March 21, 2019 at 04:12AM
The Continentals topped Gary Tolleston 79-76, completing their perfect season. Provided by the IHSAA
On Friday night at the Workingman's Friend Tavern, the boys from the Westside will devour a few hamburgers, down a beer or two, share stories and laugh as those stories bounce seamlessly from one to another. It will be exactly 50 years to the date — March 22, 1969 — that those boys from the Westside finished off one of the most dominant seasons in high school basketball history with a 79-76 win over Gary Tolleston in front of a sellout crowd of 14,943 fans at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Steve Downing remembers that exact moment. When the buzzer sounded, he placed his hands on his hips, seemingly too tired to raise them or hug his teammates. There would be time for that. In that moment, Downing's mind raced back to those state finals games he had attended with his father, wondering what it would be like to feel that emotion on the court as a champion.
"When that clock goes off and you know you are a state champion," Downing said, "that is a feeling that I will never forget."
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Buy Photo 1969 Washington H.S basketball team after their state final victory (Photo: IndyStar file)
Those 1969 Washington Continentals are an unforgettable team, a high-flying, hamburger-scarfing crew full of as much personality as talent. They were led by a 34-year-old first-year coach who pushed all the right buttons. They featured a star player who was a physical specimen by age 15 without ever lifting a weight. They pummeled opponents into submission all season until the final four, when they would have lost if not for a ferocious fourth-quarter comeback.
Some of the stories fade with time. Two of those Continentals have passed away. Their coach, too. But the bond between them remains as strong as it was when Downing heard that horn sound on the night of March 22, 1969.
"We have never strayed too far from one another these last 50 years," Downing said. "It has been a lifelong friendship with these guys."
***
Washington was one of the best teams in the state in 1967-68. The Continentals had five seniors, but were led by star junior George McGinnis, a 6-7 phenom who averaged 28 points and 20 rebounds a game, along with classmates Downing and sharpshooting Jim Arnold. Washington, which had become the second Indianapolis team to win a state championship in 1965 (following three title teams from Crispus Attucks in the 1950s), won the City championship and rose to as high as No. 2 in the state rankings. Coach Jerry Oliver's team avenged a regular-season loss to Tech to defeat the Titans 70-65 in the sectional championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse. A week later, in the Hinkle Regional, the Continentals knocked off Southport — the only other team to beat fifth-ranked Washington during the regular season — 64-53 to set up a showdown that night with ninth-ranked Shortridge. Coach George Theofanis' team had lost twice to Washington during the regular season by a combined seven points, but had won a regional in 1967 before losing 51-49 to New Castle in the semistate final. The Blue Devils featured 6-4 senior Oscar Evans and a tough, pressing defense.
McGinnis: "George Theofanis was a great coach and Shortridge was our biggest rival, as they were for the Attucks teams in the 1950s. Shortridge had a really good history of basketball, good coaching and good players."
Downing: "Going into that game, we had already beat them twice. We thought we could win the game. But they did something no one else did, which was press us. We didn't have the guards to get the ball down (the floor) and that's really why we lost."
Washington led by 10 points late in the first half before Shortridge unleashed the full-court press and won going away, 72-60. McGinnis finished with 26 points and 25 rebounds, but the Continentals turned the ball over 27 times. Evans scored 29 points to lead Shortridge, which went on to play for the state championship two weeks later, losing 68-60 to Gary Roosevelt. After the season, the 37-year-old Oliver left Washington to take an assistant coaching position at Indiana for Lou Watson. Bill Green, who had head coaching jobs at Sacred Heart and Cathedral before coming to Washington as an assistant in 1967, was hired to replace Oliver. For Washington, there was a silver lining to the Shortridge loss.
Washington coach Bill Green talks to is team during a timeout while they were trailing Indianapolis Shortridge in the afternoon game of the regionals. Washington won that game and then beat Warren Central 87-41 in the evening game to advance to the semistate. (Photo: AP file photo)
Downing: "I talked to coach Green and told him we had to have Wayne Pack on the team. Wayne and I had grown up together and I knew he could play."
