76 Years in the Making: A Trip to State Basketball

Window at Main Street Market, our hometown grocery store.

The last time Stafford High School earned a trip to the state basketball tournament, Harry Truman was president. The future queen of England was still a princess when she married her prince. World leaders were contemplating the Marshall Plan after World War II.

The year was 1947. 

And in 2023 - 76 years later - we are back again. Today, the Stafford Trojans play the South Central Timberwolves in the KSHSAA Class 1A, Division II, basketball tournament. It will be at 4 PM this afternoon on the Barton Community College court at Great Bend.

What was going on in 1947? According to Baby Boomers, here's a smattering:

Getty Images - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan

• President Truman formulates "Truman Doctrine" of providing aid to countries whose governments are threatened with overthrow
• U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall calls for a European recovery effort, popularly called the "Marshall Plan."
• Britain’s Princess Elizabeth marries Phillip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

• Henry Ford dies, leaving behind a fortune of over $600 million
• Americans are able to purchase the first new cars manufactured since the beginning of World War II

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

• First airplane to break the speed of sound
• Transistor invented at Bell Laboratories
• Holography invented
• "Broad spectrum" antibiotic introduced to fight typhus

Getty Images

SPORTS:

• World Series:New York Yankees over Brooklyn, 4-3 (first televised World Series)
• Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American player in a major league baseball team (Brooklyn Dodgers)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

• Movies: Gentleman’s Agreement, Miracle on 34th Street
• TV Shows: Kraft Television Theatre, Small Fry Club (programming limited to approximately 18 hours per week)
• Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire wins Pulitzer Prize

EVERYDAY LIFE:

• More than 1 million veterans enroll in college through the G.I. Bill
• First food processors
• The average cost of a loaf of bread was 13 cents

FUN FACTS:

• First documented sightings of "flying saucers"
• Drive-in theaters become a booming industry

And, in Stafford, Kansas, USA, the Stafford High Trojan boys' basketball team went to the KSHSAA State Basketball tournament.  

The first state basketball tournament under the direction of the KSHSAA was at Emporia State Teachers' College in 1912 and was won by the Reno County High School team of Nickerson. All teams competed in one class until 1925, at which time all schools with enrollments of 200 or fewer were placed in a new division, Class B. In 1941, a third division was added and the schools were divided into three classes: AA (largest schools), A and B (smallest schools).

In 1945, the schools voted to go back to the pre-war plan of three separate state tournaments of 16 teams each. In 1947, Stafford High went to the Class B tournament in Hutchinson, where Inman High was crowned champion. Other champions in 1947 were: Class AA, Wellington High; and Class A, Buhler.  (Other KSHSAA state basketball history is available HERE.)

It was before the grandparents of SHS's current players were even alive.  Some of our friends have grandsons on the team. While we don't personally have family members competing, we've been following this group of seniors since junior high. We were among several fans who went to another league school (my alma mater) to watch them win the League Championship when the current seniors were 8th graders four years ago.

Several people have been sharing this photo on Facebook from their 8th grade year. This particular photo was taken by Jami Downing.

Today, those same guys - and a bunch of their friends - will take to the court at Barton Community College for the KSHSAA 1A, Division II, state basketball championships.

Photos by Nicholas Minks, who coached them as 8th graders and has taken amazing photos of their high school careers.

We - along with a bunch of other Trojan fans - drove to Ransom, more than 2 hours away, to watch the sub-state tournament last Friday and Saturday. It was worth every moment in the car.

Just ask the guys' coach. 

My photos aren't as good as Nick's, but they did capture the joy.

Stafford High has had wrestlers go to state championships, including Randy and several of his high school buddies. When Jill was an 8th grader, the high school girls' volleyball team earned a spot at state. 

You celebrate big when it's been 76 years since you've done something. Businesses in town have signs on their windows. Elementary school classrooms made posters to encourage the team. The after-school program made signs, too. 

Photo from STARS After School Facebook page

There was a welcome home impromptu parade last Saturday night when the team returned to town. There was a pep rally as school started this morning, and there's a send-off this afternoon down Main Street. 

Yeah, it's just a game. But it's really so much more. These are good kids off the court, too.

Above, I shared that photo Jami took four years ago. And while it's fun to see how those "little boys" have grown into young men about ready to tackle the world away from high school, I was also struck by what she wrote four years ago:

 ... They support each other, build each other up and want each other to succeed. They are hungry for success and they have been bringing their best every game this season.  But most importantly, they are just really good kids! I’ve been telling people for the last couple years just how fun they are to watch and encouraging anyone I can to show up and see it for themselves. I always add, that as fun as they are to watch and as good as they are on the court, they are such good kids off the court too. That alone, makes them a force to be reckoned with. 

 

As Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” That is so true for this group of boys and the leadership and friendship they have given the rest of the boys on their team. They have encouraged the younger boys to step up, never give up and play with heart. They included them in every victory. Whether or not they played a second, they showed them what being a team was all about! They told them and showed them, but they truly made them feel it, and they won’t forget that! 

 

These boys are great role models on a team, in our school and in the community. It takes a village, and I. for one, am so very proud to have them in mine! I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids to be role models to my boys, and I will always appreciate the genuinely great kids that they are! I look forward to watching them continue to grow, the best is yet to come!

 

The best was yet to come! So GO TROJANS! I'm guessing half (or more) of Stafford will be in Great Bend this afternoon. We will! 

 

*** 

Team Effort

Reunion - 2011 - Skyline girls' basketball

 

I do have a little experience with state basketball tournaments on the girls' side. The KSHSAA Girls' Basketball championship wasn't added until 1973. I was a champion bench sitter on Skyline's team, and we won the first-ever Class 1A tournament. 

We won again the following year, and we made a trip to state my senior year, 1975, and placed third. Skyline won again in 1977, when my youngest sister was part of the team.

I wrote this blog post in March 2011 about KSHSAA's celebration of 100 years of service to member schools. State basketball winners of the past were recognized and Skyline girls showed up - including the bench sitter.

But as my dad always said, there is value in those people who practice against the stars every day, too. So, to all the SHS basketball players who likely won't get on the court during the game today: I see you. And you're important, too!

 

Click HERE for the blog post, Team Effort.  It echoes what Jami said about being a team - whether you're the star or not.