that the bankboards in the old gym were made of wood and stone and were very heavy. The center was made of stone and the outsides were made of 2x10’s. The old bankboards were moved to the new gym and placed on the east wall, one on each side of the stage, for the players to practice their free throw shooting. Jack also recalls that the dressing room on the north side was used by the boys and the dressing room on the south side was used by the girls. The dressing room on the north was always too cold so the boys moved to the south side leaving the cold north side to the girls (Title IX where were you?).

Chet Vice remembers that they played basketball upstairs at the Old Normal in 1927-28 and 29. They also had a skating rink. They had dances and played basketball above the Town Hall in the early and middle 30’s. The Old Gym in the old building had radiators between the windows. The scorekeeper kept score on the south side about 7 or 8 feet off the floor. They had cut numbers off old license plates and hung numbers on pegs to keep score. Subs sat on the north side. Doc Neff coached there and Harmon Rogers also. Chet remembers Clyde Gentry and a man named Worley referring there. Also a man named Kilroy and Darrell Steele. Chet would have graduated in 1937.

Basketball and baseball continued on a regular basis during the early 20’s with coaches being men on the faculty who were interested in young men and who had some athletic background. Harmon Rogers was one of the coaches in the early 20’s who had good teams that were well-disciplined. In 1927, Floyd “Doc” Neff appeared on the coaching scene and remained for 20 years. This would have been Doc’s 2nd teaching job. His first one was in Kentucky and lasted only a short time. Doc recalled that his first school was very close to the Indiana-Kentucky line and that he took a bus to Kentucky to meet the trustee of the school. The school was up on a ridge, but Neff said it looked like a mountain to him. The trustee then informed him that there was no way to get there by car so he would have to ride on a mule up to the ridge. On the first day, the students were late getting to school and when they came, they were all ages and sizes. Obviously it was a one-room school. Doc said that some of the boys were bigger than he was. He remembered that he got through the first day with no incidents, but then he told the trustee that he didn’t think the position was for him, so he got on the bus and headed back to Indiana.That would prove to be Ladoga’s gain. Doc began with a junior high team that was very successful in 1927 and was able to compete with the high school reserve team by the end of the season. The records of the late 20’s and early 30’s are pretty sketchy and sometimes impossible to find, but in the middle 40’s after returning from the service, Ed Campbell, a Crawfordsville High School graduate who played basketball and football for the Athenians began to go through back issues of the Journal-Review and compiled a record of all the County schools, with names of coaches, names of players, and points scored by each player. Ed later became part owner of the Sportsman’s Shop and announced CHS and County basketball games for many years. He provided us with records from the 1936-37 season until consolidation which occurred after the 1970-71 season. I was able to come up with a program for the 1930 sectional which was played at the Wabash College Gymnasium. That would have been Doc Neff’s second season. The team members that year were Edward Lough, Norman Hooper, Wayne Cheshire, Lee Boling, Ora Myers, Robert Brunton, Russell Wright, Roy Ingram, Samuel Stoner, and Elwin Brown. LHS was defeated by Crawfordsville in the opening round 28-27 leaving the 1929-30 team with a record of 16-8.

The 1936-37 season was Doc Neff’s 9th season at LHS. The team had a great record of 21-3, which would have been the best season in his 17 year career. The varsity that year consisted of the following players: Ed Holsapple, Art Peffley, Kenny Vice, Ken Jacoby, George Proctor, Clay Long, John White, and Foster Nichols. The Canners lost to Waveland in the opening game of the County Tourney 25-21 and lost to Linden in the Semifinal game of the sectional 40-21. Clay Long was the leading scorer that year with 265 points. He had a high game of 18 against New Market.

The 1937-38 team had a record of 12-11. The varsity that year had the following players representing the Green and Gold: Ed Holsapple, Bill Carnine, Craig, Jack White, Stan White, Tom Byrd, George Proctor, Louis Johnson, Kenny Vice, Keith Cheshire, Don Rhodes, and John Brown. Once again, the Canners lost to Waveland in the County Tourney. This time the Hornets did the job in the semifinal round 23-21. Crawfordsville then ousted the LHS five 46-22, also in the semifinal round. The leading scorer that year was Ed Holsapple with 204 points with a high game of 14 against Roachdale. Holsapple would finish his career with 412 points for his last two years.

The 1938-39 edition of the Canners finished the season at 10-12. The varsity consisted of Kenny Vice, Leonard Himes, Don Rhoads, Jim Oakley, Keith Cheshire, Ralph Miller, Louis Johnson, Tom Byrd, Leland Bruton, Sam Mahorney, and Paul Lawson. Kenny Vice was the leading scorer that year with 172 points finishing his three year career on the varsity with 248 points. The Canners lost to New Market in the final game of the County Tourney 29-28 as the Flyers began a three-year domination of the County Classic. Neff’s men then lost the opening game of the sectional to Wingate by the score of 25-20.