Pack: "Actually what happened was, Steve said, 'If I get you on the team, you will pass me the ball?' I said, 'Absolutely, I'll get you the ball.' (laughs). Steve and I knew each other. We grew up in Haughville from time we were 10, 11, 12 playing in the alley and in each other's backyards."
Pack had never been able to make the varsity team prior to his senior season of 1968-69. As it turned out, he never lost a high school game.
McGinnis: "To me, it is one of the great high school basketball stories of all-time. Wayne loved playing and he just got better and better and better. He was playing intramural ball, averaging like 40 points a game."
Pack: "We won the intramural league in '68. I was averaging like 20 points a game. I played at the Atkins Boys Club on 16th Street and we made the Boys Club state finals. I played in the alley every day with a lot of those guys, so they knew I could play."
Downing: "It was just a matter of him getting an opportunity."
The table was set to start the 1968-69 season. McGinnis, who starred on Washington's football team, was the centerpiece. But Green, who died in 2011, felt he could go nine deep and not lose much. McGinnis and the 6-9 Downing averaged a combined 40 points and 35 rebounds as juniors and the 6-3 Arnold established himself as a scorer. Senior guard Louie Day, pound-for-pound, was the best athlete in the school. Kenny Carter, a 6-2 senior, provided depth in the frontcourt. Pack was ready to prove himself. And the trio of senior Ken Parks, junior Harvey Galbreath and sophomore Abner Nibbs would start for most teams in the state.
Green (in a 2009 interview with IndyStar): "The papers were calling me the rookie coach. But then to see them practice … our practices were so fantastic, I had tears in my eyes."
Arnold: "Coach Green sat us down the first day of practice, pointed at Steve and George and said, 'They are going to get all the ink and hoopla, but they are not going to win games without you guys. That resonated with all of us. George and Steve, whether they believed it or not, they nodded their heads."
Downing: "That may be true, but coach Green told me individually, 'I'm not going to run any plays for you because we have McGinnis on the team. If you are going to score, you are going to have get rebounds.' I averaged 20 rebounds a game so I believed the guy."
Pack: "There was only one George McGinnis. George was LeBron before LeBron. All the way through grade school, middle school, high school, you knew this guy was going to be special. He played football as well. George, as an athlete, could do just about anything. He was 6-7, 6-8 and he could shoot it from 30 feet out."
► Doyel: Was NBA Hall of Famer George McGinnis better at football?
Buy Photo Washington High School's George McGinnis is mobbed by autograph seekers after a game in March 1969. (Photo: Bob Jordan/Indianapolis News)
Connie Higgins (varsity cheerleader for Washington in 1969): "I was totally in awe of George McGinnis. He was so graceful as an athlete. He made something difficult look so easy. That was George."
Downing: "The thing about George, and I really love him, is that he was a competitor. As a freshman, sophomore in high school, my game really hadn't developed. Playing against him helped me develop my own game. I thought if I could play against him and not embarrass myself, there couldn't be a whole of players better than him. If he could beat you by 50, he would beat you by 50. That's what I really loved about the guy. I had to up my game. I give him a lot of credit for my own development as a player."
Washington started the season ranked No. 2 in the state behind Marion. Coach Jack Colescott's Giants were loaded, losing just one starter from a '68 team that was knocked off on a last-second shot by Shotridge's Evans in the state semifinal. But by Christmas, the Continentals overtook Marion for No. 1. Why? Scores like 102-57 (Hammond), 101-52 (Lawrence Central), 109-65 (Cathedral). There was also a hard-fought 82-77 win over Shortridge in front of 6,500 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the second game of the season.
McGinnis: "We had a purpose going into that season. We wanted to make things right. We knew we were going to be a really good team, even before Wayne made the team. Adding him was such an important piece. I remember Bill Green telling us, 'You guys are accomplishing something really special here.'"
