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Players and coaches from Hebron’s boys basketball team knew they had accomplished something extraordinary on Saturday, March 22, 1952.
The Giants, from a school of 98 students, defeated Quincy, with 1,035 students, 64-59 in overtime, to win the IHSA Boys Basketball State Tournament championship. Thus, Hebron became the smallest school ever to win the state basketball title under the IHSA’s one-class system, although decades passed before the players fully understood the magnitude of their achievement.
“It impacted so many people,” said Huntley resident Ken Spooner, a starting guard on the 1952 team. “We had no idea how much until the 50th [anniversary]. That was when we really began to realize it, when people would stand in line for hours to get a book signed. It seems like there’s people I talk to who aren’t even 60 years old, but they know the story. They’ve been told by other people.”
It is a championship for the ages, one that has changed lives.
The legacy the 1952 team left is unlike any other in McHenry County or perhaps even the state.
The Alden and Hebron communities’ greatest sports’ achievement now is more than a half century old, but remains a tremendous source of civic pride, as is evident from the water tower then-mayor Lynn Ellison had painted in 1985 to resemble a basketball, with the words: “Hebron: Home of the 1952 state champions.”
Eight of the 10 players are living and six will be at Alden-Hebron High School today for the Hebron Green Giants’ 60th Anniversary Celebration. There is a brunch, “A Taste of Hebron” starting at 12:30 p.m. for $12 a ticket, with the rest of the celebration in Tigard Gymnasium from 2 to 5 p.m. That part is free.
Spooner, Paul Judson, Phil Judson and Bill Schulz, four starters from the team, will attend today. Reserves Jim Wilbrandt and Jim Bergin also will be there. Reserves Joe Schmidt and Bill Thayer will not be attending.
The anniversaries through the years have all been special. Ten years ago, the team was recognized at the IHSA Class AA State Tournament in Peoria.
“The townspeople really embrace this,” Spooner said. “It really made them all feel good. And people from other little towns, too, it changed their attitude. Everybody was so enthused and hopeful after we won. That put us on the map and moved us up a notch.”
When the IHSA opted for a two-class system in 1972, Hebron’s claim as the smallest school to win the title was safely cemented. Findlay, with 97 students, has since won a state title in 1992, but it was in Class A with the two-class system.
IHSA assistant executive director Scott Johnson and his wife, Julie Kistler, wrote “Once There Were Giants,” which was published a few months before the 50th anniversary celebration. It provided great details about Hebron’s terrific basketball tradition before 1952, along with wonderful stories about the Giants’ 35-1 championship season.
“It’s a phenomenal thing, no question about it,” Schulz said. “We think about it every once in a while. Even when I’m sleeping, I’ll have a dream about it. It’s an experience that the five of us [starters] and the five subs relived quite often.”
Although Hebron was small, its state title was no upset. The Giants were ranked No. 1 most of the season. Coach Russ Ahearn wanted as tough a schedule as possible and, with such a small home gym, the Giants were like a barnstorming team, traveling to Chicago suburbs such as Oak Park and Riverside, Lake County burgs such as Barrington and Waukegan, and a holiday tournament in Kankakee.
The Giants filled gymnasiums wherever they went.
Fortunately, most of the team members still are around to enjoy it. Ahearn died in 1994, starter Don Wilbrandt died in 1998 and reserve Clayton Ihrke died in 1997. Schulz suffered a mild stroke last fall but is doing fine now and works out at a gym three times a week.
The Giants nearly lost Paul Judson in a car accident Thanksgiving morning. He suffered internal injuries but pulled through and just arrived back in McHenry County from Florida with Phil last weekend.
“It was a struggle, but I’m doing better,” Paul said. “I still have a ways to go, but I’m doing it. I’m really looking forward to this celebration. I don’t know how we can top 50.”
The Judsons will be 78 next month. Spooner will be 77 next month and Schulz will be 77 later this year.
A-H athletic director John Lalor has a theory about why so many of the champs are still around and thriving.
“I swear to God, winning the state championship was like finding the fountain of youth for those guys,” Lalor said.
The four starters see each other on a regular basis. Phil Judson lives in Gurnee, fairly close to Schulz in Waukegan. Paul Judson splits time between the Dundee area and Florida. Still, this celebration will give them a chance to reconnect with many old friends and regale Giants’ fans with some of their many tales.
“Sixty years, wow!” Spooner said. “We never probably thought that far ahead. Once we’re here, it’s kind of amazing.”