Floyd Neff was born in a log cabin east of New Ross, across the road from where he lived the rest of his life. It was in a house that was one of the old school houses of Boone County. He graduated from Jamestown High School in 1922 and went to school at Central Normal School in Danville, Indiana which later became Canterbury College. At that time, a person could begin teaching after a year at the Normal so Doc began teaching at Jamestown in 1923. He recalled that he didn’t have much real background in basketball as a player, but that he loved and respected the young men he coached. One of the stories told about Doc Neff is that he loved and respected Vernon Ross so much that he kicked his tail all the way from the center circle to the dressing room at halftime of one game.
Doc coached for 12 years then laid out a couple of years, turning the program over to young Jerry Steiner, who would later become a member of the Indiana High School Basketball of Fame. He is the only person with a Ladoga connection to be honored by election to the Hall of Fame. Steiner’s bio in the Hall of Fame reads as follows: “Jerome Steiner—4-yr player at Berne…led team to sectional and regional titles as junior in ’35…ousted from second round of state tourney by Shelbyville…All-State that year…a 3-yr starter at Butler…graduated as school’s all-time leading scorer…3 straight Indiana Collegiate Conf. championships...As senior, named to Madison Square Garden’s All-America team…also recognized on AP’s All-American list…All-Western, All-Conference and All-State…coached 2 yrs at Ladoga. Played for Kautskys and Pistons. He later refereed in the Big Ten.” Although unable to win either the County or the sectional, Steiner had two great seasons with the Canners. His 1940-41 team was led by Leonard Himes who scored 179 points to lead the Canners to a 16-4 record. Himes finished his three-year career with 301 points. Steiner’s Canners lost a 39 to 38 heartbreaker to Linden in the opening round of the County Tourney and lost to Crawfordsville 89-53 in the second round of the sectional. The varsity that year had the following players: Warren Buser, Jerry Morrison, Leonard Himes, Glen Bymaster, Ralph Miller, George Elless, Sam Mahorney, Louis Johnson, Virgil Vice, Harold Brunton, Ed Fendley, and Don Rogers. In his second and last year at Ladoga, Steiner’s Canners had a record of 17-7. The Canners lost to Linden in the Semi-final round of the County 24-21 and were defeated by New Market 33-29 in the second game of the sectional. They were led in scoring by Ed Fendley who scored 195 points. The team members that year were Virgil Vice, Earl Welden, Jack Johnson, Bob Scott, George Elless, Lowell Ronk, Perry, Jerry Morrison, Glen Bymaster, Ed Fendley, and John McCreary. Steiner left Ladoga with the highest winning percentage of any Ladoga coach as he won 43 and lost 11 for an outstanding percentage of .755.

Doc Neff returned to the sidelines in 1942 and stayed five more years, climaxing his career with a County Championship in 1947. In his 17 years of coaching at the varsity level Doc’s teams won 202 games and lost only 122 for a winning pct. of .623. The 202 wins places him at the top of the Canner record book for wins and the .623 winning pct. places him third behind Jerry Steiner and Jack Hester. Neff took teams to the final game of the sectional five times only to come away empty every time. Neff-coached teams appeared in the final game of the sectional in 1931, 1936, 1938, 1943, and 1947.

It was during Doc Neff’s tenure that the Ladoga athletic teams came to be called the “Canners”, after Ladoga’s primary industry the Ladoga Canning Company. The colors had always been Green and Gold (sometimes bright gold and sometimes old gold) but the team had always been referred to as Ladoga High School. You are a “dyed in the wool” Ladoga fan if you remember when the Ladoga Spartans rambled up and down the hardwood. That nickname was shortlived, however. It came about when the principal selected the name for Ladoga athletic teams. Many people didn’t like it because the name was also used by the Wingate Spartans basketball team. In the fall of 1931, a contest was held and the new name selected. Neff offered a prize of $1.00 to the person who selected the best name. The Ladoga Leader reported the results of a basketball game on November 19, 1931 giving the home team as the Ladoga Spartans. The next week, the team played another game and the name was reported as the Ladoga Canners. The November 27, 1931 edition of the Ladoga Leader noted the change in name only in the write-up and made absolutely no comment about it. Ben Buser recalled that the Ladoga Canning Company bought new uniforms for the basketball team and the Canners were in business. They remained one of the most competitive teams until consolidation in 1971.

The present gymnasium was built in 1940 and dedicated on November 4, 1941 in a game against Bowers and housed Canner basketball teams for the next 30 years. The honor of scoring the first basket went to Don Carmichael in the reserve game. Ed Fendley scored the first varsity basket. The structure has a stage on one end which was used for the Canner band and class plays and other musical productions. The Canners nearly always played to a full house and the gym resounded with cheers for Canner basketball teams until consolidation. The elementary school is still called the Canners and still plays basketball in the 1940 goal hall.

After Doc Neff retired from coaching in 1947, the third prominent person came on the scene. Jack Hester took over and stayed for ten very successful years. During Jack’s tenure, the Canners won championships in all three sports, winning the County Tourney in basketball in 1949, baseball in 1953, and track in 1949, 1959, and 1954. In ten years of coaching, Jack’s basketball teams won 147 games and lost only 72 for a winning percentage of .671. He had only two losing seasons and had a team with a 20 win season as the 1951-52 team finished with 20-3 record, Jack finished his coaching career where he started by winning the County Tourney at New Market in 1966. Jack started his coaching career at New Market, his Alma Mater, in 1938 and won three straight County Tourneys in 1938-39, 1939-40, and 1940-41. His 1942-43 team was having a great year when Jack enlisted in the Navy. The team went on to win the County Tourney that year. Jack was in the service for three years in 1943, 1944, and1945. After he got out of the service, he went to Cutler to finish out a year and then stayed one more year. He then moved on to Ladoga in 1947-48. After coaching at Ladoga for 10 years, Jack went to Noblesville to teach for three years, then came back to the County to Darlington for three years, before returning to New Market in the fall of 1963. Jack must have felt like he still had some gas left in his tank and coached basketball again at New Market during the 1963-64, 1964-65, and 1965-66 seasons. The Purple Flyers gave Jack his 6th and last Montgomery County Crown in 1966. After that, Jack retired from coaching and finished his career teaching at the new consolidation at Southmont. He retired from teaching in 1975 ending 34 years of teaching in Indiana. In all his teams won six County Championships, including five at New Market and one at Ladoga. That would rank him at the top in number of County Championships won in the 40 year history of the County Tournament. He finished with the second highest win total in County basketball history with 259 wins second only to Tom Bowerman’s 265.