Pack: "We were a great team, no doubt about it. We averaged more than 90 points a game with no shot clock and no 3-point line. Our average winning margin was more than 30 points a game (31.8). Bill Green, in my opinion, was responsible for all of that. Some people ask me if he was really that great of a coach. Absolutely, you bet your (butt) he was a great coach."
Downing: "We had a great relationship with coach Oliver. He was more of a screamer, a fireball. Coach Green was more of an intellectual guy. Whenever things got going in practice he would split us up. Wayne and I were always together. Jim and George were always
The Continentals topped Gary Tolleston 79-76, completing their perfect season. Provided by the IHSAA
On Friday night at the Workingman's Friend Tavern, the boys from the Westside will devour a few hamburgers, down a beer or two, share stories and laugh as those stories bounce seamlessly from one to another. It will be exactly 50 years to the date — March 22, 1969 — that those boys from the Westside finished off one of the most dominant seasons in high school basketball history with a 79-76 win over Gary Tolleston in front of a sellout crowd of 14,943 fans at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Steve Downing remembers that exact moment. When the buzzer sounded, he placed his hands on his hips, seemingly too tired to raise them or hug his teammates. There would be time for that. In that moment, Downing's mind raced back to those state finals games he had attended with his father, wondering what it would be like to feel that emotion on the court as a champion.
"When that clock goes off and you know you are a state champion," Downing said, "that is a feeling that I will never forget."
► We take high school sports seriously. If you do too, subscribe today.
Buy Photo 1969 Washington H.S basketball team after their state final victory (Photo: IndyStar file)
Those 1969 Washington Continentals are an unforgettable team, a high-flying, hamburger-scarfing crew full of as much personality as talent. They were led by a 34-year-old first-year coach who pushed all the right buttons. They featured a star player who was a physical specimen by age 15 without ever lifting a weight. They pummeled opponents into submission all season until the final four, when they would have lost if not for a ferocious fourth-quarter comeback.
Some of the stories fade with time. Two of those Continentals have passed away. Their coach, too. But the bond between them remains as strong as it was when Downing heard that horn sound on the night of March 22, 1969.
"We have never strayed too far from one another these last 50 years," Downing said. "It has been a lifelong friendship with these guys."
***
Washington was one of the best teams in the state in 1967-68. The Continentals had five seniors, but were led by star junior George McGinnis, a 6-7 phenom who averaged 28 points and 20 rebounds a game, along with classmates Downing and sharpshooting Jim Arnold. Washington, which had become the second Indianapolis team to win a state championship in 1965 (following three title teams from Crispus Attucks in the 1950s), won the City championship and rose to as high as No. 2 in the state rankings. Coach Jerry Oliver's team avenged a regular-season loss to Tech to defeat the Titans 70-65 in the sectional championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse. A week later, in the Hinkle Regional, the Continentals knocked off Southport — the only other team to beat fifth-ranked Washington during the regular season — 64-53 to set up a showdown that night with ninth-ranked Shortridge. Coach George Theofanis' team had lost twice to Washington during the regular season by a combined seven points, but had won a regional in 1967 before losing 51-49 to New Castle in the semistate final. The Blue Devils featured 6-4 senior Oscar Evans and a tough, pressing defense.
McGinnis: "George Theofanis was a great coach and Shortridge was our biggest rival, as they were for the Attucks teams in the 1950s. Shortridge had a really good history of basketball, good coaching and good players."
Downing: "Going into that game, we had already beat them twice. We thought we could win the game. But they did something no one else did, which was press us. We didn't have the guards to get the ball down (the floor) and that's really why we lost."
Washington led by 10 points late in the first half before Shortridge unleashed the full-court press and won going away, 72-60. McGinnis finished with 26 points and 25 rebounds, but the Continentals turned the ball over 27 times. Evans scored 29 points to lead Shortridge, which went on to play for the state championship two weeks later, losing 68-60 to Gary Roosevelt. After the season, the 37-year-old Oliver left Washington to take an assistant coaching position at Indiana for Lou Watson. Bill Green, who had head coaching jobs at Sacred Heart and Cathedral before coming to Washington as an assistant in 1967, was hired to replace Oliver. For Washington, there was a silver lining to the Shortridge loss.
