• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Little Evansville’s dream season still begs the question, ‘What if?’

Bruce Springsteen was right in his 1984 hit “Glory Days”—high school memories do last forever.

Forty years ago this week, perhaps the most glorious basketball season ever for Evansville, came to a staggering end at Janesville Parker.

“I think about it all the time,” said Evansville coach Dick Muenich, now 66, and long out of coaching.

Expectations were stratospheric as his Blue Devils began practice in November 1968. They had been on the rise for two years, finishing 14-10 and 14-7 and taking third place in an open-class sectional tournament in 1967.

With a veteran team, Muenich, a boyish 26, was a study in humility. He told reporters the Central Division of the Madison Suburban Conference would “be about even.”

Milton coach Chuck Regez knew better.

“If somebody doesn’t beat them early this year, they could go undefeated,” he said of the Blue Devils, who returned four stellar seniors.

Tom Allen, at 6-foot-2, whipped no-look passes, played fly-paper defense and shot from the locker room. The 6-foot Dave Baumgarten was a bespectacled pure shooter. Point guard Mark Vandervort ran the offense and flicked long jumpers. Tim Bergum was a rebounding dervish. Sixth-man junior guard Daryl Fuchs played superbly at crucial junctures.

Each starter led in scoring at least one game.

But it was 6-4 junior center Steve Kundert who solidified Evansville into a juggernaut that went 18-0 in the regular season and won 21 straight. By Christmas, he had earned a starting spot as a prolific rebounder with a punishing inside game.

The Devils beat Cuba City, 53-43, in their opener and spent the winter scorching every court they stepped onto, slicing opponents like a machete in spring grass. Beloit Turner fell 90-39, Milton 75-38, Lodi 86-39, and Verona 70-33.

After such lopsided victories, in January 1969, the Associated Press ranked Evansville No. 1 among state small schools in the “Little Ten” poll. Beloit Memorial topped large schools, and both maintained their positions throughout the season.

Wisconsin had only one state tournament champion then. So just one Rock County team could make it to Madison via the Platteville Sectional.

The No. 1 ranking galvanized tiny Evansville. The 1,200-seat Evansville gym was packed whenever its blue mercury vapor lights flickered on. Away games were virtual home games, packed with Evansville fans hours before tip-off.

Following the Janesville Gazette’s lead, Madison and Milwaukee papers sent reporters to capture Evansville’s rapture with its top-ranked team.

“It was a big surprise being No. 1,” Muenich said last month from his home in Menomonee Falls, where he is a retired high school counselor. “It motivated us. It gave us a confidence.”

Beloit also was destroying opponents in an unblemished season. Little-noticed Janesville Craig was only playing .500 ball, but 6-8 center Bob Schmidt led the Big Eight in scoring.

After Evansville’s 74-60 victory at DeForest in a regular-season finale, the team bus was met at the city limits by a honking caravan of cars, police vehicles and fire trucks. At a late-night pep rally, Muenich thanked fans, but promised nothing for the post-season, saying it was not “his style.”

Evansville opened district play in Orfordville against arch-rival Oregon, a talented team the Blue Devils had beaten twice. It became a trifecta of misery for the galented Panthers who trailed 48-18 after three quarters, eventually losing 77-46. A Gazette story called it an “electrocution.”

A night later, the Blue Devils drilled homestanding and scrappy Parkview, 72-52, and were off to Parker High for regional play. Still, there was caution.

“We fear everybody,” Muenich told the Gazette.

Evansville faced gifted Whitewater (17-3), while improving Craig played mediocre Monona Grove. Decades later, Kundert still claims Whitewater (which went on to a 23-1 season the following year), was the toughest team the Blue Devils Devils faced all year. They trailed early, but prevailed late, 73-65.

A towering Craig team, with the rangy Schmidt and budding sophomore star Tim Paterick, easily dispatched Monona Grove, 69-52.

The next night, March 8, 1969, the Parker gym was electric with crowd way beyond the listed 2,400 capacity. Could tiny Evansville get past the towering Cougars to set up a battle of No. 1 teams against Beloit in Platteville?

At first, the Blue Devils literally toyed with Craig. They led 22-4 after one quarter, 34-21 at halftime, 48-34 after three quarters. A Craig free throw was answered by a Kundert lay-up that made it 50-35.

But with seven minutes left, no one could have imagined the Blue Devils had scored their final points of the year. Muenich recalls the fourth quarter vividly.

“For some reason, we didn’t shoot the ball for 3 to 4 minutes,” he said. “We had to hold the ball because everyone was cold. It looked like we were stalling, but we weren’t.”

Craig reeled off 16 straight points, taking its only lead at 51-50 with 28 seconds to go. A lifetime of misery ensued for Evansville—a stolen pass, a jump ball, another stolen pass, a traveling call, a timeout, and finally another theft.

Schmidt waved the ball high above his head in the waning seconds. At the buzzer, Craig fans stormed the floor, hoisting coach Stan DuFrane on their shoulders.

Stunned Evansville players and fans slumped away.

“All we had to do was make one damn lay-up,” said Kundert in a 2005 interview. “It was in the bag, and we blew it.”

Fighting emotions, Muenich classily returned to the court for a trophy ceremony and wished Craig well. His team was not to be found.

“We stayed in the locker room,” said Vandervort. “We were too devastated.”

The next weekend, Craig played Beloit tough in Platteville and led for three quarters. Beloit finally prevailed, 62-54, and eventually became state champion—saved by the iconic, 57-foot shot by LaMont Weaver in an 80-79 title victory over Neenah in double overtime at the UW Field House.

Muenich said he was “still reeling” and never drove the 60 miles to Platteville for the sectional. Still, he ponders a mythical Evansville/Beloit matchup.

“I think we could have played with them. I really do. I was looking forward to it,” said Muenich, who played on two Badger Conference championships under coach Lee Mitchell at Monroe. “It would have been 50/50.”

All five 1968-69 Evansville starters played college basketball: Baumgarten on scholarship for the Wisconsin Badgers, Allen at UW-Platteville of the WSUC. Vandervort and Bergum played at Madison Area Technical College.

Kundert played at UW-Platteville from 1971-74 and was conference player of the year as a senior, entering Platteville’s Hall of Fame in 1993. He played pro ball in Italy and on return was offered a tryout with the Chicago Bulls, but declined, citing “burn-out” on the pro game.

Muenich moved to Germantown in 1972 and never coached high school basketball again. He admits to occasionally checking current Evansville scores on the Internet.

Not long ago, he was asked what he would say today to his 1968-69 team. He paused for several long moments, his mind seemingly on replay.

“I’d tell them it was a helluva season,” Muenich said. “We all had a part of it. From the first man to last guy on the bench. The starting five got better because of the second five. I believe that truly.”

Lifetime Evansville resident John Rasmussen was a student manager in 1968-69. He still volunteers at Blue Devil athletic events.

“I want you to print this,” Rasmussen said. “Of all the teams since then (and there have been a lot of good ones), not a one of them could hold a candle to that ’69 team. Not one.”

Olson is a retired newspaper editor in Poulsbo, Wash. He was statistician in 1968-69 for the Evansville team.