The 1954 Mentone Bulldogs, which won county and sectional titles that season, will be honored at the 2013 Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony June 22.

The Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame is announcing its fourth induction ceremony at the banquet to be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at the Orthopaedic Capital Center on the campus of Grace College.

This year’s class will not only induct the individual members but also the 1953-54 Mentone Bulldogs, one of the county’s legendary small school teams from the pre-consolidation era.

Cost for the banquet is $20 which includes dinner. Contact Aaron Rovenstine (574) 858-9036 or Jim Irwin (574) 268-8537 for more information.

Atwood Greyhounds – Bob Creighton: Creighton was a 1958 graduate and four-year letterwinner for the Greyhounds. Creighton led the Greyhounds in scoring his senior year with 314 points. Creighton’s 692 career points ranks fourth-highest among Greyhound scorers in the decade of the 1950’s.

Atwood Greyhounds – Jim Irwin: Irwin was a 1960 Atwood graduate that led Tom Settler’s first Atwood squad in scoring with 320 points. Jim went on to play both basketball and baseball at Ball State University. Irwin went on to coach at the high school level for 37 years, included basketball, baseball and golf. Irwin’s basketball teams won sectionals at Bluffton, Southern Wells and Eastbrook while coaching at several schools along the way including Pierceton and Whitko.

Beaver Dam Beavers – Al Study: Study was a 1960 Beaver Dam graduate who led the Beavers in scoring his senior year with 347 points. Study’s career total of 683 points ranks second among Beaver Dam scorers in the 1960’s.

Claypool Knights – John Clay: Clay was a 1955 Claypool graduate and a four-year letterwinner for the Knights. Clay teamed with fellow Claypool Hall of Famer Dick Morris to lead the 1955 Knights to 11 wins, the second-highest win total for a Claypool team in the 1950’s. Clay scored 545 points in his high school career.

Claypool Knights – Rex Woodruff: Woodruff was a 1960 Claypool graduate who led the Knights in scoring his senior year with 306 points. He made the All-County First Team his senior year.

Etna Green Cubs – Richard (Dick) Stouder: Stouder was a 1954 Etna Green graduate who played on Eldon Ummel’s 1952 county championship team that beat the Warsaw Tigers, 59-49. Stouder led the 1953 Cubs in scoring and was a First Team All-County selection that same year. Stouder scored 593 points in his high school career.

Etna Green Cubs – James Stouder: Stouder was a 1958 Etna Green graduate and played on Jim Robbins’ powerhouse 1957 and 1958 Etna Green teams that won back to back county championships and the 1958 sectional title. Etna Green had an incredible 49-3 record in those two seasons. Stouder was a First Team All-County and All-Sectional selection in 1958 and scored 687 points in his career.  Stouder now joins two of his brothers who have been selected to the Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mentone Bulldogs – Bob Long: Long was a 1960 Mentone graduate and was the leading scorer for Paul Bateman’s 1960 county championship team which ended the season with a 20-5 record.  Long scored 365 points his senior year and was selected to the All-County First Team and set the all-time Mentone record for rebounds his senior year with an outstanding total of 501.

Mentone Bulldogs – Jerry Ryman: A 1963 Mentone graduate, Ryman joined the Bulldogs after playing three years for the Atwood Greyhounds whose school shut down after the 1962 season. Ryman helped lead Paul Bateman’s 1963 23-2 team to a county championship. Ryman scored 334 points that season and made the First-Team All-County and First-Team All-Sectional lists. Ryman also made the 1962 All-County team while playing for Atwood. Ryman would go on to have an outstanding collegiate career at Grace College, where he still holds the Grace record for assists in a game, a season and for a career. He also had a coaching career at all levels including a stint with the Grace College Lady Lancers.

Milfrod Trojans – Chuck Fleischauer:  Fleischauer is a 1958 Milford graduate who led the Trojans in scoring his senior year with 441 points. He was selected to both the All-County and All-Sectional First Teams in his senior year.