Washington coach Bill Green talks to is team during a timeout while they were trailing Indianapolis Shortridge in the afternoon game of the regionals. Washington won that game and then beat Warren Central 87-41 in the evening game to advance to the semistate. (Photo: AP file photo)
Downing: "I talked to coach Green and told him we had to have Wayne Pack on the team. Wayne and I had grown up together and I knew he could play."
Pack: "Actually what happened was, Steve said, 'If I get you on the team, you will pass me the ball?' I said, 'Absolutely, I'll get you the ball.' (laughs). Steve and I knew each other. We grew up in Haughville from time we were 10, 11, 12 playing in the alley and in each other's backyards."
Pack had never been able to make the varsity team prior to his senior season of 1968-69. As it turned out, he never lost a high school game.
McGinnis: "To me, it is one of the great high school basketball stories of all-time. Wayne loved playing and he just got better and better and better. He was playing intramural ball, averaging like 40 points a game."
Pack: "We won the intramural league in '68. I was averaging like 20 points a game. I played at the Atkins Boys Club on 16th Street and we made the Boys Club state finals. I played in the alley every day with a lot of those guys, so they knew I could play."
Downing: "It was just a matter of him getting an opportunity."
The table was set to start the 1968-69 season. McGinnis, who starred on Washington's football team, was the centerpiece. But Green, who died in 2011, felt he could go nine deep and not lose much. McGinnis and the 6-9 Downing averaged a combined 40 points and 35 rebounds as juniors and the 6-3 Arnold established himself as a scorer. Senior guard Louie Day, pound-for-pound, was the best athlete in the school. Kenny Carter, a 6-2 senior, provided depth in the frontcourt. Pack was ready to prove himself. And the trio of senior Ken Parks, junior Harvey Galbreath and sophomore Abner Nibbs would start for most teams in the state.
Green (in a 2009 interview with IndyStar): "The papers were calling me the rookie coach. But then to see them practice … our practices were so fantastic, I had tears in my eyes."
Arnold: "Coach Green sat us down the first day of practice, pointed at Steve and George and said, 'They are going to get all the ink and hoopla, but they are not going to win games without you guys. That resonated with all of us. George and Steve, whether they believed it or not, they nodded their heads."
Downing: "That may be true, but coach Green told me individually, 'I'm not going to run any plays for you because we have McGinnis on the team. If you are going to score, you are going to have get rebounds.' I averaged 20 rebounds a game so I believed the guy."
Pack: "There was only one George McGinnis. George was LeBron before LeBron. All the way through grade school, middle school, high school, you knew this guy was going to be special. He played football as well. George, as an athlete, could do just about anything. He was 6-7, 6-8 and he could shoot it from 30 feet out."
► Doyel: Was NBA Hall of Famer George McGinnis better at football?
Buy Photo Washington High School's George McGinnis is mobbed by autograph seekers after a game in March 1969. (Photo: Bob Jordan/Indianapolis News)
Connie Higgins (varsity cheerleader for Washington in 1969): "I was totally in awe of George McGinnis. He was so graceful as an athlete. He made something difficult look so easy. That was George."
Downing: "The thing about George, and I really love him, is that he was a competitor. As a freshman, sophomore in high school, my game really hadn't developed. Playing against him helped me develop my own game. I thought if I could play against him and not embarrass myself, there couldn't be a whole of players better than him. If he could beat you by 50, he would beat you by 50. That's what I really loved about the guy. I had to up my game. I give him a lot of credit for my own development as a player."
