Little Bowers High School Wins the 1927 Sectional

On the first day of school in the fall of 1959, my sixth grade teacher announced to the class that there would be ten new students joining us, as their school…Bowers…had closed. I didn’t know much about Bowers school, except that there was a cute little girl I had seen that summer who was going to be in my class. I had never seen the school building, but I had been to Bowers Station, the only “town” in Sugar Creek Township…not much there…an elevator, general store, and five or six houses. I soon found out that the Bowers students were very friendly and were great classmates. But I also learned that, as far as athletic ability, the boys from Bowers who played sports were smart and tough…and did not like to lose! Being the smallest school in the county, the Bowers boys were always underdogs, and they really enjoyed competition. I played basketball with Joe and Phil Mahoy, Ed Gable, Don Carpenter, Steve Emmert, and Dick Clouser, and I learned how to be more aggressive on the court and be a “team player.”

Bowers was the first school in the county, other than Crawfordsville and Wingate, to win the Sectional Tourney…in 1927. An article in the Darlington Herald newspaper stated: “You can’t judge a man by the kind of clothes he wears…neither can you judge the strength of a high school basketball team by the size of the school it represents. The truth was clearly demonstrated when the Bowers high school team, representing the smallest high school in the county, won the Sectional tournament at Crawfordsville, defeating Wingate by a score of 20 to 10 in the final game, last Saturday night. To the all-wise dopesters throughout the county, the victory of the Bowers team came as a complete surprise, but to the people of this community, who are personally acquainted with Coach Chayce Cox and the members of the Bowers squad, the wonderful playing of this team was not luck or just happen so, but the result of excellent coaching, clean living, constant training, and a lot of basketball brains on the part of the players.”

Bowers won the 1927 championship by defeating Ladoga 17-12 on Friday night, demolishing New Ross 34-16 on Saturday afternoon, and then winning over Wingate 20-10 on Saturday night…holding the Spartans to only two points in the second half. The Blackshirts went on to the Greencastle Regional, winning their first game against Montezuma 23-19, but then losing to Greencastle 24-15 in the finals, with two of Bowers starters ill during the game. It is interesting to note that there were only 47 students in the top four grades at Bowers that year! And Bowers didn’t even have a gym, except for a basement with a low ceiling in the school building. All games were played away from home until the team began using the Darlington Armory, which was constructed in 1938. The Blackshirts also won their first and only County Tourney in 1942, twelve years before Darlington won their first. And Darlington never won a Sectional at Crawfordsville, although they did win a tremendous Sectional championship at Lebanon in 1969. Linden, Ladoga, and Alamo all won at least one County Tourney, but never a Sectional.

After the 1927 Sectional championship, the Bowers community had a big celebration, with a pitch-in supper, music, and the presentation of honor sweaters. The Darlington businessmen also donated fifteen gallons of ice cream to their Bowers neighbors.

Well, that’s Bowers and their basketball legacy…And oh yes…that cute little 6th grade girl from Bowers…I married her two days after I turned 18…and we have been married 55 years!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.