GHS 1980 team reunites, connects with current squad

Monday, February 20, 2023
Sharing the common bond of being the only regional champions in the Greencastle girls’ basketball program history, the 1980 and 2023 squads also briefly share the floor at McAnally Center on Friday afternoon.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

Though Saturday would not play out how Greencastle had hoped at the IHSAA Shelbyville Girls’ Basketball Semi-State, the Tiger Cubs were sent off by a group of individuals they had a connection to, even if they may not have known it at first glance.

Nine members of the 1980 Greencastle girls’ basketball regional championship team were in attendance at a pep rally held for the current squad Friday afternoon, mixing plenty of hugs and memories with words of encouragement for the current crop of those in purple and gray.

Those in attendance included Shawn Huber, Susan Lezotte, Nancy Johnson, Tammy (Clark) Zimmerman, Karen (Nelson) Birt, Liz Mundy, Stephanie (Pierce) Baynard, D’Anne Brown and Allison Leer.

Greencastle went 19-2 in the 1980 season, winning the school’s first sectional and a regional title along the way, falling in the semistate to eventual state champions Southport.

While some members might be regulars at McAnally Center, for others, graduation was the last time they had been on the floor where they once dribbled, drove and dove all over.

“I couldn’t even tell you but it’s been many years,” Brown said about last being in McAnally Center. “I don’t think I’ve been back since graduation but it brings back a lot of memories of practice and games.”

“Probably the last time I was at McAnally Center was when one of my best friend’s nephews, Wade and Trevor Huber, were playing,” Johnson added. “It’s been a while but it’s an honor to be back. It still looks the same and I love it.”

“I want to say graduation,” Lezotte said. “I don’t think I’ve been back since then. Maybe for a sibling’s graduation but it’s been a long time.

“We all remember Mr. Marchbanks,” Lezotte added, a name that came up several times in conversation with the returning players. “He was the janitor and took a lot of pride in the building. He always made sure people kept their hardsole shoes off the floor, which is what I was talking to Tammy about. Everybody remembers that.”

Just as long was the chance for the squad members to meet in person, something made difficult by differing graduation years and moving on with their academic and career pursuits.

“I’m enjoying it a lot,” Zimmerman said about the reunion. “For most of the girls, it’s been 43 years since I’ve seen them. It’s interesting to catch up on what everyone is doing and I expect to have a lot of fun catching up with them.”

“This is so awesome and what is even more exciting is that some of our parents are here,” Birt, the secretary at Greencastle Middle School and individual helping to organize the gathering, added. “They wanted to come and that’s fun for them because they’re reminiscing just like we are.”

“You know, after 43 years, that we would get the chance to get back together?” Mundy pointed out. “The parents are the ones who are having a good time; they had bleacher butt all these years following us to every game and they’re the stars of the show.”

As for the 1979-80 season itself, many of the memories the players had involved less the on-court action and more the off-court events that helped the team bond, as well as the support of the community as the season progressed.

“It was so much fun,” Lezotte said about the 1980 season. “We had never been able to get past Mooresville in the sectional and it was such a big deal to just get past them.

“From there, it was so much fun. The town came out to support us, hosting different things and being festive. It was a great run, a great team effort and different people stepped up in different games.”

“I remember the team was a focused one that wanted to come out and win,” Zimmerman said. “We had a lot of fun together. I remember as much of the stuff we did off the court as we did on the court.

“We were pretty close and I hope the girls grasp what they’ve done and take away memories from it.”

“I was known as the super sub, the first one off the bench, and I love playing defense,” Huber said. “What I loved most about the season was coach (Mike) Tzouanakis was our assistant coach and we would go to his house for meals. We would go there on days of weekend games so we were all corralled together and we’ve stayed in contact.”

“It was just a great group of women,” Baynard said. “We were a determined group with some of the JV players moving up with us; we had great coaches as coach TZ (Mike Tzouanakis) and (Greencastle head coach Kathy) Pieper were wonderful.

“The community was excited and the paper was full of us every day.”

“We were off the charts,” Brown said. “We had so much energy and it was so exciting after every win. We got closer as we won sectionals and regional; the whole town was on fire and we had followers from all over the place.”

The semistate loss to Southport was an experience in and of itself.

“What I remember about the semistate game was that the girls we were playing were way more physical than we were,” Leer said. “We had a lot of scholars on the team and when we would go through the lane, we were saying, ‘Excuse me!’ and the other girls were bumping and pushing us; it was new for us because we hadn’t had that kind of competition before.

“The best thing that I remember is that, while I don’t remember much about the game itself, I remember traveling with my teammates because that was the first time I had traveled and stayed in a hotel room with someone other than my parents. We had dinner in a big conference room, woke up the next morning, had breakfast together and remember being impressed that we had nice goblets of orange juice there.

“The hotel we stayed in, a two-story hotel, was right in front of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which has since been torn down,” Leer added. “It was a good group of ladies and we had a good time.”

Even though the current squad met the same end as their predecessors did, the experience, the personal interactions and the support from the community was what the older squad hoped the younger squad took away.

“I hope these girls take a minute, breathe and realize what has been going on,” Mundy said. “The stories that we have been sharing since Karen got us all together; we’re in a group text and have been just like teenagers texting back-and-forth.

“It’s been, ‘You remember this?’ and ‘You remember that?’ There’s a lot of good memories and the best part has been to get to see the girls again.”

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  • This is a great story, and is something the current team will never forget. Blessings to you all.

    -- Posted by Inn at DePauw on Mon, Feb 20, 2023, at 6:55 PM
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