Washington started the season ranked No. 2 in the state behind Marion. Coach Jack Colescott's Giants were loaded, losing just one starter from a '68 team that was knocked off on a last-second shot by Shotridge's Evans in the state semifinal. But by Christmas, the Continentals overtook Marion for No. 1. Why? Scores like 102-57 (Hammond), 101-52 (Lawrence Central), 109-65 (Cathedral). There was also a hard-fought 82-77 win over Shortridge in front of 6,500 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the second game of the season.
McGinnis: "We had a purpose going into that season. We wanted to make things right. We knew we were going to be a really good team, even before Wayne made the team. Adding him was such an important piece. I remember Bill Green telling us, 'You guys are accomplishing something really special here.'"
Pack: "We were a great team, no doubt about it. We averaged more than 90 points a game with no shot clock and no 3-point line. Our average winning margin was more than 30 points a game (31.8). Bill Green, in my opinion, was responsible for all of that. Some people ask me if he was really that great of a coach. Absolutely, you bet your (butt) he was a great coach."
Downing: "We had a great relationship with coach Oliver. He was more of a screamer, a fireball. Coach Green was more of an intellectual guy. Whenever things got going in practice he would split us up. Wayne and I were always together. Jim and George were always together. The competition just flowed and practices got interesting. Coach Green was a smart guy. He knew how to get us to come together as one, where all we cared about was winning. It didn't matter how many points or rebounds, the whole objective was to win. I'd attribute that to coach Green."
The season, for the most part, was blowout after blowout. Washington played its home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse or at Indiana Central (now the University of Indianapolis) to accommodate the big crowds. McGinnis scored a school-record 54 points and outscored Lawrence Central by himself in a 101-52 December win. But he was not the only weapon.
Buy Photo Bill Green cuts down the net after Washington defeated Silver Springs to win the 1969 semistate. (Photo: Jerry Clark/The Indianapolis Star)
Sophomore guard James Riley: "You have to remember, for 31 games, Jim Arnold took the first shot in all 31 games. Steve would tip the ball to George and pass to Jim on the baseline. Maybe he didn't hit every one of them, but he always took the first shot."
Arnold: "Here's how strong that play was — we played Scecina in the City tournament at Tech. They had four guys back on defense on the jump ball. I looked over at Green and he shrugged his shoulders. George threw it up and there's four guys waiting for me. That one went in."
After winning the City tournament with a 90-68 win over rival Shortridge in the championship, the Continentals visited Columbus for one of their toughest regular-season games. Coach Bill Stearman installed a deliberate offense for the game. A stunned and elated crowd watched Columbus take a 36-35 lead into halftime.
Stearman to IndyStar in 1969: "It's the first time in 20 years of coaching I ever went into a game the 40-point underdog."
Arnold: "They came out with the ball and just stood out there and dribbled. It was the first time that had happened to us. We are in a matchup zone. We'd never seen this before, but they were stalling and knew they weren't going to outscore us. Green plugged in a halfcourt trap at halftime and we ended up winning in double figures (80-66), but from then on we saw a lot of schools start to slow it down."
Not that it mattered as Washington rolled its final six opponents. McGinnis broke Oscar Robertson's 13-year-old career city scoring record in the final regular season game, with a 39-point game in a 92-53 win over Arlington at Indiana Central. It also wrapped up a 22-0 regular season. But the fun was just beginning, both on and off the court. Day, the multi-talented guard, regaled the students every Friday during the tournament at pep sessions.
Kenny Parks: "Louie had a soft voice. He would never raise his voice. I only saw him get mad one time and that was at George."
Pack: "We were leaving practice one day during the winter and Louie and George were getting into it a little bit. There was snow and ice on the ground. George kind of hits him in the chest and we say, 'George you better leave Louie alone.' Louie gets in a stance and hits George and George goes down. To this day, George says he slipped on the ice and Louie never hit him. But Louie was the best athlete on the team by far. He played football, ran track, he could do it all."
Cheerleader Denise Byrdsong: "Louie would always flash a smile. He had an inner joy about him."
