On a night in which North Decatur High School honored its 1970 boys basketball sectional championship team, the 2021-22 Charger boys added to the fun and festivities with a 54-50 win in overtime over Triton Central.
The Chargers held a seven point lead at halftime but the Tigers made up the deficit to even the score at 33-33 after three periods. Both teams tallied 10 points in fourth, then ND outscored TC 11-7 in extra session to win by four.
Lance Nobbe’s 19 points were a team-high for the Chargers. Teammates Kaden Muckerheid and Carson Parmer both scored 12.
The North Decatur JV boys lost to Triton Central 53-40. Brayden Hancock’s 13 points and 12 by Brady Mauer paced the Charger reserves.
Between games, all eyes were focused on the first ND boys squad to win a sectional championship.
In 2018, the North Decatur Athletic Hall of Fame was created to recognize outstanding athletes and their accomplishments during their Charger careers according to this release provided by North Decatur AD Scott Johnson. So far 16 individuals, and soon to be 19, have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The North Decatur Hall of Fame has now begun a new effort to recognize teams and their accomplishments. In addition to annually inducting individual athletes into the Hall of Fame, it now will begin to recognize special teams each year as well.
The first team to experience this honor is also the first team in North Decatur history to win a sectional. North Decatur opened its doors in 1967 and, a mere three years later, won a basketball sectional championship.
This team recorded a record of 16 wins and seven losses during the 1969-1970 season. During the sectional that year, they defeated Morton Memorial in the semifinals 71-58. They then went on to win the sectional title by defeating Rushville 73-60. The next week, they played in the regional and lost to eventual regional champ and Sweet 16 finalist South Ripley in triple overtime.
The members and coaches of the team: Charles Beatty, Tom Harford, John Miller, Jerry Wiley, Paul Corya (deceased), Robin Dearinger (deceased), Garry Perry (deceased), Mark Wenning, Ray Morton, Steve Bohman, Ernie Gauck, James Westerfeld, David Creech (manager), Dennis Noah (manager, deceased) and Dave Horn (coach).
We thank Mr. Johnson for the sectional championship team information and photo.