On Boxing Day 2003, eight basketball teams from four schools gathered for what has become a multi-day New Year's extravaganza -- the Hancock County basketball tournament.
With two exceptions, the county tourney was held annually from 1920-67, but as 10 county schools became five -- and then four, as Hancock Central was set to cease to exist -- the tourney seemed to outlive its usefulness -- a point hammered even more home in 1980, when the IHSAA gave us all a gift by creating the Greenfield-Central sectional -- four teams, two nights, the four county schools. That format lasted for 14 years, until a massive IHSAA realignment moved Lapel and Pendleton Heights into the sectional. Even though the original 1920-67 county tourney largely mirrored the sectional for many of those years, the "city school" Greenfield did not participate after 1925, meaning it was an opportunity for the smaller "county" schools to compete with each other on a level playing field before having to play in a similar tourney with the big county-seat school.
However, the onset of class basketball in 1998 meant the four Hancock County teams would never gather in a tournament setting again in March. Many counties decided to replicate their old sectionals with county tournaments, so we resurrected ours in 2003, with a unique format -- all four schools host something, with four games over two nights. It's pretty convoluted and confusing to figure out who's hosting what, but we've had some great basketball over the years.
First of all, this year's draw. Everything begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday with the JV tourney at Mt. Vernon. Then, things really get going on Wednesday, when Mt. Vernon visits Greenfield-Central and Eastern Hancock visits New Palestine. Consolation and championship games will be played simultaneously at Eastern Hancock Thursday night. Tipoffs for all varsity games are 6 p.m. for girls and approximately 7:30 p.m. for boys.
Of course, we will be broadcasting the championship games. To listen, CLICK HERE! Airtime is 5:40 p.m. Thursday.
In the current format, New Palestine and Mt. Vernon's boys have won three titles each, while the MV and Greenfield-Central girls also have three championships each. MV is currently in possession of both the boys and girls traveling trophies.
In the original tournament, Fortville won eight championships, while Mt. Comfort, Charlottesville, Eden and New Palestine all won five titles. Hancock Central -- a 1955 consolidation of Eden and Maxwell -- won four tournaments despite a very short existence.
Here's the tourney history:
Boys
2009-10
*Mt. Vernon 53, New Palestine 48
*Greenfield-Central 57, Eastern Hancock 55
Eastern Hancock 65, *New Palestine 60, consolation
Mt. Vernon 65, Greenfield-Central 41, championship
2008-09
Mt. Vernon 65, *Eastern Hancock 64
*New Palestine 60, Greenfield-Central 54
Greenfield-Central 52, Eastern Hancock 51, OT, consolation
*Mt. Vernon 51, New Palestine 19, championship
2007-08
New Palestine 75, *Greenfield-Central 69
*Mt. Vernon 54, Eastern Hancock 46
Eastern Hancock 59, Greenfield-Central 56, consolation
*New Palestine 41, Mt. Vernon 39, championship
2006-07
*Mt. Vernon 70, Eastern Hancock 43
*New Palestine 61, Greenfield-Central 38
*Eastern Hancock 53, Greenfield-Central 43, consolation
Mt. Vernon 74, New Palestine 55, championship
2005-06
New Palestine 62, *Eastern Hancock 47
*Greenfield-Central 51, Mt. Vernon 50
*Mt. Vernon 50, Eastern Hancock 31, consolation
New Palestine 59, Greenfield-Central 57, OT, championship
2004-05
New Palestine 41, *Mt. Vernon 38
Greenfield-Central 53, *Eastern Hancock 49
Mt. Vernon 52, Eastern Hancock 45, consolation
*New Palestine 51, Greenfield-Central 50, championship
2003-04
Greenfield-Central 67, *New Palestine 53
*Eastern Hancock 53, Mt. Vernon 47
New Palestine 59, Mt. Vernon 49, consolation
*Greenfield-Central 75, Eastern Hancock 63, championship
Records
Mt. Vernon 9-5, 3 championships/1 runner-up
New Palestine 9-5, 3 championships/2 runners-up
Greenfield-Central 6-8, 1 championship/3 runners-up
Eastern Hancock 4-10, 1 runner-up
Girls
2009-10
*Mt. Vernon 48, New Palestine 27
*Greenfield-Central 64, Eastern Hancock 14
*New Palestine 51, Eastern Hancock 27, consolation