Higgins: "Louie had a call and response cheer he would do at the end of every pep session. After the coaches and principal said everything, Louie would walk to the podium. I know a lot of the kids who had gone to School 5 or watched Attucks might have seen something like it, but it was something I'd never seen before. It made a deep impression on us. It was phenomenal, and it was unforgettable."
Cheerleader Betty Coop: "It was rap before there was rap."
► Steve Downing: The man behind Marian athletics' growing success
Buy Photo Three members of the 1968-1969 Washington High School basketball team Ð Steve Downing, Eddie Tipton and George McGinnis Ð eye a large cake given to the basketball team. Downing and McGinnis combined to average 55 points and 43 rebounds a game. (Photo: Tim Halcomb/Indianapolis News, FILE)
Day's chant was called "Get on Your Feet." He composed the song to include lines on all of the players and coaches. Downing, called 'Boo' by his teammates, was given this passage by Day:
Along with 'Boo', oh yah
You all know who, oh yah
Just try to shoot, oh yah
He will bait you, oh yah
And ended with this:
'If I may say, oh yah
My name is Day, oh yah
I play the guard, oh yah
And lead the way, oh yah
I'm mighty proud, oh yah
To be on, oh yah
The number one team, oh yah
In the U.S.A., oh yah"
Higgins: "You would think the walls in the gymnasium were about to crash down."
Day in the school yearbook in 1969: "I don't really know why I do my thing. I guess I just want to express myself, so I chose that way."
Washington rolled into the Hinkle Sectional as the choice to win state. In the sectional championship, Attucks stayed within four points at halftime before fading in a 90-64 game. McGinnis led the way with 35 points and 26 rebounds. Pack added 18. The win set up a rematch with rival Shortridge in the regional, a similar situation as the 1968 season when Washington had won two regular-season meetings before falling in the regional. Theofanis had the Blue Devils ready, packing the defense in on McGinnis and Downing, who combined for just 26 points. Washington led by just one point with 3 minutes left before pulling out a 46-38 win. Its rival dispatched, Washington drilled its next three opponents — Warren Central, Silver Creek and Jac-Cen-Del — by 46, 21 and 31 points to earn a spot in the state finals. The four teams — Washington, Marion, Gary Tolleston and Vincennes Lincoln — came to Hinkle Fieldhouse with a combined 110-1 record. Second-ranked Marion (27-0) would meet Washington (29-0), followed by No. 3 Vincennes Lincoln (27-0) and No. 5 Gary Tolleston (27-1). Tolleston's loss came to Chicago Farragut.
McGinnis: "We knew that whoever was going to win it that year was going to be considered one of the all-time great teams. There were four really outstanding teams. We didn't get a lot of scouting back then, but we knew about Marion. We knew they were a very good, well-coached team."
John Chin, Marion junior guard: "We had a fantastic team. We had height and quickness. One of our big weapons was Jovon Price, a 6-6 guard. That just didn't happen back then. He could play guard or forward and played really good defense. We called him 'Spider.' He was even better at Purdue, but he could do so many things for us."
Marion, which had not won a state championship since 1926, was coached by Jack Colescott. Joining Price in the starting lineup was 6-1 guard Jerry Townsend, 6-2 guard Danny Gunn, and 6-7 seniors Joe Sutter and Brent Myers — all but Myers averaged in double figures. The Giants were the best defensive team in the final four, allowing just 52 points per game. Washington was averaging 90.4 points.
Chin: "(Colescott) emphasized a team game. We didn't have one guy who was the star and he kept it that way. It was about defense, spacing, rebounding and controlling the ball."
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The Marion game is the one that stands out the most, 50 years later. There were oddities to the afternoon. A stray dog made its way through the doors, though the sellout crowd and on to the court during warmups. Galbreath picked him up and handed him to an usher. The game clock malfunctioned and did not work all game. The public address announcer called out the time every 30 seconds. But it was a great game. The teams went back and forth in the first half with Marion taking a 31-29 lead into halftime. By the end of the third quarter, after briefly leading by 12, Marion led 52-42.
