By David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian
Noblesville will soon have a professional basketball team, thanks to the Indiana Pacers G-League team moving from Fort Wayne, which makes it worth looking back at the history of the sport in this area. Of course, high school basketball has been well-studied in Indiana. However, there was a semi-pro organization known as the Independent League that provided exciting games beyond the high schools and before the fully professional teams were formed.
The first known game of basketball in Noblesville took place December 30, 1897. It was at Dr. P. A. Barlow’s gymnasium which was on the second floor of the Castor Block (modern Grindstone’s). It was part of a demonstration of physical culture. The teams were captained by Rueben H. Greble and Mr. Griffin. Greble’s team won with a score of 12 to 5. There was a large crowd in attendance – large enough that it interfered with the demonstration.
The Noblesville High School students organized their own teams in 1902. They staged games at an old roller-skating rink on 8th street, just north of the railroad depot. In 1904, an NHS girls team played Shortridge. The first official NHS team appeared in the yearbook in 1913. S. O. Levinson donated $10,000 in 1917 to build a new gymnasium, which the school did in 1923 (now “The Farm”). The Model Mill donated the money for uniforms in 1925, and the team became the “Millers”. After that, they progressed like hundreds of other schools in the state.
Noblesville Ledger 1/5/1924
Independent basketball teams started in Indiana around 1906. These were amateurs not connected with schools and who eventually formed their own league. Teams were usually designated by their town or sponsor, but some had nicknames. In Hamilton County, the Fishers “Red Arrows” and Carmel “Kelts” were two successful teams. The county also had a second Fishers team – the “Maroons” – along with the Atlanta “Torts” and Arcadia “Buzzards”. Other central Indiana teams were the Lebanon “Bulldogs”, Fayette “Hot Shots”, and Warren “Owls”.
Indianapolis Star 12/13/1924
The first Noblesville organization was put together in 1914 and disappeared with the start of the First World War. It was reorganized in 1922, and by October of 1923, it was identified by the nickname “T. N. T.”. No evidence has been found yet for the source of the name. However, it is spelled “T. N. T.” rather than “TNT” and is the way that you might abbreviate “The Noblesville Team”. A photo of the team appeared in the paper on December 13, 1924. At the time they started, there was no local gym, and they had to barnstorm. They hoped to use the new high school gym when it was built in 1923, but the school board turned them down. Without a place to play, they disbanded in 1925,
1938 NHS yearbook picturing the Armory
By 1926, there were calls for a National Guard Armory to be built as a public venue. Funding was approved by the City Council on July 17, 1928 for $8,100 (around $145,000 today) to purchase the land. The building itself cost $65,000 (around $1,170,000 today) and was funded by the state. The Armory was dedicated on January 11, 1929, and the first independent basketball game was played on January 18 between the Fishers “Red Arrows” and the Phi Delta “All-Stars” of Anderson. The Noblesville “T. N. T.” were pulled back together as a pre-game warm-up event. They were soon playing regular games. A second Noblesville team called the “Turners” was formed by National Guard members. The Armory was the site of an Independent League tournament in mid-February. The “T.N.T.” played until the end of the season in March.
The Great Depression started in October of 1929, but an Independent Basketball Tournament was announced in February of 1930. The Noblesville team was supported by the city Booster Club, so they were called “Boosters”. This same year, an African American team called the “All-Stars” was organized and were very successful. In 1931, the Noblesville Armory was selected for the State Independent Tournament. There were three Noblesville teams at the tournament – the “Boosters”, the “Merchants”, and the “DeMolay”. In this era, there was a team sponsored by First Friends Church called the “Quakers”.
In the late 1930s, professional leagues began to form and took interest away from the Independent League. Also, high school teams have always been the top priority in Indiana. The post WWII era was well portrayed in the movie “Hoosiers”. Some Independent League play continued into the 1950s, but these were more like bowling leagues. In 1957, a Noblesville team called the “Wild Cats” got some notoriety. An important point is that it was integrated and included top former NHS player Ernie Butler. In 1965, professional games began to be broadcast on television, and the Independent League teams disappeared.