It may have been 10 years ago, but it seemed like yesterday for those who gathered to celebrate the 2010 Wheeler boys basketball team state championship win.
“It seems like yesterday, yet forever ago,” said Shelby Reilly, former cheerleader who went with the team to the State Championship. Reilly, now a preschool teacher, recalled the experience with fondness.
“It was life changing,” she said.
Wheeler Athletic Director Randy Stelter echoed Reilly’s thoughts.
“I can’t believe 10 years has flown by,” said Stelter. He was excited to catch up with the former players who had come in from as far away as San Diego.
“I remember at the end of that game, Petar [Todorovic] and Donnie [Ketchum] running down the court with the others all just celebrating. That memory will forever be entrenched in my mind. It was just a great feeling,” said Stelter.
“It was a fun run. One of the best high school experiences you could have,” said Andrew Rudakas. “When that buzzer went off we were running around excited. We had worked so hard for it.”
Rudakas, who lives in the area, sees Todorovic regularly but overall the group stays in touch.
“We keep in touch through group texting,” said former head coach Mike Jones. “It’s good to keep track of where they are at, what they are doing. Not having seen these guys for ten years it’s surreal. Some of them are married and have started families.”
Coach Jones couldn’t help but reflect on the bond the team had.
“We had a team that played well together. It was a special group. One of those that comes once in a lifetime,” said Jones. “We could play a fast-paced game or a slow-paced game, and that’s very rare for a team.”
Steve Catherman, former assistant coach, agreed that despite time passing, the bond remained.
“It’s hard to imagine they were young men and now they’re back with families,” said Catherman. “The fact they stayed so close just really felt like a culmination of one group with one goal.”
Still, running into them as adults has been surreal for Catherman.
“I see a lot of them out, which is strange when you are out having a cocktail and now they can have one with you,” said Catherman with a laugh.
After the championship win, Jones remained in the area, focused on spending time with his family, and even coaching his kids. He will always look back on the team and treasure his time with them.
For Catherman, there is one memory that always makes him chuckle.
“We had two sets of shoes, one for practice and one for the game,” said Catherman. “The first game, Nick Naspinski had brought only the two left shoes. So, the first game of the tournament started with Nick trying to go out there and do layups with two of the same shoes on.”
It was hard to imagine for many that this class 2A school, up against much bigger schools, would be the first in Porter County to win a basketball state championship. It was not until the team was back home that the community found out about the historic win. Catherman broke the news to those in attendance at a post game celebration.
“It was crazy,” he said. “It was hard to imagine that in the history of Porter County we would be the first.”
Eric Wise, former point guard, came in from Detroit to celebrate the anniversary.
“I played with that group of guys for ten years,” said Wise. “That was always a goal of ours, to get to that point. Now looking back it was like it was yesterday.”
Rudakas had one piece of advice for the current Bearcats. “Keep working hard, every day.”
Despite a loss to Morgan Township, it was all smiles and laughter as current and former players bonded after the game over food and basketball. To date, the 2010 Wheeler Bearcats Boys 2A Basketball team remain the only team in Porter Country to have won the state championship.