Green in 2009: "(I was) sweating blood. I figured that would be the end of my coaching career."
Parks: "Kenny and I were sitting on the bench saying, 'We lost this game.'"
Arnold: "I never thought of losing. Wayne and I were like, 'OK, let's start putting it up. Let's start shooting.'"
Downing: "You always shot (laughs). We'd never been in that position. We needed a spark. I felt like were going to lose, quite frankly, when we were down 12."
Higgins: "The pressure was so great at Hinkle Fieldhouse. We hadn't been behind like that all year."
Washington cheerleader Nina Tuttle: "All I could think was, 'We've come this far. We're not going to give up.'"
Green's words at the beginning of the season rang true in the fourth quarter. Washington still trailed by 10 points with six minutes left. He called timeout and switched from the zone trap to man-to-man. And Arnold and Pack starting hitting. Arnold from the left wing made it 56-51. Pack hit a 20-footer from the top of key cut Marion's lead to 56-53. Pack scored again from the top to make it 56-55. After a charge on Marion's Gunn, Pack fired in another one from the left wing to make it 57-56 Washington with less than four minutes to go.
Buy Photo George McGinnis is overcome with jubilation after the Washington Continentals beat Marion High School in the semifinals at Hinkle fieldhouse. (Photo: Frank Fisse/IndyStar)
McGinnis: "That was the difference in the game. Jim Arnold and Wayne Pack's contributions in the fourth quarter. Steve played really well, too. But Wayne and Jim hit big shot after big shot."
Downing: "Wayne got us back in the game."
Marion took the lead back on a 12-foot shot by Price. Suter hit two free throws to give Marion a 60-57 lead. But Arnold scored on a tough driving shot to cut Marion's lead to 60-59. With 27 seconds left, Green called timeout. Downing had four fouls, but should have had five. An error by the scorekeeper earlier in the game credited McGinnis with a foul instead of Downing.
Downing: "It was probably one of my worst games. The ball was supposed to go to McGinnis for the (final shot). (Green) did talk about getting the ball to the big guy. To me, that was George because he had a great game."
Out of the timeout, Day passed to Downing, who shot a twisting 12-footer from the left baseline over Marion's 6-5 Ned Rencher. Downing, just 2-for-9 to that point, swished it through with 24 seconds left.
Riley: "I was sitting two seats down from coach Green. When Steve went to the corner and shot that jumper, he stood up and said, 'What the … Way to go!'"
Downing: "I was trying to make it but I wanted to have enough time for George so he could get a rebound. I was just as surprised as anyone that (Day) threw me the ball."
McGinnis: "We wanted to get the ball inside and then be there for the rebound. Steve did the right thing."
Marion had one final shot. Suter passed to Townsend on the right block with just a few seconds remaining. With the crowd roaring, Downing came over to help and deflected the shot. McGinnis snared the rebound and fired ahead to Pack, who was fouled as the horn sounded. Pack missed both free throws, but it was irrelevant. Final score: Washington 61, Marion 60.
Chin: "It was just a great game. There was some controversy with the foul situation and the scoreboard. I'm not going to say we would have won, but they had more pressure and they were supposed to win. Even though we were undefeated, they were supposed to beat us. We probably should have beat them, but they were a great team. To have two guys like Downing and McGinnis on the same high school team was just unbelievable."
McGinnis: "It seemed like the weird things that happened in that game favored us. Marion played well enough to win. They just didn't play as solid down the stretch as we did."
