Friday night’s basketball contests were the last regularly scheduled games for the Sweet Home High School gym, probably the last sporting event ever.
The gym might need to be used for possible tiebreakers or even playoffs in boys basketball, but the boys basketball team must come from behind to get into that situation. One game was left to be played in regular season, Cascade on Tuesday night. The results of that game were unavailable at press time.
The Husky boys, playing furiously, lost a close game to the Capital Conference leader, Stayton, on Friday night to cap off the gym’s history in organized sports. The gym will be used throughout the rest of the year for other high school activities.
A new gym, under construction south of the main high school building, will be the Huskies’ new home next year. The $4 million project was among projects approved by voters two years ago in an $18.6 million bond.
A number of high school staff members played or participated in activities in the gym, which was built in 1948 to replace another built in 1924. Those employees include teachers Tom Horn, Ed Nieman, Patty Nieman, Steve Hummer, Steve Thorpe, Steve Emmert, Dustin Nichol, Ben Dahlenburg, Coreen Melcher and Barbara Weld.
“My husband (Al Weld) had wrestled in there, and our kids have gone through there,” Mrs. Weld, class of 1965, said. Her children include Wendy Jewell, basketball and volleyball, and Ken Weld, wrestling.
“All of us will be there tonight (Friday) and give it one last look,” Mrs. Weld said. “We feel saddened, kind of nostalgic; but when you look at that new gym, it’s like, ‘Okay.'”
To help celebrate the milestone, Melcher and Joan Moore took the names of alumni attending the game Friday night. The late Keith Gabriel’s brother, Lee Gabriel, coming from Stayton to watch grandson Justin Gabriel play for Stayton, represented the oldest class, 1943. Troy Scott was the most recent alum, 2001. They were given T-shirts to commemorate the date.
Retired Athletic Director Larry Johnson welcomed Stayton and spectators to the final game and shared some of the history of the gym.
About four years ago, the Huskies narrowly defeated Sisters in the final regular-season game to win the Capital Conference championship.
“That was one of the greatest high school basketball games in Oregon history as far as we’re concerned,” Coach Mark Risen said. The crowd was deafeningly loud as the Huskies and the Outlaws fought a titanic battle for the win on “the night we broke the roof.”
“The west wall separated from the ceiling that night, pulling about 12 inches from the ceiling.
When a contractor was going to repair the ceiling and pull the wall back, Johnson put the work on hold so he could map out a little-known room underneath the gym floor. He wriggled through a narrow passageway, entering through a hole in one of the high school hallways.
After mapping out the rooms, the contractor was able to find safe areas to jack up the roof.
Johnson, an avid collector of Coca Cola memorabilia, found Coca Cola bottles in the room.
When the gym was built, “it was a modern architectural wonder that included showers, classrooms, activity rooms and laundry facilities,” Friday’s program said. “It also had an open area above the student stands surrounded by a railing that is our wrestling room now. It was a showcase facility, however it was a rough start as the equipment was not shipped in time for the beginning of the basketball season. Bleachers had to be moved in from the football field and temporary baskets hung. Make-shift as it was, it must have been a pleasure playing on a new, regulation court.”
The gym was home to one state championship basketball team, the 1992-93 Huskies.
“Thanks for all the special memories,” Johnson said.
“I have, obviously, some great memories in that gym,” Mr. Nieman, English teacher and former basketball coach, said. He was coach of the 1993 championship basketball team. He also spent his high school days playing ball in that gym. His wife was a cheerleader at his basketball games. His sons played basketball for him.
Some of his best friends played ball with him there, Coach Nieman said, and he spent 22 to 23 years coaching there.
“I met a lot of great people,” Coach Nieman said. “And I had an opportunity to work with some really great kids, who are now men, that I’ll never forget in my own lifetime.”
Coach Nieman is excited about the new gym and the future of Sweet Home basketball.
“I’m not going to miss that gym,” Coach Nieman said. “The big thing about that gym … if there’s anything to miss … we created a place where opponents didn’t like to visit.”
The gym is set up with the crowd practically on the floor with the players, Coach Nieman said. That made it a great place to host basketball games.
His boys, Kyle and Bryce, talked to former opponents after going to college. They heard a number of comments about how much those opponents hated visiting Sweet Home’s gym.
The gym itself “makes a formidable six man,” Coach Nieman said. Still, “I’m looking forward to seeing the school and the community move on to that new structure. It’s going to be the class of the state for 3A gymnasiums.”
The kids and community should be proud of it, Coach Nieman said. It is not just for wrestling and basketball, the high school gym has served and will serve as a community focal point.
The significance of Friday’s game was not lost on the teams that would play.
“The kids and I (and coaching staff) talked about that last night,” Coach Risen said. “We’re going to miss it. It’s been a great home court advantage for us.”
Coach Risen and his team are well aware of the advantage it gives them with the spectators so close to the action.
“It’s a very imposing atmosphere for people to come into,” Coach Risen said. The boys basketball team has probably won 85 percent of its games in that gym over the last 30 years.
The new gym is being constructed in a similar manner, Coach Risen said, so he expects that advantage may continue. He is concerned about losing the floor, one of the best he’s ever seen; although he has been assured that the new floor is similar.
“I can see the shadows of (former coaches) Felix Wilkerson and Ed Nieman are there with me every night,” Coach Risen said. “It’s been very comforting to know these two shadows have given me the support, the unconditional support, to go in there and do my job every night.
“Fortunately, those memories will endure even if the gym won’t.”