Local Sports
Back in time: The 1953-54 and 1954-55 Gillespie basketball teams
This article was written by the late Andy Easton featured in Gillespie Area News in 2002, contributed to TheBenGilPost.com by Steve Joyce at the Gillespie Public Library
The decade of 1950’s produced some of the finest basketball teams to ever wear the orange and black for Gillespie High School.
For six of the ten years, the Miners had teams that won twenty or more games in a season. We also won six conference championships and five Macoupin County Tournament titles. Two teams that I would like to feature this week are the 1953-54 and 1954-55 squads.
The players on the 53-54 team were Chuck Baima, “Beaver” Brown, Lynn Hartweger, Bob Knopp, Gary Poole, Terry Sigman, BJ Smith, Jack Whitehouse, Darrell Duncan, Bill Lancaster, and Gene Martin. This team posted a season record of 24-5 with three losses at the hands of Litchfield who happened to import a player named Ron Purcell from Pinkneyville.
Purcell led Pinckneyville to a third-place finish in the state tournament during the 52-53 season and had led Litchfield to state in 53-54 where they lost to Barrinton in the opening round. Our three losses to Litchfield were 70-51, 77-67 and 64-51 in the regional. Who knows what the fate of the Miners might have been if Purcell hadn’t “moved” to Litchfield. Purcell was one of the best all-around players to perform in central Illinois.
“Beaver” Brown, Jack Whitehouse and Gary Poole returned as seniors for the 1954-55 season. Darrell Duncan and Stanley Runta were juniors and they were joined by an outstanding group of sophomores: Gordon Hartweger, Jerry Emmons, Bill Campbell, Larry Clark and Ronnie Price.
The 54-55 team finished the season with a 22-7 record losing to Alton (39-53), Collinsville (57-63), Springfield Cathedral (49-51), Edwardsville (39-53), Mt. Olive (45-47), Patoka (73-87) and Hillsboro in the regional championship 42-66.
We defeated East St. Louis 59-44. The Flyers were rated in the top 10 teams in Illinois at the time and were considered the best team in southwestern Illinois. The Edwardsville Tiger team featured Manny Jackson and Govenor Vaugn. These two great players would lead Edwardsville to a second place finish at the state tourney the following year and then go on to star for three years with the Fighting Illini. Manny Jackson now owns the Harlem Globetrotters.
The loss to Mt. Olive was an upset and enabled the Wildcats to tie us for the conference championship. Hillsboro featured an outstanding sophomore laden team. We beat them 50-48 during the season but they came back to knock us off 42-66 in the regional championship.
This season also marked the last basketball team that Adolph “Chief” Tenikat would coach at Gillespie. In four seasons, Chief’s teams would post records of 29-4, 16-11, 24-5 and 22-7.
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Gillespie High School proudly celebrated its senior athletes on Wednesday, April 9, as they signed letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic pursuits at colleges and universities nearby.
The ceremony honored the dedication and achievements of these talented students, who will now take the next step in their educational and athletic journeys:
- Haylie Otten will attend the University of Health, Science, and Pharmacy in St. Louis, where she plans to major in nursing and continue her passion for soccer.
- Mia Brawner will join Lewis and Clark Community College to pursue a major in sonography while competing on the basketball court.
- Corinne Fellin has committed to Lincoln Land Community College, majoring in radiology and continuing her soccer career.
“We are incredibly proud of our seniors and their accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom,” said GHS Athletic Director Jeremy Smith. “Their dedication and hard work have truly paid off, and we look forward to seeing all they will achieve in the next chapter of their lives.”
This year’s signing day highlights the strong tradition of student-athlete success at Gillespie High School, where academics and athletics go hand in hand to prepare students for bright futures.
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Opened Play in 1926; One of Oldest H.S. Conferences in Illinois
By Tom Emery
The South Central Conference is gearing up for a special anniversary.
The 2025-26 season will mark the 100th year of competition for the South Central, one of the oldest high school sports conferences in the state of Illinois. Founded in 1926, the SCC has spawned countless star players and coaches, as well as a myriad of state-level highlights.
