WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. — From Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay's state title team in 1974 to today, nearly 50 years later. Some things never change...
"It was as though, we never skipped a beat," Dominican Center Tim Markwiese says. "It was like I just walked out of the locker room my sophomore year. We have a bond that I can't explain. But I hadn't seen many people in 25, 30 years. But when I first saw them six weeks ago? We didn't skip a beat. We were like brothers."
This Knights team lives on a half-century later.
"Little Dominican slays Goliath," Dominican Head Coach Al Strack says. "But I guess this gives a little hope to the small schools. It was probably one of the greatest upsets in U.S. high school basketball history."
"When I talk to people in Wisconsin, they absolutely remember the 1974 Dominican state championship," Markwiese says. "Down in Chicago when I tell the story, they don't believe me, so I stopped telling it many years ago because people look at me and give me a funny look like, how could a 9-11 team beat a 26-0 team."
The Knights journey plays out like an inspirational movie. As Strack explains in the book, Crashing Crutches.
"I just got done chewing the team out. They were sitting in the bleachers," Strack says. "Behind me, I heard this crash. And our manager, who had a disability, had to use crutches during the day. He had thrown his crutches all the way across the floor. And they crashed and made a big noise."
It turns out, team manager John Baumer was disabled but wanted to make a statement.
"And I turned around and I said John, what's wrong?" Strack says. "And John said coach, you're right. These guys are a bunch of babies. Look what I have to go through every day. And so from that moment on? John became the heart and soul of that team."
Baumer now lives in Warsaw, Poland, but recalls the pivotal moment.
"I detest, losing," Baumer says. "And when our team played a game, I expected us to win a game. That was just my fiery personality and what I was like."
"I think we just kind of all sat back and said yeah, he's right. And it was a rallying point for us to kind of get our act together," Markwiese says.
All the way to beating undefeated Racine St. Cat's, and becoming one of the biggest Cinderella champions in state history.
"They had a radio in the chapel," Strack says. "And there was a sister named Sister Antoine, who was listening with several other sisters in the chapel. And at the same time praying, for that victory. Hurk Jones two free throws went through with 13 seconds left. The winning free throws. Maybe that was their prayers."
All of this just shows what Al Strack says in his book. That the journey with others matters more than the actual event.
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