Mt. Vernon 48, Greenfield-Central 37, championship
2008-09
Greenfield-Central 55, *New Palestine 42
Mt. Vernon 61, *Eastern Hancock 22
New Palestine 48, Eastern Hancock 31, consolation
Greenfield-Central 40, *Mt. Vernon 39, championship
2007-08
*Greenfield-Central 62, New Palestine 38
*Mt. Vernon 53, Eastern Hancock 32
*New Palestine 55, Eastern Hancock 29, consolation
Greenfield-Central 54, Mt. Vernon 38, championship
2006-07
Greenfield-Central 52, *New Palestine 33
*Mt. Vernon 55, Eastern Hancock 30
New Palestine 59, *Eastern Hancock 29, consolation
Greenfield-Central 62, Mt. Vernon 43, championship
2005-06
New Palestine 65, *Eastern Hancock 34
*Greenfield-Central 56, Mt. Vernon 39
*Mt. Vernon 47, Eastern Hancock 31, consolation
New Palestine 78, Greenfield-Central 75, 2OT, championship
2004-05
*Mt. Vernon 69, New Palestine 61
Eastern Hancock 55, *Greenfield-Central 50
*New Palestine 63, Greenfield-Central 44, consolation
Mt. Vernon 42, Eastern Hancock 35, championship
2003-04
Mt. Vernon 48, *Eastern Hancock 43
*New Palestine 72, Greenfield-Central 47
*Greenfield-Central 64, Eastern Hancock 54, consolation
Mt. Vernon 63, New Palestine 47, championship
Records
Mt. Vernon 10-4, 3 championships/3 runners-up
Greenfield-Central 9-5, 3 championships/2 runners-up
New Palestine 8-6, 1 championship/1 runner-up
Eastern Hancock 1-13, 1 runner-up
Original county tourney (boys)
1920: Fortville 34, Greenfield 4
1921: Fortville 29, New Palestine 14
1922: Greenfield 20, New Palestine 10
1923: Eden 16, Wilkinson 6
1924: Mt. Comfort 30, Greenfield 22
1925: McCordsville 36, Wilkinson 35
1926: New Palestine 25, Mt. Comfort 20
1927: Mt. Comfort 40, Wilkinson 30
1929: Wilkinson 9, Fortville 8
1930: Mt. Comfort 17, New Palestine 12
1931: Mt. Comfort 39, Westland 34, OT
1932: Eden 28, Westland 22
1933: Fortville 24, Westland 20
1934: Mt. Comfort 23, New Palestine 11
1935: Charlottesville 35, Maxwell 27
1936: McCordsville 29, Maxwell 27, OT
1937: Eden 29, Mt. Comfort 20
1938: Fortville 20, Eden 15
1939: Fortville 24, Wilkinson 19
1940: Fortville 42, Charlottesville 20
1941: Westland 26, Mt. Comfort 24
1942: Charlottesville 46, New Palestine 27
1944: Eden 46, Maxwell 35
1945: New Palestine 39, Eden 38
1946: Eden 19, Fortville 7
1947: Fortville 55, Eden 43
1948: Fortville 51, Mt. Comfort 24
1949: Charlottesville 52, Fortville 48
1950: Charlottesville 50, New Palestine 38
1951: Wilkinson 44, McCordsville 36
1952: New Palestine 54, Charlottesville 47
1953: New Palestine 56, Fortville 52
1954: Wilkinson 43, Eden 41
1955: Wilkinson 50, Eden 37
1956: Hancock Central 62, Wilkinson 50
1957: Charlottesville 73, New Palestine 60
1958: New Palestine 62, Mt. Comfort 54
1959: Hancock Central 60, New Palestine 57
1960: Vernon Township 55, Hancock Central 42
1961: Wilkinson 66, Vernon Township 64
1962: Hancock Central 81, Vernon Township 70
1963: Vernon Township 69, New Palestine 66
1964: Hancock Central 43, Wilkinson 35
1965: Eastern Hancock 49, Hancock Central 47
1966: Mt. Vernon 61, Eastern Hancock 54
1967: Mt. Vernon 88, New Palestine 74
Championships
Eastern Hancock (12 in its lineage). school created 1964, consolidation of Wilkinson & Charlottesville, Westland closed & consolidated into Charlottesville 1946.
Eastern Hancock (1): 1965
Charlottesville (5): 1935, 1942, 1949, 1950, 1957
Wilkinson (5): 1929, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1961
Westland (1): 1941
Greenfield-Central (10 in its lineage). school created 1969, consolidation of Greenfield & Hancock Central. HC was a 1955 consolidation of Eden & Maxwell.
Greenfield (1): 1922 (did not participate after 1925)
Eden (5): 1923, 1932, 1937, 1944, 1946
Hancock Central (4): 1956, 1959, 1962, 1964
Mt. Vernon (19 in its lineage). school created 1963, consolidation of Vernon Township & Mt. Comfort. VT was a 1959 consolidation of Fortville & McCordsville.
Mt. Vernon (2): 1966, 1967
Fortville (8): 1920, 1921, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948 (did not participate after 1953).
Mt. Comfort (5): 1924, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1934
McCordsville (2): 1925, 1936
Vernon Township (2): 1960, 1963
New Palestine (5): 1926, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1958
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