1969 Washington Continentals: Front row, left to right: Harvey Galbreath, Assistant Coach Basil Sfreddo, Louie Day and Steve Stanfield; middle row, Coach Bill Green, Wayne ack and Alan Glaze; back row, Ken Carter, Abner Nibbs, George McGinnis, Steve Downing, James Arnold, James Riley and Kenneth Parks. (Photo: Frank Fisse photo)
Gary Tolleston, a school that would consolidate into Gary West Side after the school year, defeated Jerry Memering and Vincennes Lincoln in the second game, 77-66. Tolleston liked the uptempo game. Coach Jim Dailey relied on star guards Henry Goodes and Donell Baity, along with forwards Virgil Taueg and Vernon Williams and center Mark Vaxter. All five Blue Raiders averaged in double figures, led by Goodes' 23-point average. Washington played from a lead this time, going ahead by 18 points in the third quarter before hanging on for a 79-76 win. McGinnis scored 35 points to break the four-game tournament record with 148 points. Green took the team to White Castle after the game, which had been a season-long tradition.
Green in 2009: "To me, that team and Attucks (in '56) had to be the two best teams. You can't say you're the best if you don't win it."
Green, ironically, took the Marion job in 1970.
Chin: "No too many people liked him at first because of that game in '69. But after a few years, people came around. He definitely left his mark."
Green won five state championships in 16 seasons at Marion, where the arena is named after him. Day died in 2015. The pastor mimicked Day's call-and-response cheer at the funeral. His friends and former teammates started clapping, just like at those pep sessions. Abner Nibbs died in 2011.
Riley: "Abner Nibbs was a great athlete and a great person. He was outstanding."
McGinnis and Downing went to play at Indiana. McGinnis, who averaged 32.8 points in that '69 season, went on to play 11 ABA and NBA seasons with the Pacers, 76ers and Nuggets. After starring at Indiana, Downing played 27 games for the Boston Celtics. The persistent Pack starred at Tennessee Tech and even latched on to the Pacers for 21 games in 1974-75. But they were never closer to a team than they were at Washington. They came from places like School 5, School 49, School 52, School 63, School 75. Some came from neighborhoods that were demolished when the IUPUI campus was developed on the Westside. And they came together at a time in the late 1960s when there was civil unrest throughout the country. What did it mean to be at Washington in 1969?
Parks: "You feel like you belong wherever you go. I even got a job from being on that team. You put it on your resume and people say, 'There must be something special about him.'"
Arnold: "For me personally, and I think all us kind of feel this way, after we won state it was the pinnacle. For the rest of my life, I never felt intimidated in any situation. You weren't cocky, but you felt a sense of accomplishment."
Pack: "It's like a family. When I see people and tell them I was on the Washington team in 1969 they go into their own stories about where they were. It is an honor to be talked about as one of the greatest teams in Indiana high school basketball history. As long as we are in that conversation after 50 years, that is pretty special."
Riley: "It taught you self-respect. When you were in that atmosphere, you had to carry yourself as an upstanding individual. You were on a pedestal. You would walk into a pep session and there was nothing but big smiles and cheers and motivation."
Byrdsong: "My neighborhood produced people like Ralph Taylor, Marvin Winkler, Louie Day, George McGinnis. I'd run races with Louie Day. He'd give me a head start. We'd play until the lights came on. It was just every day life. It was a mecca of love and hope. (As an African-American cheerleader), I felt a responsibility for students who looked like me because I was the only one."
Higgins: "I always have felt, 'How was I so lucky to be here at that time?'"
Lou Trieb, cheerleader: "We went by Indianapolis Washington. They didn't call us George Washington. It was Indianapolis Washington by the regional, semistate and state. I felt like we made our city proud. It was an honor and a privilege to be cheer for that team."
McGinnis: "I can't tell you how many times I run into people who say they remember that shot Downing made or they remember watching us play at Hinkle. Coach Green was right, it was a really special time."
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
Washington team
George McGinnis, Sr.
Steve Downing, Sr.
Jim Arnold, Sr.
Wayne Pack, Sr.
Louie Day, Sr.
James Riley, Soph.
Harvey Galbreath, Jr.
Alan Glaze, Soph.
Abner Nibbs, Soph.
Kenneth Parks, Sr.
Kenneth Carter, Sr.
Steve Stanfield, Soph.
