| ATHLETICS
The Tower Hill High School Tigers were very competitive, though their small enrollment limited the number of sports they could offer. The boys competed in basketball, track, and probably baseball. The girls competed in volleyball, track, and probably basketball at one point. It is also possible that Tower Hill High entered into a co-op effort with nearby Pana or Shelbyville at some point before its closure. Conference affiliation and the records of someof the better teams are being sought.
Lee Connelly provided the following information regarding Tower Hill High School’s conference affiliation for the 1967-68 school year:
MERIDIAN CONFERENCE
MACON HS
BETHANY HS
STONINGTON HS
BLUE MOUND HS
FINDLAY HS
MOWEQUA HS
ASSUMPTION HS
MAROA HS
LOVINGTON HS
TOWER HILL HS
ILLIOPOLIS HS
NIANTIC-HARRISTOWN HS
*Note: As of 2012 with the closing of Lovington High School, all of the schools in this conference are now closed or have gone through a change in their name.
BOYS TRACK & FIELD
One male athlete carried the banner for the Tower Hill Tigers for many, many years. In the 1930s track & field was a one-class sport. Dale Dilley showed he belonged with the best of them. Taking on all comers, Dale won the IHSA State Championship in the 220 Yard Dash in 1939! His efforts resulted in a 10th place finish for the Tigers overall.
1938-39 Individual Medalist
Dale Dilley 220 Yard Dash STATE CHAMPION!!
Final Team Standings
1.) Elmhurst York HS 22
2.) New Trier HS 17
3.) Morton HS 13
4.) Rockford HS 12.5
5.) Proviso HS 10
6.) East St. Louis Senior HS 9
6.) Sterling HS 9
8.) Wheaton HS 6
8.) Evanston HS 6
10.) TOWER HILL HIGH SCHOOL 5
Highland Park, Mendota, Paris, Springfield HS all tied with 5 pts. also.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Lady Tigers had some real nice volleyball success in the 1980s. Coach Sharon (Christian) Rincker led the lady netters to an overall record of 114 – 106 during her ten seasons at the helm. This included five straight winning seasons. Unfortunately this is the only era of volleyball covered on the IHSA website.
1980-81 10 – 10 Coach Sharon Rincker
1982-83 14 – 11 Coach Sharon Rincker
1983-84 14 – 10 Coach Sharon Rincker
1984-85 17 – 6 Coach Sharon Rincker
1985-86 17 – 7 Coach Sharon Rincker
1986-87 16 – 11 Coach Sharon Rincker
BOYS BASKETBALL
The Tower Hill Tigers had some good, competitive seasons on the hardwood court as well. The Tigers won two District Championships. There are only three seasons listed on the IHSA website regarding the boys basketball program. The last season listed is of the 2002-03 school year when the Tigers, coached by Travis Reider, finsihed the year with a 3 – 22 record.
Jay R. Brown tells us the coach of the Tower Hill HS basketball program in the early 1950s was Bob Miller. Coach Miller went on to coach at Blue Mound-Boody High School from 1955 through 1965. He would later become Superintendent of Schools for Coles County. The exact seasons that Coach Miller was at Tower Hill High School are needed.
Some basketball scores from the IHSA Tournament involving Tower Hill High School were located on a website titled “Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores.” The scores we located are printed below. Unfortunately the records of other great Tower Hill teams are not available.
1921-22 Taylorville District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Lost to Pawnee 46-2
Pawnee lost in semi-final round.
1922-23 through 1932-33 Postseason scores, records, and coaches’ names needed.
**From Greg Largent:
“Tower Hill would have had the distinction of winning the longest boys basketball game in IHSA history (6 O/Ts), beating Lakewood High School 18-14 on November 8th, 1929. However, that record was short-lived as it was broken in the same season when Terre Haute, IN beat Casey in 7 O/Ts on February 1, 1930.”
http://www.ihsa.org/SportsActivities/BoysBasketball/RecordsHistory.aspx
1933-34 Pana District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Lost to Cowden 31-20
Cowden lost in 2nd Rd.
