December 18, 1971

"Lights-Off" in gym

       A poster with the inscription "TURN IT ON" with "VICTORY" written on a sketch of a light bulb carried a different meaning to basketball fans Friday inside Center Grove's high school gymnasium.  there were no lights in the gymnasium Friday.  Therefore there was no victory for either reserve or varsity teams from Center Grove or visiting Mooresville.  A power failure around 7 p.m. brought the scheduled reserve game to a halt as each team wound up in darkness in their dressing rooms listening to their coaches at halftime.  A power failure also forced a postponement of the reserve and varsity games between Southwestern High School and Indian Creek High School due to a power outage at Trafalgar, Friday night.  Lights went out during the late stages of the reserve game.  An announcement will be made Monday concerning the rescheduling of the Southwestern-Indian Creek game.  Total darkness prevailed at Center Grove for a few moments until a handful of flashlights was discovered.  Several minutes later emergency crews from the White River Township Fire Department arrived with portable lights which were set up on the north end of the gymnasium.  An estimated 1,200 persons were inside the gymnasium.  Most of the students were relaxing or walking around when the light failure occurred, catching Center Grove's band in the middle of a song.  The reactions ranged from mild screams to near panic.  One woman said "We'd better get out of here.  The place is going to explode."  A frightened six-year-old girl clutched her arms around the neck of a woman sitting in front of her.  One college freshman, a graduate of Center Grove, actually believed flying saucers had landed after seeing weird flashes of light.  A Daily Journal employee sitting near the main entrance afterward said, "It was weird."  While the commotion continued, the Center Grove band under the direction of Robert Meurer played the school's pep song.  The band also played an appropriate version of the "The Stripper", under ideal lighting conditions for potential ecdysiasts.  A little girl who brought two toy elves to the game was panic-stricken when the lights went out because she lost her symbols of Christmas.  Afterwards she went back to the area, and she discovered the toy elves.  Meanwhile, officials from Center Grove and Mooresville attempted to discover the predicted length of the power outage from Public Service Indiana spokesmen.  PSI could give no indication as to the length of impending inconvenience, causing school officials, including varsity coaches Tom Jones of Center Grove and Dale Ricketts of Mooresville to continue their huddle.  In the hallway of the locker rooms, it was finally decided to postpone the reserve and varsity games.  At the time the lights went out, Center Grove's reserve team held a 26-21 halftime lead over visiting Mooresville.  The varsity Pioneers, who were defeated by Decatur Central, Thursday, began heading fro the bus when, ironically the lights came on at 8:17 p.m.  However, ten minutes earlier the announcement had been made that the games were to be postponed and that fans could either obtain a refund or retain their ticket stub for readmission to the contest.  Later, Center Grove athletic director John Clemmons said the games would be reset for Saturday, Jan. 8, 1972 in the Center Grove gym.  The decision was disheartening to the Trojans who will remain idle until Jan. 7 when Center Grove hosts county rival Greenwood.  The postponement was disappointing to reserve coach Ivan Smith, who commented, "I hated to see it happen.  Because we haven't been ahead that much this year."  Smith then revealed that this reserve Trojans had not been ahead at halftime since their opening game at Monrovia.  When the lights came on, it was too late.  - So just like the sign implied - there is no victory without light.  But there are no defeats either.  (Courtesy of Al Stilley, The Daily Journal)
 

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