Carlinville is the only school to be a member of the South Central for its entire existence. Gillespie and Staunton have been members for all but three years, from 2009-12.
Other members through the decades include Hillsboro (1926-44, 1997-present), Litchfield (1926-34, 1980-present), Pana (1926-44, 1997-present), Greenville (1997-present), Southwestern (1970-present), Vandalia (1997-present), Roxana (1997-2021), East Alton-Wood River (1997-2012), Mt. Olive (1926-1980), Nokomis (1926-44, 1955-1985), Taylorville (1926-44), Shelbyville (1926-32), Benld (1935-61), Springfield Feitshans (1963-67), Virden (1966-85), North Greene (1980-85), Triad (1985-93), Alton Marquette (1997-2012), and North Mac (2022-present).
SCC schools have produced numerous team and individual state titlists, including the legendary Taylorville boys’ basketball team of 1943-44, which rolled to a 45-0 mark and a state championship under head coach Dolph Stanley, who led five schools to the IHSA state tournament in his sparkling career.
Other IHSA team championships from SCC members include the 1993 Staunton boys’ basketball team, the 1996 Carlinville boys’ track team, the 2006 Hillsboro girls’ basketball team, the 2011 Marquette girls’ soccer team, and the 2022 Vandalia boys golf team.
Student-athletes from SCC member schools have also collected a number of state track and field titles, including Kelsey Card, Tunde Ridley, Cassie Lamar, and Jack Denby (Carlinville), Marcus Sitko and Becky Coyne (Staunton), Jodi Ottersburg, Amber Lewis, and Matt Rush (Gillespie), Jamie Nurnberger (Southwestern), and many others, not to mention state-champion relay teams from various schools.
State runners-up from SCC members include Gillespie football (1976, 1990), Gillespie girls track (1996), Gillespie softball (1995), Carlinville football (1978, 1993, 2016), Carlinville boys track (1995, 2008), Carlinville girls cross country (1996), Carlinville girls track (2004, 2005), Litchfield baseball (1985), Marquette girls soccer (2009), Southwestern softball (2003, 2009), Staunton football (2013), and Vandalia boys wrestling (2007, 2017).
Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
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In a nail-biting showdown that will be remembered for years to come, the Gillespie Miners girls basketball team captured the South Central Conference title with a hard-fought 55-52 victory over the Pana Panthers on Thursday night, February 13. This marks Gillespie’s first conference championship since their back-to-back titles in 2001-02, when they shared the honors with Southwestern both finishing with a 9-1 conference record.
The game held at Pana High School was anything but straightforward. After a tumultuous 13-minute delay due to injuries and a technical foul controversy, the Miners rallied their spirits to secure the win. Amari Vickery led the charge with a stellar performance, scoring 21 points, while Mia Brawner added 11, Maggie Heyen contributed 10, Delaney Taylor posted 5, Sadie Sholtis scored 4, and Lainey Edwards and Corrine Fellin each had 2 points.
From the opening tip, it was clear that Pana was not going to roll over easily. The Panthers held leads at the end of the first two quarters, 15-14 and 28-26, showcasing their tenacity. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Pana had edged ahead 44-42, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.
However, the game took a chaotic turn in the fourth quarter when a collision between Vickery and teammate Sloane Brawner resulted in both players going down with injuries. Sloane was not able to return the game but Vickery did. The Miners also lost both Delaney Taylor and Sadie Sholtis to fouls and Gillespie was assessed a technical foul under controversial circumstances which tied the game at 49. But Heyen carried the weight through the fourth quarter recording 6 of her 10 points in the final quarter of play.
Despite the setbacks, the Miners displayed remarkable teamwork resilience under the leadership of Nikki and Matt Brawner. With the SCC championship secured and the regular season concluded with a 22-8 overall record and 9-0 conference record, the Miners now shift their focus to the upcoming regional which is being hosted in Gillespie.
Gillespie hosts Alton Marquette on Monday, Feb. 17 for the regional semi-finals after Alton Marquette knocked East-Alton Wood River, 36-29, to face the Miners. The winner advances to the regional championship that will be played on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in Gillespie versus the winner of Staunton/Roxana.
