1971 IHSAA State Championship: East Chicago Washington 70, Elkhart 60

Описание: East Chicago Washington High School won the sixty-first annual State High School Basketball Tournament. The Senators became the third straight undefeated team to capture the state title as they won their twenty-ninth game without a loss. It was only the fifth time in history that an undefeated team has won the state championship.

In the championship game, the East Chicago Washington Senators built up a substantial lead on the Blue Blazers from Elkhart, however, the Blazers fought back with a tremendous drive in the later stages of the game to come within two points of the Senators. A basket by Stoddard and five straight points by Trgovich sealed the verdict for the Senators. 'I'he Senators led 21 to 12 at the end of the first quarter, 32 to 22 at the half and 54 to 48 at the end of the third quarter. With 5:32 remaining, the Senators' lead was cut to 56-54, however, this was the closest the Blazers could get. After a Senator rally, the final score was 70-60 in favor of the Champion East Chicago Washington Senators.

The first afternoon game was a real thriller. Elkhart's Blue Blazers outlasted the New Castle Trojans in an unprecedented triple overtime game by a score of 65-60. New Castle led 15-14 at the first quarter. The score was tied 27-2'7 at halftime. New Castle again led 44-41 at the third quarter mark. At the end of the fourth quarter the score was tied 56-56. At the end of the first overtime the score was 58-58. The second overtime ended 60-60. In the third overtime, Babcock's five points iced the game 65-60 for the Blazers.

The second afternoon game was also a thriller from the start. Floyd Central Highlanders started out fast and thrilled the capacity
crowd with some fine marksmanship. They led 21-19 a t the first stop, however, East Chicago Washington forged into a 49-41 lead at halftime. The Senators led 77-64 at the end of the third quarter but Floyd Central hit nine of its first eleven shots and with 3:33 to play had narrowed the lead to 90-83. The Senators then slowly pulled away for a 102-88 victory. Trgovich of East Chicago Washington scored 40 points which equalled the all-time high mark held by Bonham of Muncie Central and Dave Shepherd of Carmel.

The Board of Control selected Jeny Lamberson of the New Castle Trojans as the recipient of the coveted Arthur L. Trester Award for
Mental Attitude.

The total number of participating teams in the sectional tournaments was 436.