North Webster Trojans – Jon Sroufe: Sroufe, a 1960 North Webster graduate, was a three-year starter for coach Donnie Butts. During those years, North Webster produced a record of 57-15 with Sroufe leading the way in scoring in 1959 with 384 points. Sroufe tallied 900 points in his career and made the All-County squads in both 1959 and 1960 along with an All-Sectional selection in 1960.

Pierceton Cubs – John McFarren: McFarren was a 1959 Pierceton graduate who led Kosciusko County in scoring in 1959 with 381 points. He helped coach Burt Niles’ teams to a two-year record of 27-16 with McFarren making the 1959 All-County First Team. McFarren finished his career with 547 points, then went on to have a successful coaching career at Alexandria High School (1968-76). McFarren also served as the superintendent of Alexandria Community Schools from 1992 to 2000.

Silver Lake Ramblers – Emery Brandenburg: Brandenburg was a 1955 graduate who led Art Windmiller’s squad in ’55 to a 19-4 record and a county championship. Brandenburg hit a dramatic last-second shot in the county championship finals to beat Pierceton, 56-54. Brandenburg led the Ramblers in scoring his senior year with 391 points and was a First Team All-County selection.

Syracuse Yellow Jackets – Tom Firestone: A 1961 Syracuse graduate and a First Team All-County selection that year, Firestone led Rollin Cuttler’s team in scoring with 315 points. Firestone was also a member of Dick Beck’s 1959’s 21-3 team that won the county championship. Firestone’s coaching career included stops at Bremen and NorthWood at the high school level and Bethel College where he also coached baseball, golf and tennis. Named Coach of the Year four times, Firestone has also been inducted into the Bethel College Hall of Fame.

Warsaw Tigers – Lavon Harman: This four-year letterwinner for the Tigers graduated in 1956. Harman helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back sectional titles in 1955 and 1956 and made the All-Sectional teams in those two seasons, scoring 313 points in his senior year. Standing at 6’5″, Harman was one of Kosciusko County’s best big men in the decade of the 1950’s.

Special contributors to Kosciusko County Basketball

Don Lozier – official: Lozier was a 1948 Leesburg graduate and was an outstanding basketball player in his own right, playing for coach Burt Niles during his high school career. Lozier was encouraged by fellow Hall of Famer, Gene Butts, to get involved with officiating, going on to have an outstanding 20-year career that included numerous high school sectionals and college games.

Norm Hagg – media: Hagg played varsity basketball in high school and then turned to lifetime media career, spanning more than 50 years in radio and newspaper. A two-year starter on the Leesburg Blue Blazer varsity, Hagg graduated in 1955 and earned a degree in broadcast journalism. His first radio experience was as the news director of KRMS in south-central Missouri. He returned to Warsaw in 1963 as a night newsman at WRSW AM-FM. A year or so later, he joined the Times-Union as a reporter and then sports editor. From there, Hagg advanced to other management positions within the newspaper editorial department. In 1969 he followed in the footsteps of his long-time mentor and legendary announcer Milo Clase and became the voice of the Warsaw Tiger basketball broadcasts. He stopped doing basketball play-by-play on WRSW after the 1980 season but remained active with the Times-Union for several years.

Rita Price – media: This Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame member and native of Marshall County has been adopted by Kosciusko County as one of its own. Price started her sportscasting career in 1970 and did her first play-by-play in basketball in 1976. She has done every girls basketball state championship since 1976 and has broadcasted both boys and girls basketball and football for Tippecanoe Valley since 1976. Price has won numerous awards for broadcasting and has worked for WRSW going on 54 years.

Bill Patrick – coach: Patrick is a 1956 Sidney graduate and Indiana Hall of Member in his 43rd year of coaching high school basketball. Patrick has won 713 career games and is the fifth coach in Indiana history to top the 700-win mark. Coach Patrick’s teams have won 16 sectionals, three regionals and one semi-state. In his 15th year at Tippecanoe Valley, Patrick has won 11 Three Rivers Conference titles. Coach Patrick started his varsity coaching career at his alma mater, Sidney High School, in 1964 and other stops included South Whitley and Whitko before his stint at Tippecanoe Valley. Coach Patrick is the first coach selected to the Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame.