Small towns and state championships: Alexandria (2017) and Lilly (1959) and Hickory (?)

… those small towns are special 

The television report called the followers a "sea of green." A newspaper article about the girls basketball team referred to their "massive gathering of fans" that attended the game -- and celebrated with joy after the victory.

In fact, in that Altoona Mirror story, one of the Juniata Valley High School players directly thanked members of the community who journeyed from Alexandria, Pa. to Altoona for the game.

“I want to thank the community for coming out,” freshman Halee Smith said. “It gives us motivation to play even better. I know we were the underdogs, and having those fans behind us was amazing.”

Their coach went even a step further, talking about how the young ladies had swept up the community by storm and electrified them with their performance. “Businesses shut down today. We had people greeting us as we went over the bridge in town. My phone has been going off non-stop, and this entire community has supported these kids non-stop. It’s amazing. We have brought an entire town together,” Rachelle Hopsicker told the Mirror.

Only in small-town America.

What is even more amazing about the show of fans was that Alexandria is just a tiny place in Huntingdon County, Pa., practically a village of 341 people, according to the 2010 census. Most of the people at Juniata Valley come from surrounding communities of Petersburg borough (455), Baree Township (469), Logan Township (678), West Township (571), Morris Township (410), and Spruce Creek Township (240), none of which has a population above 700.

Alexandria is where the school is located, and it is very similar to that fictitious town of Hickory, Indiana, the location of the school that made the movie "Hoosiers" so endearing. A small community falls in love with its team that earns its way to the state championship game.

That is what the Juniata Valley Lady Hornets have done for Alexandria and its rural suburbs. And that is what the Lilly-Washington Red Raiders did for the small town of Lilly, Pa. in 1959.

Small town fans

There is something special about small communities and their teams. They unite in a special way when their kids accomplish great things in life.

So, as the Lady Hornets lead their fans to Hersheypark Arena today at noon for a game against Lebanon Catholic, their fans will have more intensity than their opponents since they actually represent a geographical community, a small unit of land, a very special unit.

In 1959, our little town of Lilly also experienced this. Unlike the JV accomplishment, which was somewhat anticipated by its fans, this one came out of nowhere. That was because the Lilly-Washington Red Raiders had a losing record that season. They won just eight or nine games. Part of that had to do with it playing schools that were much larger than it was. Part of it was that those other teams were pretty good.

However, Coach Emil Salony's team played well in the playoffs. From what I can remember, they defeated Dale and Rothrock en route to the District 6 crown. They then defeated District 5's Hyndman, 43-39, for their first interdistrict win, and then edged out Randolph of District 10, 52-49, for the Western Final, according to historical archives on the PIAA website. [The WPIAL had no Class C teams at that time. Only ten districts competed.]

That set up a David v. Goliath matchup with West Reading and its 6-foot, 9-inch all-state center.

Community

Lilly was somewhat larger in 1959 than Alexandria is today, though the two school districts were somewhat similar. Lilly had 1,642 people in 1960, with Washington Township perhaps about 800. So, they had about 2,500 people, while JV has about 3,100 today.

At that time, Lilly-Washington had about 225 students in grades 9 through 12, while Juniata Valley has about 252 today based on grade averages. So, both were very small schools.

Perhaps that is why the people today are so enthralled with what is happening with their Lady Hornets. Small schools engender close feelings in their communities.

Recollection of Lilly-Washington

At the time of the Red Raiders' success, they were playing their basketball games in the old Italian Hall that was located on Piper Street near the War Memorial Field. It was a big, ramshackle place, very different from the courts that would follow as schools started a building boom in the 1960s.

Still, it had a special ambiance to it.

The floor was longer than many of that era, certainly larger than that bandbox in Gallitzin, but if you tried to shoot from the top of the key, the rafters may prove to be an impediment.

Still, I loved going to games on a Friday night. They had a unique scoreboard, hand driven, and if you got their first, you had a chance to move the metallic plates when the team scored.

Members of that 1959 team included Tony Bradley, Mickey Leap, Casey Salony, Lee Nadolsky, and Tommy Hite. Coming off the bench were Jack Binduga and Phil McGivney, and they played a lot. Jack was the only big guy, about 6-2 or 6-3, so he became a key component in stopping Ron Krick, West Reading's ace.

Krick

The sad part of this was that the Raiders were playing against a guy who would eventually become the leading scorer in Pa. history, breaking Wilt Chamberlin's all-time scoring record. Krick was just a sophomore in 1959, and he led West Reading to three consecutive state titles as he scored 3,174 points in his career. He went from there to the University of Cincinnati and then had a short career in the NBA.

That was bad enough, but Krick's team was playing at Albright College in Reading, right in their backyard. That was completely unfair, PIAA -- which was then dominated by powers in the eastern and central parts of the state.

My recollection

All I know is that my mother would not let me go to the game on one of the buses that went about 205 miles to Reading. She said that I, at 11 years of age, was too young. I would get back too late, and I had no one to look after me.

At least the War Memorial organization paid to have the game broadcast on radio, so we could at least hear it.

The buses filled with Red and White chugged their way eastward, along with quite a few cars. I am not certain that LWHS had as many people or vehicles as the sea of green that JV will have today, but it was still special for a small community.

Unfortunately, the Red Raiders lost, 74-55, in that game, but it was a special accomplishment for a small community and a small school. So many of those players, most of whom are still alive, from what I know, never forgot that accomplishment.

Everyone believed that Gallitzin would be the team to make the state title game -- in Class B -- in 1959, but instead, it was the Lilly Raiders.

Good luck to the JV girls today. They are at least playing closer to home than the Raiders did 58 years ago. Hopefully, they will cart home some gold to Alexandria and those small communities that they call home.

http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/results/Winter/Basketball/1959_Class_C_BB.pdf