1934-35 Pana District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Lakewood 33-7
2nd Rd lost to Pana 33-20
Pana lost in title game
1935-36 Pana District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Lost to Findlay 33-30
1936-37 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1937-38 Tower Hill District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
Lost to Cowden 17-13
1938-39 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1939-40 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1940-41 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1941-42 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1942-43 District Champions! Coach’s name & record needed
District scores needed
Taylorville Regional Tourney
1st Rd lost to Pana 33-19
Pana lost in title game
1943-44 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1944-45 Witt District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Lost to Raymond 48-22
Raymond lost in title game
1945-46 Rosamond District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Harvel 73-36
(No other scores listed)
1946-47 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1947-48 District Champions!! Coach’s name & record needed
District scores needed
Pana Regional Tourney
1st Rd Lost to Shelbyville 65-46
Shelbyville lost in semi-final round
1948-49 Strasburg District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Sigel 63-32
Semi-final lost to Effingham St. Anthony 63-38
St. Anthony lost in title game
1949-50 Effingham District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Herrick 38-20
Semi-final lost to Strasburg 47-24
Strasburg won District title
1950-51 Assumption District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Moweaqua 50-45
Moweaqua lost in semi-final round
1951-52 Stonington District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Moweaqua 77-48
Moweaqua lost in title game
1952-53 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1953-54 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1954-55 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1955-56 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1956-57 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1957-58 Moweaqua District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Stonington 65-60
1958-59 Morrisonville District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Moweaqua 61-57
Moweaqua lost in semi-final round
1959-60 Morrisonville District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Morrisonville 60-32
Morrisonville lost in.title game
1960-61 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1961-62 Edinburg District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Morrisonville 68-50
Morrisonville lost in.title game
1962-63 Edinburg District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Blue Mojnd 58-31
Blue Mound lost in.title game
1963-64 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1964-65 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed’
1965-66 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1966-67 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed
1967-68 Stewardson District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Brownstown 68-64
Semi-final lost to Beecher City 74-65
Beecher City won District title
1968-69 Cowden District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Stewardson-Strasburg
Stewardson-Strasburg lost in title game
1969-70 Beecher City District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Beecher City 67-50
Beecher City won District title.
1970-71 Ramsey District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Beecher City 61-50
Semi-final lost to Stewwardson-Strasburg 49-47
Stewardson Strasburg won District title.
1971-72 Pana District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Beecher City 60-57
Semi-final lost to Shelbyville 96-53
Shelbyville won District title.
1972-73 through 1986-87 Postseason scores, records, and coaches’ names needed.
1987-88 0 – 23
1988-89 1 – 23 Lone victory over Spfld Lutheran 48-38
1989-90 through 2002-03 Postseason scores, records, and coaches’ names needed
MEMORIES
**From former Tower Hill HS teacher Andy Kerley:
“I taught at Tower Hill HS the last year it existed, 2003. The top photo on your website is the HS building that was used as the last HS in Tower Hill. It is still standing and serves as the main building in the Pana grade school located there. There was talk they were going to use it as an alternative school or shop/trade building, but I don’t know if that ever came to be.
We were annexed in 03 by Pana and now all Tower Hill students attend Pana schools. The last year we were there we still had a girls volleyball team and a boys basketball team. All other athletes went to Pana to participate in other sports like FB, baseball, track, girls basketball, softball etc as we had a co-op in place with them. We were not very successful in either sport as we only had 43 enrolled total students on the first day of school in August of 2002.
At one point in their history, Tower Hill offered football, basketball, baseball and track to the male athletes. Girls were able to compete in volleyball, basketball, track and maybe softball. There was while I was still there, a photo of one of their football teams in the trophy case. At one point I think they were still pretty competitive in baseball to.
I left after 03, I taught social studies at Tower Hill HS (actually, I was THE social studies dept. 🙂 ). I moved on to Shelbyville after. I drive by the old school every chance I get, but it’s not very often since I’m now teaching in Clinton.”
**From Greg Largent (Class of 1989):
“I played basketball for Tower Hill from ’85-’86 to ’88-’89. While my final two years were forgettable (0-23 in ’87-’88 and 1-23 in ’88-’89), I took pride in wearing the maroon & gold. That one win was a 48-38 defeat of Springfield Lutheran.
We were more competitive during my first 2 years of high school. I don’t recall our records but both years would have been .500, give or take. My most memorable game to watch was during the ’85-’86 season. Macon scored late to take a 1 point lead and we were able to get a time out with :01 left on the clock. I believe it was Chuck Chesterman taking the ball out under the Macon basket and he threw a pass the length of the court to Pat Guiot. Pat beat the buzzer from the free throw line and the Tower Hill crowd stormed the court.
A new gymnasium was built directly west of, and connected to, the main building around 1981. The picture at the top of the page is of the high school building that was built somewhere around 1930 and is still there today. After completion of that gym, Tower Hill finally had a facility large enough to host the Meridian Conference Tournament and did so for the 50th annual tournament. This would have been sometime between 1981 and 1984.”
Searching For More Information
If you have any more information regarding the many successes of Tower Hill High School, especially a photo of the most recent high school building, please write to us via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us at the old fashioned way at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631 |
