The No. 1 surprise of the 2009 high school athletic season happened last week when the New Hampton boys’ basketball team qualified for the state tournament.
    It is always gratifying to make it to the state tournament in any sport, but more so to get there when it is not expected. With a middle finish in the Northeast Iowa Conference, qualifying is truly rewarding.
    The boys ran into a buzzsaw when they played Sioux City Heelan in Des Moines, but the loss does not diminish the glow from getting there.
    I hope the players keep all the news clippings relating to the tournament. In the years to come, they will reap great personal pleasure when they recount the stories to their grandchildren.
    The year’s accomplishments stroked my memories of New Hampton’s trip to the state tournament in 1942. World War II had just begun, gas was rationed and people were allowed three gallons a week. By pooling weekly rations, we came up with enough ration stamps to cover a trip to Des Moines for the game at the Drake field house.
    There was a single class for teams at that time, and we drew Davenport High School in the opening round. They were the defending state champions so we were (slight) underdogs.
    There was an interesting parallel between theat game and this year’s. In 1942, New Hampton scored the first basket of the game, but trailed 22-5 at the end of the first period. The final score was 55-28.
    This year, the Chickasaws were down 17-2 after the first quarter and the final score was 69-36.
    In 1942, Davenport’s top player was Jack Spencer, who later was a star for the University of Iowa. This year, Heelan’s leader, Brennan Cougil, is committed to play at Iowa. Hopefully, he can be a Hawkeye leader like Spencer was.
    This year’s Chickasaws can be rightfully proud of their accomplishment. Thankfully, they can look forward to a job, more schooling or whatever else they choose to do. Their 1942 counterparts graduated into a period of service defending the United States.