Almost 50 years have passed since Decatur County's 7 small high schools were consolidated into North Decatur and South Decatur. In the years prior to 1968, instead of three basketball teams competing against each other within the county, there were eight. According to Norm Voiles, Sandcreek High School graduates are still celebrating Sandcreek's historic win over the Greensburg Pirates in 1946, which resulted in Sandcreek's first and only sectional crown. Voiles graduated from Sandcreek in 1947.
25 February 1946, Greensburg Daily News
Local historian Jack Poore fills in the details of the big win in his fantastic series of books chronicling Decatur County Basketball:
"Probably the biggest surprise in many years of Decatur County basketball was Sandcreek's first ever sectional title. The Indians were only 6-6 after losing to Jackson on Feb. 1 and were not considered a sectional threat. Actually no team was a clear-cut favorite for the sectional title. The Greensburg Pirates had lost 10 of their last 12 regular season games and finished the regular season with a 6-14 mark, but many thought of them in the favorite role.
Greensburg easily defeated their first two sectional opponents, while Sandcreek barely survived their opening game against Sandusky. The Pirates struggled in their Saturday afternoon contest against North Vernon, defeating the Panthers 27-25, as a last-second field goal by the Panthers was disallowed. Meanwhile, the Indians won over New Point in their afternoon clash, setting up their battle with Greensburg.
The final game was close throughout until 4 minutes to play, when Sandcreek pulled out to a 40-33 lead and seemed to have the game won. But Greensburg battled back and scored the last seven points of the quarter to send the game into overtime. In the overtime session, Dick Nugent scored all 3 points to bring Sandcreek their first ever sectional crown.
Ray Hern, coach of the sectional-winning Sandcreek Indians, played on one of the first high school teams in Decatur County and coached 4 of the county tournament championship teams. Coach Hern played with Westport in 1911 when the first high school teams were organized in Decatur County."You can re-live (or discover for the first time) 65 years of Decatur County basketball through Poore's books. They are available for checkout at the Greensburg-Decatur County Public Library.
